Chippa United may play their first Premier League home game in 2015 at the Buffalo City Stadium next month if all goes according to plan.
This was revealed by the club’s acting COO Lukhanyo Mzinzi yesterday after confirming that the club had received a letter from the Buffalo City Municipality mayor’s office expressing interest in hosting the Chilli Boys when they welcome Maritzburg United to the province on February 13.
BCM, said Mzinzi, in the letter gives PSL the go ahead to inspect the BC Stadium and decide if it meets the standard to host top flight football games.
According to Mzinzi, bringing the game to East London was part of the club’s plan to reaffirm that it did not only belong to Port Elizabeth but to the EC province as a whole.
They chose East London over Mthatha – another town which he said they had in mind – because the former has a stadium that meets the PSL standards.
“We are delighted that we will be playing that game in East London and we feel this is a way of giving back and showing gratitude to the people of the province who continue to support the club from all quarters,” said Mzinzi.
“We have always said and we maintain that Chippa United belongs to all people of the Eastern Cape although our base is Port Elizabeth.
“The stadium looks good but PSL must do checks to ensure the stadium meets its standards, including inspecting things such as floodlights since the game in question will be at night. I will be in East London today to sort out logistics and other stuff.” The Dispatch has reliably learnt that the game against Maritzburg United may not be the only one that Chippa plays in East London. There may be two more.
Chippa started pursuing Buffalo City Stadium as an alternative venue last year and they had initially planned to push for their December 21 fixture against Supersport United to be played there.
Mzinzi is confident that this time around the people of East London and surrounding areas will finally watch Chilli Boys live in their neighbourhood.
“East London is more at the centre when one looks at the province’s three major cities which include Port Elizabeth and Mthatha and mayor showed great interest since we started the talks and above all the game will surely contribute to the local economy,” said Mzinzi. He added that the match with Maritzburg would be televised.
PSL spokesman Luxolo September said the league had not received any “formal request” from Chippa management.
Several attempts to get comment from the BCM mayor’s office drew a blank by the time of going to print.
The Chilli Boys begin their second stanza of the league campaign against an away match to University of Pretoria on February 10 before welcoming Maritzburg United three days later – possibly in East London. They are currently eighth on the log after 17 games into the 2014-15 season.
Chilli Boys likely to take on Maritzburg in EL
This was revealed by the club’s acting COO Lukhanyo Mzinzi yesterday after confirming that the club had received a letter from the Buffalo City Municipality mayor’s office expressing interest in hosting the Chilli Boys when they welcome Maritzburg United to the province on February 13.
BCM, said Mzinzi, in the letter gives PSL the go ahead to inspect the BC Stadium and decide if it meets the standard to host top flight football games.
According to Mzinzi, bringing the game to East London was part of the club’s plan to reaffirm that it did not only belong to Port Elizabeth but to the EC province as a whole.
They chose East London over Mthatha – another town which he said they had in mind – because the former has a stadium that meets the PSL standards.
“We are delighted that we will be playing that game in East London and we feel this is a way of giving back and showing gratitude to the people of the province who continue to support the club from all quarters,” said Mzinzi.
“We have always said and we maintain that Chippa United belongs to all people of the Eastern Cape although our base is Port Elizabeth.
“The stadium looks good but PSL must do checks to ensure the stadium meets its standards, including inspecting things such as floodlights since the game in question will be at night. I will be in East London today to sort out logistics and other stuff.” The Dispatch has reliably learnt that the game against Maritzburg United may not be the only one that Chippa plays in East London. There may be two more.
Chippa started pursuing Buffalo City Stadium as an alternative venue last year and they had initially planned to push for their December 21 fixture against Supersport United to be played there.
Mzinzi is confident that this time around the people of East London and surrounding areas will finally watch Chilli Boys live in their neighbourhood.
“East London is more at the centre when one looks at the province’s three major cities which include Port Elizabeth and Mthatha and mayor showed great interest since we started the talks and above all the game will surely contribute to the local economy,” said Mzinzi. He added that the match with Maritzburg would be televised.
PSL spokesman Luxolo September said the league had not received any “formal request” from Chippa management.
Several attempts to get comment from the BCM mayor’s office drew a blank by the time of going to print.
The Chilli Boys begin their second stanza of the league campaign against an away match to University of Pretoria on February 10 before welcoming Maritzburg United three days later – possibly in East London. They are currently eighth on the log after 17 games into the 2014-15 season.
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