Tuks, Spurs, Baroka want to step up
University of Pretoria (Amatuks) will hope for better luck this time around in their search to gain PSL promotion when the Motsepe Foundation Championship kicks off on Friday.
Amatuks came close to gaining promotion last term, finishing second in the Championship behind Richards Bay.
Bay were promoted with 54 points while Tuks were just two points behind. At one point, Amatuks were on top of the table with five games to go after they defeated Bay, but they couldn’t get over the line.
Even after they were given a second bite at the cherry via the playoffs, Tuks only won one game of the allocated four, with Swallows, who had finished 15th in the Dstv Premiership, able to retain their PSL top-flight status.
While Tuks will be looking to finish top this coming season, Baroka FC will be vying for the same goal.
Baroka were demoted to the second tier after finishing at the bottom of the Dstv Premiership last term.
The Limpopo club went the entire season without an away win in the league, becoming the second side in the PSL era to do so. The other team that did so was Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs) in the 201718 season.
And just like Baroka, the Mother City club was relegated to the second tier.
However, Spurs, under former Bafana striker Shaun Bartlett, will also have something to say about that, with the former Kaizer Chiefs coach having won the second tier before with Golden Arrows in the 2014-15 season.
Spurs were relegated to the Championship a few seasons ago in controversial fashion, having been found guilty of using ineligible player Tendai Ndoro.
They have signed Clayton Daniels and Nazeer Alie to beef up the team. Elsewhere, there is the sad story of Free State Stars, who are no longer in existence after management sold their status to Casric FC for about R12-million.
Stars’ sad ending comes after another club from Free State, Bloemfontein Celtic, sold their premier division status to Shauwn Mkhize at the beginning of last season.