Fulham FC will host Bunna FC from Addis Ababa in a friendly match scheduled for July 2015. Fulham, founded in 1879, will field a select Academy Team to face Bunna, one of Ethiopia’s most popular clubs, renown for its fanatical following. The match will be played at Bromley football ground close to The Academy, Fulham’s youth development centre.
Danny Mills, the celebrated coach talking to Genet Bore of abesha kick about, who overseas Fulham’s youth development, says this is an opportunity to test his young aspiring players against a novel side, with British clubs seldom getting a chance to play African or Asian clubs.
According to Danny, Ethiopian football is largely an unknown quantity and this is exactly what he needs to test promising players. Against Bunna his players must think on their feet to adapt to different tactics and styles of play.
British sports kit giant Umbro, already involved in sponsorship deals with key Bunna players such as Acsholu Girme, values these games. They build relationships between team officials and help to establish better working relations between the respective leagues.
Ethiopia, with a population of over 90 million, has many talented players but they lack international exposure. This will be an important event because the world always keeps an eye on British football.
Bunna Head Coach Tesfaye says that he would also love to play a full Fulham FC select team because they play in the Football League Championship. For our players can only improve by playing better opponents and so this match will be good for Bunna, good for Ethiopian football and a step in the right direction for this great nation.
