17 Feb 2022

It is a contest in the mould of city rivalries such as the Old Firm (Glasgow Celtic versus Glasgow Rangers in Scotland), the Superclasico (Buenos Aires, Argentina city rivals Boca

Juniors and River Plate) Derby della Madonnina (AC Milan versus Inter in Milan, Italy) and the Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.

The Gaborone derby between Township Rollers and Gaborone United is plausibly the most historic of Botswana’s sporting rivalries.

The enmity between the two sides stretch back to the mid 1960s and having reached its plateau in the 1980s and 1990s, and descent in the post-2000 period, has now been heightened again.

With four points currently separating the top two sides in the Botswana Premier League, Saturday’s clash at the Royal Aria in Tlokweng will see top of the table GU seeking to extend their lead to seven points, while second placed Rollers will seek to defeat their old nemesis to narrow the gap to a single point.

BOPA writers; Pako Lebanna and Baleseng Batlotleng spoke to club legends Thabo Motang (Rollers) and Chandy Moruti (GU) to preview the big game and look at the history of the derby.

“This is a big game,” Motang, the current Rollers goalkeeper coach said.

“The derby is not about any of the two sides’ current form, but about who is more determined on the field on the day.”

Motang said during his playing days from the late 1980s until the early 2000s, the Rollers-GU rivalry was intense.

“It was always the game we looked forward to the most.  The game itself was motivation; we played for the love of the game and the honour of our clubs.  The mood in town was always electric,” Motang adds.

His most memorable derby was the 1993 Coca Cola final where Rollers defeated GU 4-1 at the National Stadium.  

“We had struggled against GU that year and they had not lost at the National Stadium, but we rose to the occasion that day and victory was sweet.”

He said tomorrow’s match would be explosive and Rollers camp was hungry for the victory.

Former GU marksman, Chandy Moruti, who faced Rollers many times during his playing days, admitted that though the Gaborone derby had lost its spark, playing against their bitter rival was probably the biggest highlight of the soccer calendar.

Moruti said the biggest match in Botswana after the Botswana XI assignments was always the GU/Rollers affair.

“Even our former presidents had their preferred teams between the two and could personally know us as players. That showed how respectful the derby was. The match line up was often vetted by management. When I was handed my debut, our then manager David Mophuting quipped ‘heelang motho yoo ngwana le batla go bolaisa ngwana di fan! Kana golo ha re tshameka le Rollers”.

Moruti was only 18 years when he broke into the already packed Moyagoleele starting team.

He was plucked from Happy Hearts where he formed a deadly combination with yet another talented striker, Patrick Zibochwa.

In fact Moruti fell on to the radar because of his quick feet, but Zibochwa who was already signed by GU informed management to snap the talented young boy from Extension 2 location.

Moruti quickly fitted in like a stack of neatly packed nails alongside the likes of Marco Tshuma, City Senne, Mandla Balanda, Noza Dube, Terrence Mophuting and Davis Kopi among other talent that the team had unearthed.

They were later joined by the likes of enterprising youngsters such as Kabelo Moshawa and Koziba Masukula.

That was when Moruti won the hearts of many hard to please Moyagoleele fans. However despite dominating derby matches in between 1990 and 1993 Moruti’s most painful loss to Rollers was in the haunting 1993 Coca Cola cup final match.

GU by then was known as the money machine and, before the finals, they had won some trophies, some against Rollers.

Both teams dished entertaining football with a mouthwatering lineup from both sides with the likes of Joseph Chikoti, Mmoni ‘States’ Segopolo, Senne, Zibochwa and Motang.

“We thought we had the cup in our cabinet and management had already organised a celebration session at the Sheraton hotel. After the loss some players cried uncontrollably,” he added.

Looking at the current team, Moruti said he saw a formidable side likely to continue its good vein of form.

He advised the youthful team to keep their heads up as a derby match was not decided by the last performance. The two teams renew their rivalry tomorrow at the Royal Aria stadium.  ENDS