Maritzburg United aiming to be more than team Friday
Maritzburg United punched way above their weight over the past season – partly due to their impressive home record on Friday nights. By
The recently concluded 2019/20 Absa Premiership season provided thrills and spills in abundance. The sprint to glory between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns, the race for the golden boot, the five-month Covid-19 enforced sabbatical, and the frantic finish in the biologically safe environment or “bio-bubble”.
Another standout feature was Maritzburg United and their impressive home record, specifically on Friday nights. Which has come to be known as Friday Night Lights.
Over the past two seasons, the Team of Choice have gone unbeaten in 2o games at the Harry Gwala stadium. The last time the club from KwaZulu-Natal’s capital city lost a Friday night home game was on 29 September 2017, when they were edged 0-1 by Free State Stars. Surprisingly, they built on the record even in the 2018/19 season, when they narrowly escaped relegation.
They’ve spun this impressive run into a marketing tool, which often saw them attract crowds of 8,000 to 10,000 at the 12,000-capacity stadium prior to the advent of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown. This without them facing serial crowd pullers such as Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
The energy and confidence generated from the Friday Night Lights performances has had a positive impact on the players. After their relegation scare in the 2018/19 season, Eric Tinkler’s men had an impressive run, and before the 2019/20 season being derailed by Covid-19 they were realistically contending for a place in the top three.
“It was a good turnaround, and all parties played a role and a good job was done,” the club’s chairman Farook Kadodia stated recently. “From the board’s side, we fully supported the coach, quite a few new signings were made. And what was important in fighting relegation [at the end of the previous season] was to have a complete commitment from the fans.”
The Team of Choice eventually ended the 2019/20 season in seventh place after enduring a tough time following local football’s restart amid Covid-19. In their six games played in the bio-bubble, they failed to win a single one. In spite of that disappointment, Kadodia said they were pleased with their overall performance.
“The whole brand also grew stronger; the fact that we went to the Telkom Knockout final was also evidence of the work which has been done,” said Kadodia.
“Yes, we were very happy with the league position. One must also understand that there were so many expectations from the people around us after the way we excelled in the February-March period, in essence going into the bubble was not good for us.”
Of course, the anomaly of playing in empty stadiums is set to carry on into the immediate future, with President Cyril Ramaphosa saying that mass attendance at sporting events is still not an option, despite the country now being at alert Level 1.
Premier Soccer League (PSL) chairman Irvin Khoza also indicated in August that they were not particularly keen on replicating the bio-bubble environment, even if supporters are still barred.
“I cannot make any predictions. We don’t encourage the bubble because it is expensive, the cost now is almost R100-million,” said the PSL chairman.
United will be one of the teams pining for things to go back to some semblance of normality soon enough.
They currently sit without a headline sponsor, and doubtless they will be feeling the pinch of losing out on the Friday Night Lights gate takings.
The team has already made some strides to keep the momentum going for next season. They have recently recruited former Bafana Bafana international Delron Buckley as Tinkler’s second assistant, as well as Rowen Fernandez as their goalkeeper coach.
“We would like to cement our position every season in the top five, that is our goal. Then something can be seen for all our investment. At the moment it’s tough to attract a sponsor because it’s difficult when there are regular fights against relegation,” said Kadodia. DM168