THE ORGANISERS of the popular Nedbank Cup and Ke Yona Team Search campaign are offering incentives to the first 10 000 football fans who buy their tickets for Saturday’s final at the Cape Town Stadium (7pm).
The first 10 000 supporters who buy their tickets for the clash between surprise finalists Free State Stars and Maritzburg United will get a second ticket for free. This is an attempt by sponsor Nedbank to attract more fans, as neither of the finalists in this year’s money-spinning competition are big crowd-pullers. The banking giant is pulling out all stops to push up the numbers.
The bank’s sponsorship manager for football properties, Tutu Skosana, remains positive they will attract football supporters from across the Western Cape and further afield in Mzansi who are able to travel to the Mother City for this final. But he realises organisers cannot do it all by themselves, they also need the support from the marketing departments of the two finalists to attract a good crowd.
“These are exciting times indeed,” Skosana said yesterday as he was running errands around Cape Town to promote the final.
“This final is coming to Cape Town for the first time after requests from the City of Cape Town to host it this year. It is interesting that a club from outside Gauteng will get to have its name engraved on the trophy.”
Skosana believes the incentive to the first 10 000 ticket buyers will drive up the numbers.
Tickets are now available at TicketPro outlets nationwide, including Edgars, Edgars Active, Edgars connect, Jet, Jet Mart, Postnet and CNA, selling at R40 for adults and R15 for children under 12. They can also be purchased online at TicketPro (www.ticketpro.co.za).
“The final is normally a crowd-puller and I am expecting a humdinger of a match. This is the closest either of these teams have come to winning the Nedbank Cup. I expect a lot of goals in this match. And the fans will be entertained, not only on the pitch, but by artists in the stadium grounds.”
Cassper Nyovest, Busiswa, Lady Zamar, Tipcee and the Cape Town Carnival Band will keep fans on their feet.
The PSL has also called on people from in and around Cape Town to adopt one of the two clubs that are going to battle it out for the Ke Yona Cup final.
Both clubs will travel over a 1 000 kilometres to the Cape Town Stadium where they will play in a historic Cup final – the first appearance by both sides in the Nedbank Cup since inception.
The Premier Soccer League Chief Executive Mato Madlala has appealed to football lovers to come enjoy quality football and also adopt one of the two Clubs.
"Fortunately for me, I don’t have to pick between these two quality clubs because they have both played amazing football to be here.
"But there is an opportunity for the people of the Western Cape to adopt a side and rally behind that club on Saturday.
"You have many elements on the day including the fact that you have a Cape Town-born Fadlu Davids coaching on his first Cup final in front of his home crowd.
"And, you have a Free State Stars that have shown a lot of guts to travel this far.
“We need to ensure that people come in numbers and fill the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday evening.
"We are working closely with both Nedbank and the City of Cape Town to pull all stops ahead of the weekend."
