Bloemfontein Celtic confirm venue change

Bloemfontein Celtic have moved their clash against Ajax Cape Town to the Free State Stadium on Sunday, September 16.

The Absa Premiership encounter was originally scheduled to be played at the Botshabelo Stadium which is situated 50km east of the Free State capital, Bloemfontein, but poor attendances in Botshabelo have prompted Phunya Sele Sele to change the venue.

The Bloemfontein side played majority of their home matches at the same venue last season, because their ‘slaughterhouse’ Seisa Ramabodu has been closed for renovations.

“Yes, I can confirm that particular fixture will now be played in Bloemfontein on September 16. The kick-off time of 15:00 remains the same,” Khumbulani Konco, Celtic CEO, says.

“In our recent general meeting, we told our supporters that we would try and play most of our home matches at the Free State Stadium, because we get good attendances in Bloemfontein. We have already staged our first game here last Wednesday.

We got a decent crowd considering that it was a night match.  We hope that fans will come out in numbers to support the team when we host Ajax next month. It will be important for them to come and give backing to the players who always appreciate their presence,” he says.

After going down 3-2 to Black Leopards in their league opener, Celtic followed up that away defeat with a 2-1 victory against Platinum Stars at home on Wednesday, and another three points haul against Bidvest Wits in Johannesburg on Saturday will be vital for Clinton Larsen’s men.

“There is still much for us to achieve this season and the match-up with The Students is likely to be an exciting game, given that they will want to avenge the 3-1 defeat we handed them at the same venue last season. We want to improve our away record and will have to go all out for the win,” Konco says.

Celtic are currently sitting eighth on the log after collecting 3 points in two matches.