North Disaster: Northern Region Loses 6 Teams in National Leagues, Two in Danger

In past years, the Northern Region used to have only two teams in the Super League, with Moyale Barracks being the regulars and one being a newly promoted team from the Northern Region Football League.

It was a call of worry for the Northern Region Football Association, which made strategies to at least increase their number of teams in the League, and it worked well according to their plan.

After Karonga United settled in the League, it was Mzuzu City Hammers following suit, then two years later, Chitipa United also settled in the League, enabling the North to be represented by five teams by 2024.

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After having five teams in the Super League, the number remained constant for two years as Baka City and Songwe Border United failed to keep their places in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

Meanwhile, the introduction of the NBS Bank National Division League and the National Bank of Malawi National Women’s Premiership took the tally of teams in the National Leagues to 12: 9 men’s football teams and three women’s football teams.

With Moyale Barracks, Mzuzu City Hammers, Songwe Border United, Chitipa United and Karonga United in the TNM Super League, the NBS Bank NDL had Baka City, Chilumba Barracks, Chintheche United and Jenda United, while Moyale Sisters, MK Academy and Topik Academy were in the NBM Women’s Premiership.

However, there will be a rapid drop in the number of teams to represent the Northern Region in the National Leagues, as 50 percent of the teams have been relegated from the three leagues and two could face the axe on the final day of their respective leagues.

Worse still, the new teams in all leagues have been casualties, as almost all teams except one have been relegated from the leagues.

The TNM Super League has seen rookies Songwe Border United relegated from the League after claiming one win, three draws and 25 defeats, while Mzuzu City Hammers are fighting for survival with two games left against Silver Strikers and FCB Nyasa Big Bullets. They are three points off the safe place but face opponents that are fighting for second position.

The NBS Bank NDL has seen Jenda United and Chilumba Barracks being relegated from the League, while Chintheche United need to win their last match and hope for Ntaja United to drop points in the final matches to survive in the League.

Unfortunately, all three teams from the North in the NBM Women’s Premiership have been relegated to the Northern Region Women’s Football League after struggling to earn points in the League.

With Baka City promoted into the Super League, there will be four teams next season if Mzuzu City Hammers fail to secure their survival, while there could be only one team in the NDL and NBM Women’s Premiership respectively if Chintheche United fail to survive.

The champions from the NRFL and the NRWFL will be promoted into the two leagues, meaning the numbers could drop from 12 in 2025 to 6 in 2026 in all National Leagues.

The Northern Region Football Association has described the development as disappointing, as their efforts to have more teams in the National Leagues have been dented.

The Association’s General Secretary, Lupakisho Simwera, said they hoped that the teams would do better in the respective leagues.

“We expected more from these teams, but as of now, the number could increase if the other two are relegated. But they must not look down; they need to go to the drawing board and see what went wrong so that they should come back stronger next season,” said Simwera.

He however said that financial challenges have been the main issue for the teams in the Northern Region, leading to the massive decrease.

“Songwe Border United has no sponsor, Chintheche and Jenda also have no sponsors, hence struggling in the League. Let me call on the corporate world to come and partner teams from the North so that the abundant talents that we have should find favourable conditions to do better,” he added.

Meanwhile, efforts to have a comment from officials from the Northern Region Women’s Football Committee were futile, as they failed to pick up phone calls.

Commenting on the issue, one of the sports analysts in the country, Justin Mitambo, said it is sad to see that the Northern Region, being the major house of talent in the country, is facing a decline due to lack of funds.

“Most of the teams in the North are community teams, meaning they do not require much financially. We see the big teams having more than three sponsors, but I tell you, these teams can change sides with something little and benefit a lot from them,” he said.

He also noted that the Northern Region lacks football developmental structures such as proper infrastructure, which prohibits sponsor attractiveness in the teams, hence their struggle in the leagues.

He has since warned that the unavailability of sponsorship in the teams could see some regulars like Chitipa United and Karonga United being affected and relegated from the top-flight League.

This means that the National Leagues will be dominated by Central and Southern Region teams next season, with Central having at least 14 teams or two fewer, while the Southern Region having 12 teams or one fewer, depending on the results of the final day.