Not much is known about the surface of the Isak Steyl Stadium in Vanderbijlpark which makes for an interesting opening encounter when VUT host NMMU-Madibaz.
Coach Geelbooi ‘Gomma Gomma’ Masango has however promised that teams can expect a hard ground that is nice and conducive to fast-paced matches.
“When teams come to our stadium, they must know they will be in for a hard time and points are not going to come easy here. We want to make the Isak Steyl Stadium our slaughterhouse.
“Other than the way we will approach our home games, we are expecting a big home crowd who will bring a nice atmosphere to prceedings and will ensure our opposition knows they are playing an away game,” Masango told varsitysportssa.com.
As part of their preparation, VUT will head to the UJ Stadium on Wednesday, July 15 to play a friendly against last year’s runners-up in order to gain some experience on a different playing surface.
Masango has been making use of his legendary status – having played for AmaZulu, Giant Blackpool and Vaal Professionals – by having numerous former Kaizer Chiefs players and backroom staff members give their input into VUT’s preparations so as to adequately prepare the side for the first Varsity Football tournament.
“The friendly against UJ will be great for us to play on a different surface, a surface which we might play on in the tournament. They were pretty successful in their first year in the competition – making it to the final – so hopefully we can draw some inspiration from them and see what they did to be that successful.
“It’s nice to have played football at the highest level and have made many friends along the way, so I have been able to ask them to come out and see where they can assist and what advice they can give,” he added.
