Ronwen Williams suggests how SAFA can bring supporters to the stadiums

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams has suggested how the South African Football Association (SAFA) can bring the supporters back to the stadiums to support the national team.

Williams, who plies his trade at Mamelodi Sundowns, teamed up with his Bafana Bafana teammates in the camp on Monday ahead of the two upcoming friendlies in October.

The former SuperSport United goalie endured a heartbreak on Saturday as the Brazilians lost the MTN8 final 3-1 on penalties against Orlando Pirates.

Pirates and Sundowns played out to a feisty goalless draw that went into extra-time before going to penalties. Williams fetched the call in the back of the net three times as he failed to keep out any of the Pirates’ penalties.

RONWEN WILLIAMS’ ADVICE TO SAFA

With Williams switching his focus to the national duty, he has given a suggestion on how SAFA can bring the supporters to the stadiums.

There were thousands of empty seats when Hugo Broos’ troops played two friendlies against Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo at Orlando Stadium last month.

“Obviously it’s not nice, we don’t enjoy playing in front of empty stadiums. It doesn’t give a good taste and we don’t get a good vibe” Williams said.

“Like I said in my previous press conference, maybe we need to do more as the association and as the team.

“I remember before we used to go to malls and schools to give back [to the community]. The fans now feel like there’s no link between the two of us, they just see us on the field.

“So maybe we need to do more as a team and the association to put us out there. We go around malls, signing off autographs and getting to know each other on a personal level.

“And it started last month when we went to a school in Soweto. Hopefully, we can do more of that to get supporters behind us again.”

Bafana Bafana will face Eswatini on Friday, 13 October 2023 before travelling to play AFCON host nation Ivory Coast away on the 17 of October.

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