Chippa to start season on the road as stadium issues force seven away fixtures

Speaking to SABC Sport at the launch of the Betway Premiership for the new season, Truter, who will be starting a full season with the Chilli Boys, says the unavailability of their two home venues means that they will now be using Kings Park rugby stadium in Durban, with seven of their home games to be played away from the Eastern Cape...

"That will be a challenge because the people of the Eastern Cape will be starved of football for the opening months of the season. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium needs to be re-turfed after the Springbok game and the turf in East London has also encountered some problems, so there is nowhere to play our home games in the Eastern Cape. We will be using Kings Park for now and there has also been some mentions of Dobsonville Stadium."

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On the players front, Truter has confirmed that the Eastern Cape-based side has released 16 players and mainly replaced them with youthful talent, mainly from the amateur ranks...

"Preparations have gone well in terms of our programme and the friendlies. We've brought in some young and unknown players. It's a very diverse group so blending all of the different ages and characters together is going to be an exciting challenge."

As he looks ahead to the new season, Truter says the focus is on correcting the wrongs from last season and building on the positives, to avoid finding themselves in the relegation zone again.

Chippa United will be away to Golden Arrows on Saturday in their opening game of the season Durban.