Fact sheet: Cape Town Spurs

Cape Town Spurs must make up for the bitter disappointment of losing out on automatic promotion from the Motsepe Foundation Championship this season when they enter the post-season playoffs.

We take a look at the club and their chances against Maritzburg United and Casric Stars.

SEASON RECORD

League Finish: Second in the Motsepe Foundation Championship

Overall record: P30 W17 D6 L7 GF42 GA27

Home record: P15 W12 D1 L2 GF27 GA11

Away record: P15 W5 D5 L5 GF15 GA16

Most league appearances: Ashley Cupido – 30 (27 starts, 3 subs)

Top scorer in the league: Ashley Cupido – 15 goals

Nedbank Cup finish: Lost 2-0 (away) in the Last 16 to Sekhukhune United.

HEAD-TO-HEADS

Record v Casric Stars: P2 W1 D0 L1 GF2 GA1

Record v Maritzburg United: P24 W7 D6 L11 GF27 GA31

PLAYOFF FIXTURES

May 28: v Casric Stars (away)

June 3: v Maritzburg United (home)

June 7: v Casric stars (home)

June 14: v Maritzburg United (away)

CAMPAIGN SO FAR

Cape Town Spurs had the chance to seal automatic promotion on the final day but were held to a 1-1 draw by the University of Pretoria and were pipped at the top of the league by Polokwane City on goal difference. It will be especially disappointing as they had been imperious at home this campaign and made the Athlone Stadium a real fortress, something they will want to continue in the playoffs. They are much better in the Mother City than away but did only concede a little over one goal per game on their travels, so if they can improve a little, they could turn that around. The big challenge for them could be mentally moving on from that last-day heartache.

WHY THEY CAN WIN THE PLAYOFFS

Spurs were the front runners for much of the final few months of the season and have developed a winning culture in the team. They have bags of PSL experience in their squad in the likes of Clayton Daniels, Nazeer Allie, Granwald Scott and Michael Morton, and will make sure they are not easy to beat. There is also some top young talent, not least chief scorer Ashley Cupido and on-loan Orlando Pirates forward Boitumelo Radiopane. There are not too many weaknesses in this side.

THE COACH

Shaun Bartlett is a legend of South African football and has experience of winning promotion in the past with Lamontville Golden Arrows. He has turned around the fortunes of Spurs after the club was involved in a number of scrapes with relegation to the ABC Motsepe League and has turned them into title contenders. He has been in the role for almost two years now and has a great understanding of his squad.

KEY PLAYER

Midfielder Morne Nel is such a clever player and it remains a mystery why he did not have more success in the top flight of South African football, or beyond, in his career. Anyone who saw him neutralise Manchester City as a teenager a decade ago would have thought he was headed for the very top. Still only 26, he can make up for lost time and is hugely influential for this Spurs team in both a defensive and offensive manner.

DID YOU KNOW?

Cape Town Spurs were relegated from the DStv Premiership at the end of the 2017-18 season, while still campaigning as Ajax Cape Town. They also reached the playoffs in the 2019-20 campaign but lost out to Black Leopards, taking six points from 12. TTM were involved too.