Birmingham City hitting a brick wall

TOUGH times are ahead for Birmingham City, as the only representative from East London playing in the Sasol League continue to face challenges in competing in the women’s upper tier league.

City were thrashed 6-2 by the Port Elizabeth outfit City Lads over the weekend during the coastal stream of the league at New Brighton Oval Stadium in PE.

This while Sophakama beat Fort Hare University 3-1 at the Zwide Stadium. The Manchester Babes continued their winning streak embarrassing Continental Express 7-1 at the Jabavu Field in Uitenhage, while Golden Stars were beaten 2-1 by the Thunderbirds at PE College’s Dower Campus.

City has played five games in the league so far, winning three and losing two, which sees them sitting in fourth place on nine points, while other teams like Golden Stars have played six games.

City’s chairman Vusi Khumalo said the club has been faced with issues that could not have been avoided and they are trying to rebuild their side for the future in the Sasol league.

“I’ve lost five players now, two experienced goalkeepers who went back to school in PE.

“But . . . We have just recruited eight young players and we are trying to get them acclimatised to the league.”

The man who has been at the helm at City for eight seasons said the biggest challenge the club was faced with was the lack of Sasol League clubs playing in East London, which made matters difficult with regards to preparations.

“We are competing with clubs from Nelson Mandela Bay Metro where there are many clubs.

“For instance, right now they are playing a Women’s Month tournament organised by Safa-NMB and it would also do us good if we could play in such tournaments.”

Kumalo said they were in a tight spot but they had come too far in the competition to throw in the towel.

“Most of these players have left because of school and work commitments and from now going forward we are planning to adopt a school in Duncan Village which is closer to us.

“We want to attract young 13-yearold kids to play for the team in the future,” he said.