Cape Town ABC Motsepe League side owner George Dearnaley is hoping for some “magic” when his team take on Kaizer Chiefs in Port Elizabeth this weekend.
The Magic, who are the fairytale story of the Nedbank Cup this season, host the Soweto giants in a last 16 tie at Nelson Mandela Bay stadium on Sunday.
Dearnaley said it was unfortunate that they had to move out of Cape Town for logistical reasons but that they were looking forward to playing in the Bay.
“But the truth is that wherever you play Kaizer Chiefs it’s a home game for them. So for us to travel away is hard but it was always going to be hard even if we played them in our own backyard.
“We knew it was going to be hard playing against Kaizer Chiefs. So the travelling is all part of what I am calling an adventure.
“The team is called ‘The Magic’ and for me this is the magic of football.”
The former Bafana Bafana striker also shed more light as to why they had to move the fixture.
“The draw for the last 16 made us the home team and the responsibility for the home team is to secure a home venue,” said Dearnaley.
“There were some issues around the game because we’re playing Kaizer Chiefs. The sponsors wanted Kaizer Chiefs to come on the weekend, on Saturday or Sunday.
“So the Friday night was not an option for us. Monday and Tuesday night was also not an option to play Chiefs, we had to play them Saturday or Sunday.
“Unfortunately, in Cape Town there are only two stadiums that are compliant right now for PSL regulations, which is Cape Town Stadium and Athlone Stadium,” he said.
“Cape Town [stadium] was booked eight months ago for an international event happening over the whole weekend.
“So that was not an option. People had paid their money and booked the stadium.”
The chair said Athlone stadium had also been booked way in advance for the annual music and dance concert Cape Minstrels.
He said the only stadium in Cape Town that was compliant with PSL regulations and was big enough to accommodate a large crowd was Newlands Rugby stadium.
“The cost to secure that stadium was much more than the normal football stadiums.
“That was one problem but the biggest problem was actually that Newlands Rugby Stadium is covered with branding of other financial sponsors. So Nedbank does not want to show a TV game in stadium covered by other sponsor’s branding.
“That was a challenge and the cost to cover up the other branding was going to be about nearly half a million rand,” he said.
Dearnaley said the next option was to look for a coastal venue because a highveld stadium would play into the hands of Chiefs.
“So the two options was the East London stadium and the Port Elizabeth stadium because of the size of the game. It was our decision to choose Port Elizabeth because it’s closer to Cape Town.”..