This comes as the club will be doing upgrades to their home field the Dr. Petrus Molemela Stadium in Rocklands.

The playing surface and the change rooms will enjoy the most attention during the planned upgrades.

Thus the club has agreed to move their home fixtures to the Eastern Cape.

Ironically, the first home game at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium will be on Sunday against Chippa United. The Chilli Boys are the very same team that makes use of the FIFA World Cup Stadium as their home field.

Before the current 2019/20, OFM Sport, reported on Celtic moving numerous of their home fixtures this season to the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein. Celtic has previously made use of the home for the Toyota Cheetahs, and often play their big games such as matches against Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates at the venue.

The Free State Rugby Union and Celtic has always enjoyed a healthy relationship and have accommodated each other well in the past. A representative of the union indicated that this time around they were not aware that Phunya Sele Sele would be moving their games to Port Elizabeth.

At this stage, it is unclear how long the latest renovations would take and this begs one to ask how this will affect the clubs die-hard fans.

To OFM Sport’s understanding, the cash-strapped club will earn R1 million per match which will be played in Port Elizabeth. In 2019 there was uproar and riots due to the reported relocation of Celtic to Kimberley. A source close to OFM Sport indicated that the intention was never to move the club to the Northern Cape, but rather to expand its footprint for a financial game. The idea was to play half of the home fixtures in the Diamond City at R1 million per game as well.

The club confirmed that they will be playing in Port Elizabeth via a short statement.

“Due to numerous complaints from visiting teams and PSL officials. Our home ground, the Dr. Petrus Molemela Stadium, will undergo pitch fixing and dressing room renovations.

“Unfortunately these renovations will cause our game against Chippa United and other upcoming home fixtures to be played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium up until the pitch has fully recovered and were done with the renovations.

“The club shall release a statement soon as to when the fixtures will return to the Dr. Molemela Stadium.”

The stadium, formally known as the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium was renovated in 2008 at a cost reported to be R60 million in order to comply with FIFA standards. The venue was also a training facility for the 2010 FIFA World Cup which was staged in South Africa. A further renovation took place over a period of three years and was completed in 2015.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport