Amazulu Football Club, one of the oldest teams in South Africa, wants to return to the glory days of yesteryear. Under the stewardship of Sandile Zungu, Usuthu managed to finish second on the log in 2020-2021 seasons, their best finish since the advent of the Premier Soccer League.
Zungu has plans that he says will see the club grow in leaps and bounds. The Moses Mabhida stadium, home of Amazulu FC, Zungu says he wants to make the venue a fortress. He has been in charge of Usuthu for almost two years.
“When I bought Amazulu in 2020, I knew that it had the potential of being one of the biggest teams in the country. I want to make sure that if you are from KZN, Amazulu becomes your favourite team. At worst, we should finish in the top eight, at most, win the championship. We should not be associated with relegation,” says Zungu.
Release of players
Usuthu released a total of 15 players at the end of last season. In that number, there’s a swop deal with Orlando Pirates as defender Thapelo Xoki has since joined the black-and-white ensemble while Frank Gabadinho Mhango made his way to the Durban-based outfit.
Releasing such a huge number of players has raised eyebrows, some questioning whether the coffers of Amazulu are in order. But Zungu is unbothered.
“We will not discuss the finances of the team. Those are shebeen discussions. We don’t want passengers on the team. We’ve cut down the size to 18 and then added eight new faces. Let naysayers speculate, but let me say this, financial struggles are furthest from Amazulu FC,” Zungu adds.
The team is making some strides.
“We bought the team on the 1st of October 2020. We’ve played in CAF Champions league number two, the Coach of the year and the Goal of the month. We’ve ticked many boxes in the 20 months or so,” Zungu reiterates.
Amazulu finished seventh on the log last season and Zungu is expecting better performances in the upcoming campaign.
