JOHNSON: APOLOGIES TO THE 16 MILLION SUPPORTERS

In 2024, it’s ironic to hear that Kaizer Chiefs are the most supported club in the country when comparing their fan attendance for home games in the past few years. A bit of a jab for the Kaizer Chiefs staff at Naturena and the fans that have clearly downed tools in supporting the team from the stands.

The excuse many fans will use for not attending Kaizer Chiefs games is that the team isn’t winning, and the glory days are long gone. A testament to that, was the performance that the team gave against minnows, Milford, in the Nedbank Cup as the Glamour Boys were beaten on penalties after extra time.

The last time Amakhosi lifted a trophy was in the 2014/15 season, the season of the double as they walked away with a league title and the MTN8 trophy. Since then, the team has seen itself continuously struggle to reach a final in almost 9 years, only getting a silver medal twice in that period as they lost in the Nedbank Cup final against TS Galaxy and the CAF Champions League final against Al Ahly. 

Following Sundowns’ resounding 6-1 win over La Masia and Orlando Pirates’ 6-0 win against Crystal Lake, many would’ve expected that Kaizer Chiefs would stamp their authority in their clash against Milford, however, the Glamour Boys failed to live up to expectations as they couldn’t convert any of their chances created.

In extra-time, Ranga Chivaviro missed a penalty as Milford’s shot-stopper, Siphamandla Hleza pulled off a brilliant save to deny Amakhosi from taking the lead in the clash. As the match went onto a penalty shoot-out, Milford had set themselves up for a lottery that they’d eventually win as they went through to the Round of 16 of the Nedbank Cup.

Following the encounter, Kaizer Chiefs' interim coach, Cavin Johnson was quick to apologise to the Amakhosi faithful. "You have to apologise to the 16 million supporters [it's not clear where Johnson got this figure] that we have. I am sure they will be able to see or they have seen the game on television, it's not that we allowed the team [Milford] to come at us, I mean they never had a shot at goal I think. We tried the best we could in order to get as far as we could in this particular tournament and with the trophy drought as it is at the moment, the only thing we can do is to repay back the people by playing properly in the league", said Johnson. 

The draw for the next round of the Nedbank Cup takes place on Monday evening. Only then will we know who Milford will face in the next round of the'Cup of dreams'.