SEDIBENG – Weekends are no longer the same for local soccer fans in the Vaal Triangle.
The Isak Steyl Stadium in Vanderbijlpark used to be the place to be for local soccer fans during weekends.
Sadly, there are no longer top flight football taking place in Sedibeng during the weekends. For example, Sedibeng hosted top flight football in the form of the Motsepe Foundation Championship and DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) for the 2023/24 season.
The local soccer fans would pack the venue to watch the Motsepe Foundation Championships with teams such as Platinum City Rovers, Marumo Gallants and NB La Masia playing home games.
Skekhukhune United and Moroka Swallows were other teams that used the Isak Steyl Stadium for their DStv Diski Challenge home games. The local soccer fans would pack the venue to capacity especially when La Masia played. The team attracted a large number of supporters.
The venue used to be a happy place for Sedibeng soccer fans who looked forward to the weekends. This was before the above-mentioned teams decided to relocate back to their region and provinces at the end of the 2023/24 season.
Some of the teams like Platinum City Rover was relegated from the Motsepe Foundation League with Marumo Gallants relocated to Bloemfontein after their PSL status.
This situation has left Sedibeng without top flight football for the 2024/25 season. However, Sedibeng Ster Sport, predicted this situation at the end of the last season.
To make it worse, there is no Sedibeng based team for the ABC Motsepe League after Young Pirates FC failed to gain a promotion. Some of the soccer fans Sedibeng Ster Sport spoke to said watching kasi football would be the best option for them.
They told Sedibeng Ster Sport that there is a serious need for Sedibeng to have a professional football club like in the past. “We used to have a professional soccer team here in the Vaal, but for the past 20 years efforts to secure a status in top flight football was unsuccessful. It is sad because we can’t even have the Motsepe Foundation Championships status. The teams from other provinces come to use our facilities and we are left with nothing. We used to enjoy football during the weekends but now we have no choice but to go and watch tournaments in townships,” said the local soccer fans who were watching kasi soccer tournaments.
CAPTION: Weekends are no longer the same for Sedibeng soccer fans with no top flight football. Some of the action that took place at the Isak Steyl Stadium on weekends. Photos: Zacharia Nale
