The great crowd debate... 10 years on

Ian Sadler|Published 19 years ago

Ten years after the inception of the Premier Soccer League, it is still not possible to get accurate figures on the numbers of fans that go to the grounds around South Africa.

Clubs are not obliged to release gate figures, said a PSL official, and there are set fees at the gate.

"We have no control when it comes to league games," admitted Ronnie Schloss, the PSL's financial director, who is also in charge of stadiums.

Schloss said the PSL runs the gate at cup games where the takings are divided proportionally by the teams, but when it comes to league matches the home side has complete control. He added there were no rules obliging clubs to divulge the numbers that attended games.

"If, for example, Santos are at home to Ajax, Santos keep all the money taken at the gate and there is a set entry fee of R20, but they can charge extra for a grandstand seat," said Schloss, who pointed to the fact that most soccer grounds in South Africa do not have turnstiles or those that do are out of order.

He said a lot of the problems stemmed from the past. "Most cricket and rugby grounds have had the facilities in place for years, which in some cases were paid for by city councils. It wasn't the same for soccer."

Johannesburg's FNB Stadium, earmarked for a number of high-profile 2010 World Cup games, does have turnstiles but they are out of order. "They should be up and running by 2010," said Schloss.

Santos boss Goolam Allie on Wednesday said he'd gladly let fans into his club's home games free, bar matches against Kaizer Chiefs.

"Our real supporters attend week in week out and I'd love to let them in for nothing, but Chiefs' fans pitch up once a season... and for those games we'd like to sell tickets at say R50 each. That way our loyal fans would be rewarded and the guys that go to just one game can't complain."

- Tickets for Wednesday's PSL opener between Santos and Celtic at Athlone Stadium, can be bought at the gate or the Santos Academy in Lansdowne. Adults R20, scholars R10, Under-12s free.