Chairman of Midlands Wanderers Vincent ‘Masenti’ Myeni has issued an update on the relationship with authorities at Harry Gwala Stadium following threats that they will relocate to a different venue.
This follows an incident earlier this month where the club and its supporters were forced to cut the grass a day before a league match.
The venue, under the authority of the Msunduzi Municipality, was reportedly in a state of neglect. Wanderers has threatened to permanently move to the Mpumalanga Stadium in eThekwini Municipality, which is currently their alternative venue.
Wanderers are in their first season in the NFD following their promotion from the SAFA ABC Motsepe League.
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However, Myeni has since revealed that the Motsepe Foundation Championship side has been in discussion with the Msunduzi Municipality to iron out issues.
“It was very unfortunate. The previous game, before that [incident], we had received a report from the PSL that the match commissioner was not happy with the level of the grass,” said Myeni.
“There were Communications that we did with the municipality. Of course, they didn’t come to the party. So we took the matter into our own hands, and we were able to cut the grass, and we played the game.”
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“But subsequent to that, we had a meeting with the Municipality. We played a game after that against Cape Town City, and everything was sorted. But I am saying, for us, we have to look at the interests of the club.
“Of course, as our home town we would like to play there, but if the facility is not up to standard, we will never compromise on that. But we are happy with what they did last time, and we are hoping that when we go back on Saturday, everything will be up to the level of the PSL in terms of the pitch.”
“As it stands, we are staying there. It’s our home game. We have been using that stadium for many years, and we want to be there. But we do have Mpumalanga at the eThekwini Municipality as our alternative stadium. So if we encounter any challenges, we will then utilise the alternative field.”
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