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| Siwelele's Vincent Pule and Siviwe Magidigidi celebrate in the club's first league match |
The buying and selling of PSL statuses has been seen as a negative by some, but it may not be such a bad thing. If the sold-out attendance at Siwelele’s first match is anything to go by, the establishment of the club has been met with enthusiasm and excitement by football fans in Bloemfontein.
The sale of SuperSport United came on the back of the club’s slide down the log and the selling of its best players to stay afloat financially. The same could be said of Maritzburg United, but now Durban City look to be heading in the right direction with Gavin Hunt and Ernst Middendorp on board and the arrival of proven PSL players like Thabo Nodada, Darren Keet, and Haashim Domingo.
A new brand like Durban City may sound more attractive to coaches, players and fans than a team like Maritzburg United, which carried the baggage of several relegation scraps to its name. City chairman Farook Kadodia has already given Hunt a mandate to finish in the top eight, a feat Maritzburg achieved only four times since 2008.
This bodes well for the PSL. The competitiveness of the league will increase if teams on the decline are purchased by clubs that have wealthy owners who can establish and build more competitive teams.