City to roll out carpet for Tornado
Birmingham delighted to return to their home at Gompo for the kick-off
Birmingham City chairperson Vusi Khumalo says they are pleased to host defending champs Tornado at their newly refurbished Gompo Stadium in an opening ABC Motsepe League encounter on Saturday.
Khumalo said he was thrilled that his side was able to survive relegation during their maiden season. Kicking off the fixtures against Tornado was a challenge they were ready for.
‘We are just happy to get a chance to compete again in this new season, but we couldn’t be happier to open our fixtures against Tornado at our homegrounds – they will be facing us in our backyard at last,” said Khumalo.
“It’s not going to be easy for them, although we haven’t played in our homegrounds for a while now as we have been hosting our games at North End Stadium.
“We are back home now, and the Gompo community has always supported us as their team and we know they will fill up the grounds to cheer us on, and that will boost our spirit as a team.”
Khumalo said after getting their fixtures for the new season there were mixed feelings in his camp as the Mdantsane-based champions had managed to outclass them more than once last season in the third-tier league.
But Khumalo was confident of pulling an upset against the two-time back-to-back champs as they have recently added three new quality players that boast tons of experience in the third-tier league division. Khumalo recently signed midfielder Manelisi Myoli, Sinoxolo Mazaleni and Asiphile Rola.
“We were shocked when it was revealed to us that we’ll be opening the league against Tornado. But we became excited as well because we managed to add new players into the team.
“We spotted the new guys during the SAB League playoffs and I think they are very much talented and I’m glad that we didn’t tamper that much with the previous squad.
“And if you remember, we had young boys last season who were playing this league for the first time and believe me when I say they’ve all gained a lot of experience.
“All the hammering they were getting and the travelling really taught them a lot about this league, and that is why we have faith in them that they will come up and rise to the occasion.”
Khumalo was also pleased to unveil their coach, Mzoxolo Eugene Fatuse, who has got vast experience of mentoring in the third-tier league.
City recently won the Gompo LFA’s Botani construction tournament.