Chippa’s free ticket bonanza
In a bid to put bums on seats, Chippa United are giving away 20,000 free tickets to their supporters for the Absa Premiership clash against Maritzburg United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday (3.30pm).
The Port Elizabeth-based professional soccer team are pulling out all the stops to ensure they have a large crowd behind them in their bid to gain three points at home against the “Team of Choice” come Saturday.
Chippa’s chief executive, Morgan Mammila, said the give-away was a drive to bring supporters closer to the team.
The Chilli Boys return to play in the Bay after a monthlong absence.
Their last home match took place in November, when they lost 1-0 to AmaZulu.
“We are giving away 20,000 tickets to our supporters. Some will be distributed to local radio stations around PE and some will be given out from our offices,” Mammila said.
“People are more than welcome to come and collect them [tickets] from our offices at the stadium starting from Tuesday until Friday between 9.30am and 4pm.
“This will be a long-term plan. This is just to show our supporters that this team belongs to them.”
However, the former Baroka FC boss said there would be specific games where supporters would have to pay as a cash injection for the team’s running costs.
The Proteas will also be in town on Saturday, when they kick-start their five-match ODI series against Pakistan at St George’s Park.
“We are aware of that [match]. Most people are not cricket lovers,” Mammila said.
“We have our own people and you must remember soccer is the number one sport in the country.”
Mammila’s appointment was among a flurry of changes that unfolded at Chippa last week.
Interim coach Joel Masutha was sacked and Clinton Larsen was appointed as the club’s new head coach.
Larsen will be assisted by Mbuyiselo Sambu, who returns to Chippa after his exit from the club when Eric Tinkler took over from Dan Malesela just three matches into the season. The Chilli Boys are lying second from bottom on the Absa Premiership log with 12 points from 17 games.
Meanwhile, Benni McCarthy’s efforts to motivate his Cape Town City players with talk of a possible Premier Soccer League title have backfired and he is shelving any thoughts of taking the league – for now.
McCarthy admitted that he used the prospect of City going into third place if they beat Baroka at home last Saturday as a major part of his prematch motivational talk.
“It was another big mistake we made as a coaching staff that we brought it up with the players in our team talks‚ about the awareness of our position‚ what’s happening at the top‚ what’s happening at the bottom‚” he said.
“Of course‚ you have to focus [on] what is on our plate and not worry too much about other teams, but this was an important occasion for us.
“We could have gone to 26 points and then on Wednesday we have another great opportunity [against Free State Stars at home] to go to 29 points and then you are just two points behind second place‚ four points behind the log leaders.
“We thought psychologically that would get the players up for the game against Baroka with so much potential at stake, but then‚ yes‚ I think it backfired,” he said.
City were held to a 2-2 draw‚ forced to come back to share the spoils after leading 1-0 at halftime.
“I can handle it but I don’t think a lot of South African players can handle that sort of pressure‚” McCarthy said.
The side stayed in seventh place after the draw, with 24 points from 16 games. – TimesLIVE