Wanderers to play at Harry Gwala

Local Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit Midlands Wanderers will play their Saturday’s game against Lerumo FC at Harry Gwala Stadium, with kickoff at 3pm.

Early last season Wanderers management unfortunately decided to take all their home fixtures to Hammarsdale’s Mpumalanga Stadium, which is under eThekwini Metro, after experiencing endless maintenance issues and unplayable conditions at Harry Gwala Stadium.

Abafana Bebatha bosses also voiced out their unhappiness to Msunduzi Municipality about the poor conditions at the local stadium, especially the pitch. At one stage Wanderers management, supporters and office staff were actually forced to cut the grass at Harry Gwala Stadium a day before the match.

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Also early this year the PSL could not to let the local stadium host professional games at the local stadium, citing unplayability and failure to meet the league’s standard.

This week the stadium was eventually cleared by the PSL and given a green light to host professional fixtures. At the beginning of this season Wanderers registered Mpumalanga Stadium as their official home venue, with Clermont’s Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium and Pietermaritzburg’s Harry Gwala as one of their alternatives venues.

A few months ago Mpumalanga Stadium was also deemed unsuitable to accommodate professional matches, which then forced Wanderers to take their home fixtures to Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium.

Although Pietermaritzburg soccer followers will be excited to watch their team at the doorstep this weekend, Wanderers management emphasised that this does not mean their official home ground is now Harry Gwala again.

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“As many of you will recall, the Premier Soccer League [PSL] previously declared Mpumalanga Stadium unplayable due to the conditions of the playing surface. We have been using Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium as our temporary home venue since the commencement of the season.

“We wish to reiterate that Mpumalanga Stadium remains our designated home ground, with Harry Gwala Stadium and Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium serving as our alternative venues, said the club’s official statement on Wednesday.

Wanderers chairperson and founder Vincent Myeni thanked the Msunduzi municipal staff including Khulekani Msomi, Nokuthula Msimanga, the Msunduzi Municipal Manager Felani Mndebele and Deputy Mayor Mxolisi Mkhize, who worked tirelessly and played an important bringing the game to the city.

“As Midlands Wanderers management and academy, we would like to thank them for really showing interest and working around the clock in order to make sure that it was sorted ,”said Myeni.Supporters will be allowed to enter for free.