Local heroes enter history books

Mbombela United have just entered themselves into the history books by becoming the first home team to lift the ABC Motsepe League trophy.
The home team secured a space in the country’s second highest football league, the National First Division (NFD) in style after beating the Eastern Cape outfits, Mthatha Bucks 2-1 in the ABC Motsepe League National Play-offs final this past Sunday.
“Tingwenyama” as they are fondly known, arrived from their intense outing in Kimberley, Northern Cape on Monday to a warm welcome from their supporters and the local municipality. Addressing the media during their arrival, the MMC for sport in the Mbombela Local Municipality,
Cllr Zayd Boroko said the institution would look at a long-term plan to support the team since more resources are essential for teams participating in the NFD and Premier Soccer League (PSL).
“We are very proud of their achievement. We know very well that where they are they will need resources. We are going to have some bilateral talks with them and discuss such issues and look at how best we can assist them going forward. Even before they went to the play-offs we supported them as an institution and I must say that we have played a major role there. We need to look at a long-term plan not to just support them whenever there are special occasions.
“We would be happy to see the province coming aboard and support this team,” said Boroko. “We want to assure them that we will always avail the Mbombela Stadium whenever they need to use it. We know that there will be times when they will need to use a much bigger venue for certain games,” he went on. “We would be happy to see more local players taking centre stage in this team. We agree with them that they need to get experience but let us not kill the home talent in the process. We also need to look at the issue of an academy so that we can groom our own players here. We will have to work very close with the team and see how best we can help them,” Boroko added.
Danny Jordaan, the Safa president congratulated Tingwenyama and wished them luck in
the NFD. He said the R1 million prize money will help give the team a perfect start in the NFD. “It’s not easy there. They will need all the support they can get and this money will certainly help them settle down and meet all the requirements,” said Jordaan.
United will now battle it out against the following teams in the NFD: Black Leopards, Thanda Royal Zulu, Cape Town All Stars, Milano United AFC, Vasco Da Gama, FC Cape Town, Baroka FC, Royal Eagles (formerly Sivutsa Stars), Highlands Park, African Warriors, Santos, Witbank Spurs, Moroka Swallows, Amazulu FC and Umtata Bucs.
The team manager, Stanley Manana said, “We are going to prepare and beef up our squad but we will keep the core team. We will not change much, but the bottom line is that we will need to reinforce our team. We would like to thank all those who supported us and even prayed for the team.  “We are going to the NFD to fight for a space in the PSL.”