Lack of support from the Nelson Mandela Metro and resulting crippling costs to hire the ERPU Stadium for home matches, sounded the death knell for Bay United’s hopes of staying in the Premier Soccer League.
After one season in the top flight the Port Elizabeth-based outfit have been relegated back to the National First Division and could now be sold. Four prospective buyers have tabled bids for the club’s First Division franchise.
Only one is based in Port Elizabeth and others from Gauteng and Western Cape.
The club’s future will be decided in the next two weeks, according to Bay spokesperson Vuyo Mvoko.
That means a nervous wait for players and coach Khabo Zondo, who said this month that despite being relegated and the fact his contract ends this month, he pledged his future to Bay.
”But,” said Mvoko, ”there is nothing we can do until the club’s future had been sorted out in the boardroom.
It would be pointless for us to renegotiate with Zondo and the players whose contracts also end this season, and then sell the club. It makes sense for us to first weigh up the offers and then take a decision as to whether to sell or continue as we were.”
However, the future of the club in PE looks bleak. Mvoko revealed it had cost the club nearly R6-million this season for the hire of the ERPU Stadium and security for their home matches.
The tragedy is the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium which is being built for the 2010 World Cup finals, could be another white elephant with no PSL team to utilise the brand new facilities after 2010.
Explained the Bay spokesperson: ”It is a staggering amount for ground hire. The Nelson Mandela Metro promised to help but failed to do so. We saved about R100 000 per home match when we played in East London. It worked out cheaper to transport the team to East London as the East London Municipality came on board and assisted us with security and other expensive arrangements.
Bay were forced to budget about R500 000 per month for two home games at the ERPU Stadium.
Said Mvoko: ”It could cost up to R108 000 per match for ground hire and a further R150 000 to erect a temporary security fence and to hire security officials. There were other expenses as well.”
Mvoko said the cost of ground hire contributed to the club’s failure to stay in the PSL. ”We were unable to buy top-class players in the January transfer window because of this burden.
There are about 10 stadiums in the Metro, but none are up to PSL standard. Even the ERPU Stadium was barely acceptable to the PSL. But because we wanted to play in PE, we had to suffer and sacrifice.”
But Bay also blames the delayed start to last season’s promotion/relegation playoffs due to a disciplinary hearing involving FC AK (Football Club Azziz Kara).
Said Mvoko: ”That delay meant by the time we won promotion, most of the top players we had targeted were already sold to other clubs. It meant we had to make do with what was available at the time. We also struggled with strikers this season. We needed a top-class striker, but could not afford to buy in January and as a result we struggled and were relegated.” — Sapa