Miscellaneous take shock lead in BTC Cup votes
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday July 27, 2018 12:40
Voting closes on August 5 for the inaugural one-day tournament that takes place on August 11, 2018.
The Serowe-based side had 8,391 votes by Wednesday evening, followed by arguably the most supported clubs in the country, Extension Gunners and Township Rollers who have been voted 4,822 and 4,564 times respectively while Gaborone United makes the quartet with 3,463 votes.
Tse Nala were in top form last season as they finished forth. This could have contributed in the supporters yearning to see their side back on field earlier than the start of the official season.
The club’s public relations officer, Edwin Ntau said they are leaving no stone unturned, as they want to tap into the financial benefits of taking part in the one-day spectacular.
“We have done supporter education, we have alerted them of the financial situation the club is in.
We are broke, we do not have a sponsor and our supporters know that they have a role to play to assist the club get out of this situation,” Ntau said.
“We mobilised our branches across the country and each have target to meet hence why our numbers (of votes) are higher at the moment. The supporters know the financial benefit of being in the tournament. They are aware of how the money will help us in preparing for the next season. This could be our only chance of making revenue for the team other than just depending on the gate takings and BPL (Botswana Premier League) grants,” he added.
Ntau revealed that the club has over 20, 000 registered supporters and they intend to match the number as they want to be miles ahead of the chasing pack.
Mochudi Centre Chiefs are the surprise omission from the top four as they are fifth. Jwaneng Galaxy and Orapa United, despite their impressive form last season are struggling to amass a larger number of votes.
The winner of tournament will walk away with P300, 000, runners-up will pocket P200, 000 while P120, 000 will be handed to semi finalists.
Meanwhile, Miscellaneous’ Young Zebras captain, Resaobaka Thatayane’s pending transfer to South African National First Division side, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila has hit a snag.
Miscellaneous are yet to release his International Clearance form owing to unpaid transfer fee.
The 19-year-old is said to have penned a three- year deal with the Limpopo-based side, but the club is yet to pay a fee of around P200, 000 that was requested by Tse Nala for the player’s services.