After being forced to relinquish 21 years' worth of history and lower the coffin of what was an exciting and iconic brand of Pietermaritzburg and South African football, Maritzburg United owner Farook Kadodia hopes life would be kinder to him and his new project in Durban.
A week ago, Kadodia announced one of the most loved and supported teams in the country, the Team of Choice, which brought top-flight football to the KwaZulu-Natal midlands for decades, was no more.
Maritzburg has rebranded to Durban City FC and confirmed their relocation to the coastal city, dumping scores of their supporters who had become known as The Blue Army.
To many people, it came as a huge shock, but not to those who have followed Maritzburg’s recent struggles in the capital city of the Zulu Kingdom.
“It was with a very painful heart that we had to come to this conclusion,” Kadodia said in an interview with Hollywoodbets Sports.
“It is a huge disappointment because all 21 years of legacy had to go to waste and we had to start building a new brand.”
Kadodia’s problems started following their relegation from the Premier Soccer League (PSL) to the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) at the end of the 2022/23 season.
The Team of Choice didn’t just lose their top-tier status but their home ground too.
They were informed by Msunduzi Municipality that what used to be their home venue, the Harry Gwala Stadium, will now be exclusive to Betway Premiership side Royal AM.
“We had no stadium in Pietermaritzburg and were not prepared to continue like we did last year (season) where we were based in Maritzburg and played our home games at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium,” Kadodia said.
The chairman said being based in Pietermaritzburg and playing their home games almost 90 kilometres away in Durban, which they endured last season, had become too costly.
He also felt it worked against the club’s mission to gain promotion as they were without their crucial 12th man.
Professional clubs sharing stadiums is a well-known phenomenon not just in South Africa but around the world.
Some of the biggest rivalries of world football and Italian clubs, AC Milan and Inter Milan, share San Siro Stadium and that’s why it doesn’t make sense to Kadodia can’t do the same with Royal.
“Here there are two things, either there’s an issue about politics or a money issue and nothing else because right now in Polokwane two or three teams are using one stadium,” Kadodia said.
“You have Lucas Moripe Stadium in Attiredgeville, they share the stadium. You have King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi and they share a stadium.
“It’s only here where Msunduzi Municipality is not taking the responsibility of preparing the field to be used by two teams.”
Kadodia said their decision to leave the City of Choice was not about financial support from the municipality which they lost after relegation.
“No, it was never about financial support. When we got relegated we knew that there was no financial support anymore. We just wanted to use the stadium for our home games,” he said.
Royal AM offered R27 million to replace Maritzburg United at Harry Gwala Stadium
— MDN NEWS (@MDNnewss) July 22, 2023
Msunduzi local municipality has offered R27 million to Shauwn Mkhize Royal AM in a bid to lure the DStv Premiership club to replace Maritzburg United at Harry Gwala Stadium.
Royal AM #MDNnews pic.twitter.com/wDmOVut6Vb
Out of all this, it’s supporters who have been dealt a bad card as they had become attached to the club. The atmosphere they created at Harry Gwala Stadium was a thing of beauty.
While getting supporters to football games has become a struggle in South Africa, Maritzburg did it with ease.
It was almost common knowledge that Fridays belong to football in the Pietermaritzburg which birthed the “Friday Night Lights” which at some points saw the side go for 20 matches unbeaten at home under coach Eric Tinkler.
“All our supporters are upset about this but again, they understood because they also saw the unwillingness of the municipality to allow us to share the stadium,” Kadodia said.
“We have to start at the bottom, we believe that the name Durban City aligns with the city of Durban, which is very important. We want to have synergy with people throughout Durban.
“We know that Durban City has a good history in the past but obviously we have to build ours right now.”
Durban City is a historic name in local football as they existed between 1959 and 1988, campaigning in the National Football League, Federation Professional League, National Premier Soccer League and National Soccer League.
Legendary South African coach who led Bafana Bafana to the 1996 Afcon victory, the late Clive Barker is one of their former coaches.
The vibe that’s been created at Harry Gwala stadium by @MaritzburgUtd for @OfficialPSL #absapremiership matches is unmatched. Shout out to #teamofchoice #BlueArmy #fridaynightlights got nothing but love for you guys ❤️🔥👏👌 pic.twitter.com/lJhnAxyije
— Quintin Jettoo (@jetfooty) February 1, 2020
Kadodia aims for immediate promotion after rebranding and he feels, the move to the coastal city boosts their chances.
“The moment we got relegated, it was our vision to immediately get back to PSL, but one of the stumbling blocks that we had, with our support that we had in Maritzburg, was a threat that if we played at Harry Gwala we would’ve got promoted,” Kadodia said.
“And I think if we played all our home games in Maritzburg, without a doubt we would have been promoted.
“These are the roadblocks we had last season and it came at a huge cost because we put money to get promoted in (one) year.
“We did that in 2007 and when we were playing in the first division, we had the support of the municipality in terms of facilities and we got promoted.
“Now with Durban City, we don’t plan to stay more than a season in the first division because it’s financially not sustainable to stay in the first division for longer.
“You must have a lot of money or a business model that can keep you to play in the first division for more than one or two seasons.”
Durban City will begin their journey to the top by welcoming Casric Stars, who bought Free State Stars a few years ago, at Chatsworth Stadium on Friday at 19:30.
Harry Gwala on Friday Nights! Is there a better place to be? 👀
— Maritzburg United FC (@MaritzburgUtd) February 28, 2020
Thank you for your amazing support, #BlueArmy 💙#WeAreUnited pic.twitter.com/iIMYUYVye1
