Zebras, rollers to play UK side

| Monday July 7, 2014 06:59

The match will be played at the National Stadium on July 24. It will be the second fixture played on tour, with a match against Botswana Premier League champions Township Rollers on July 21 at the same venue. The National Stadium has capacity for 21,000 and with City being the first UK team to tour the country, both fixtures are sure to prove extremely popular with locals.

Majority shareholder Steve Lansdown said: “It is very exciting for Bristol City to be the first UK team to visit Botswana and open up links with this football-mad country. “To be honoured with games against their Premier League champions and the national team shows how much they value our visit.

“I am certain this will be a great experience for all the management, players and supporters who make the trip.” 

Botswana’s national team are midway through their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, with a two-legged tie against Guinea-Bissau awaiting them in the second round.

They are aiming to qualify for only the second time in their history, having reached the 2012 finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Township Rollers have won the Botswana Premier League a record 12 times, as well as claiming the Coca-Cola Cup six times.

A group of supporters are joining the Bristol City Community Trust on their own tour of Botswana, and will attend both games. The team travels first to South Africa on July 12, for a training camp in Rustenburg, before heading north for the second part of the tour, where they will play two matches as well as engage in community visits. (Bristol Post)