Chippa United seals deal to play from Mandela Bay
[caption id="attachment_40757" align="alignright" width="405"] POUND SEATS: Getting ready for the new season at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium are, from left, Chippa United boss Siviwe 'Chippa' Mpengesi, Safa NMB regional president Monde Mhletywa and deputy mayor Chippa Ngcolomba. Picture: JUDY DE VEGA[/caption]
CHIPPA United boss Siviwe "Chippa" Mpengesi and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality yesterday revealed details of a R36-million, three-year deal which will bring top-flight soccer back to Port Elizabeth.
While the deal to relocate Premier Soccer League (PSL) team Chippa United to the metro was agreed to in principle, the finer details were thrashed out over a series of meetings between the parties over the past two weeks.
The team will play all 15 of their home matches in the Bay, in contrast to what owner Mpengesi may have been hoping for when he initially suggested the team play two or three games in Parys in the Free State.
The side is aiming to use the Wolfson Stadium as their permanent training base and will play their games at the NMB Stadium.
Deputy mayor Chippa Ngcolomba said they had agreed as a council to make available the money to woo United to Port Elizabeth.
"We will finance the team for three years until it finds its feet. The municipality does not have all the money and will rely heavily on the support of provincial government. We expect them to fund us with R21-million because the metro will only be able to pay out R15-million."
Ngcolomba appealed to the people of the metro to support United.
"We need to sustain this team by filling seats at the stadium and the more companies that support this team, the more development programmes will happen in the region."
Mpengesi said the team had fought hard to return to the Premiership and were looking forward to representing the metro.
"It has been our ambition to come back home [to] my birth province, the Eastern Cape, and I wish I could have taken this decision the first time we got promoted."
He says the team are in Port Elizabeth to stay and they are committed to being in the city for the next 20 years.
"We are not here for selfish reasons. We are here to work with the metro because this is not my team any more, this is your team.
"We are not going to disappoint the community of the Eastern Cape because we want to be a team that will be respected."
He said soccer fans should not abandon their favourite PSL teams but should carry two membership cards.
"Being relegated was the worst nightmare of my life and we've learnt from our mistakes of firing and hiring coaches. It won't happen again."
Safa NMB regional president Monde Mhletywa said he welcomed the new team with open arms.
"There are a number of provinces and regions they could have opted for but they chose the Bay region for a reason.
"They will make a big contribution towards employment and are committed to assisting our local ABC Motsepe League teams get promoted to the National First Division."
United have also formed ties with the Nobuhle-Despatch Football Association (Nodefa) to fall in line with Safa's constitution which states that any professional soccer team must affiliate themselves with a local football association, of which there are 12 in the metro. - Mthetho Ndoni
