Callies host ambitious Spurs in Motsepe Foundation Championship opener
In a keenly anticipated fixture in the opening round of Motsepe Foundation Championship action, Pretoria Callies and Cape Town Spurs will do battle at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Kick off is at 3pm CAT (SA, GMT +2)
All eyes will be on the new Motsepe Foundation Championship this weekend, with the Callies and Spurs fixture having its own storyline. The tie will take place at the famous Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium, as Callies begin their league bid on home soil.
In the 21/22 league season, Callies finished in 12th spot, two points ahead of their upcoming opponents. Toward the end of last season, the side from Pretoria dangled above the relegation zone, however, they were guided to safety after recording three wins in their last five encounters of the season.
As for Spurs, the Western Cape side narrowly avoided the drop last season and had a largely inconsistent campaign where they struggled to string wins together.
Spurs ended the previous term in 14th spot and will look to affect the other end of the table this time around. The Urban Warriors were one of the busiest teams in the transfer window with the likes of Clayton Daniels, Granwald Scott, Nazeer Allie and Micheal Morton adding experience to the club.
With a new mandate of looking to gain automatic promotion, Spurs coach Shaun Bartlett reflected on the task at hand and mentioned that getting off to a good start will be crucial in laying a foundation for the new season.
“The 22/23 season in the Motsepe Foundation Championship for us is going to be a massive one,” Bartlett said.
“As a club, we’ve given ourselves a target of getting automatic promotion back to the PSL, where this club belongs.
“For us as a team, starting on Saturday against Pretoria Callies, it’s going to be a massive task to make sure that we can get off to a good start.
“We are under no illusion that it’s going to be an easy task to get back to the PSL.”
Last season, Callies recorded a massive 6-1 home win in the first league encounter between the two, however Spurs claimed maximum points in the return leg with a 1-0 victory at the Athlone Stadium.
