Corporate Communications Manager, Vina Maphosa paid a glowing tribute to the thousands of supporters who came through to the Soccer City Complex on Saturday to support their team against traditional rivals Orlando Pirates.

The supporters started arriving at Club’s Headquarters on Thursday and came in numbers on Friday with travelling supporters from as far as Cape Town and other parts of South Africa receiving a royal treatment at The Village.

“It all started at the Village days before the game with Chiefs supporters coming through to the Retail Shop to purchase Chiefs’ uniform and we also had an opportunity to host them for lunch where they were addressed and interacted with Managing Director, Bheki Shongwe and Marketing Director, Jessica Motaung. It was not a surprise when they filled the stadium in the manner they did on Saturday.”

“I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Management, Technical Team and the players to thank the supporters for their support against Orlando Pirates. The vibe was good at the stadium and we did not spot any negative incidences in the stands. Our supporters understand their responsibility to lift the team to greater heights. When they sing and blow vuvuzela’s it rubs off to the players on the pitch.”

Supporters Relations Manager Cecil Motaung echoed Vina’s words; “There is a lot of on-going interaction between the office and the branches and the message is starting to filter through to everyone. The few who still bring negative vibe to the stadium find themselves isolated and are reprimanded by their peers in the stands.”

This season we will continue in conjunction with Marketing Department, Communications and Supporters Club to visit the provinces. The Road Shows help us to take the office to the supporters. We are also happy that there were few cases of reported fans that sold or wore ‘fong-kong’ jerseys. The Retail Store at the Village has been buzzing since the launch of the new away kit,” added Motaung.

“In football you win some and you lose some, Chiefs is confident that going forward hard work on and off the football pitch will soon result in positive results that the Amakhosi faithful have enjoyed in 42 years of the Clubs’ existence.” Concluded Vina.