SuperSport United CEO Stan Matthews has heaped huge praise on Andre Arendse and the club’s backroom staff for sticking together during difficult times after they avoided the promotion playoffs.
Matsatsantsa played to a 1-1 draw against Golden Arrows on Thursday afternoon to all but secure their top-flight status for next season.
The three-time PSL champions needed just a point coming into 45-minute tie and took a fourth minute lead through Christian Saile with Arrows restoring parity in the 24th minute through Velemseni Ndwandwe with the match finishing in a stalemate.
Former United players and coaches were present at the Lucas Moripe Stadium to support Matsatsantsa in their last fight for survival and speaking to Thato Moeng from SuperSport TV, Matthews stated that it was a difficult time for them especially as they’ve never finished outside the top eight.
“First and foremost, thanks to God for getting us through these 45 minutes and really, the last few months, it’s been hell really taxing in hard on everybody in the football club, especially some of us that have been here a long time and been through all the glory days of the club,” said an emotional Matthews told SuperSport TV.
“In my 25 years, I’ve never finished out the top eight, so in my first foray outside the top eight to fight down to the last seconds of the season to avoid relegation playoffs, first of all, to the players and to Andre. Andre took over in such a difficult situation for us. We fought our way hard with three draws and a win. And after the Chippa game, we were like sailing. We were ready to go through the wall, and we felt as a group that we had it wrapped up, and then, all the speculation and all the stuff that came out in the media was really a blow to the solar plexus for everybody, for all of us in the club, and to try and get the players back on track, and get the team, where we needed them to be in the zone for this fight.
“So, I just want to say congratulations to Andre and the technical team, to all my staff that have pulled together. When the chips are down, it’s easy when you’re winning trophies. The 13 trophies we’ve won together, it’s been easy to sing and dance and be happy afterwards. But every single person here, when I saw that the former players that are here, every single one of our former players, our former captains, the people that came to support us, the people that love this football club and for what we’ve done for South African football on the field with Bafana Bafana, with the national junior teams.
“We’re very, very proud as a group for what we stand for as a club and how much we love this football club and opportunities that it’s given people over the past 25 years. So, to Andre and the players, to all my staff, to our board of directors, who rallied behind us through this tough time and doubled down and supported us as a group, gave us incentives and gave us a light at the end of the tunnel to say boys, you’ve gotta go through this, and you’ve gotta do it. So, for Rendani, my CEO, he told me that I only had one job to do. Thank God for that, because we’ve made it to the other side.
“So, I just want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you to all the people that supported us when we were really on the ropes and down, and especially to this man who (kiss on the forehead) held his nerve and has been with me since he was a player and loves this club more than anybody, and for me and Paul and him and Grant and Brian and Coltrane and the guys behind the scene, when we cry, we cry in tears of joy and love and passion, because we bleed blue for this football club, for Matsatsantsa Apitori, for what we’ve done and what we’ve achieved.
“And thank God that we’re able to take that legacy forward by staying in this wonderful and competitive and hell of a drama filled PSL, that we all love so much.”
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