Swallows relegated to Second Division

Moroka Swallows has apologised to their fans after their weekend draw against Thanda Royal Zulu cemented their relegation.

Johannesburg - Moroka Swallows had fought hard in recent weeks, showing great spirit and courage to revive their hopes of avoiding the chop from the National First Division (NFD) with some positive results.

But in the end, their poor earlier season form came back to haunt them, with a 1-1 draw against Thanda Royal Zulu on Sunday in Dobsonville confirming Swallows' relegation from the NFD to the Second Division.

The club subsequently went on to release the following statement: “On behalf of Moroka Swallows' management and all other parties and individuals involved, we wish to extend a word of apology to all 'The Birds Loving People' who are the club's supporters, fans, sponsors, the football fraternity and the millions of South Africans in general. We have no words strong enough to express our disappointment in our own failure to avoid yet another drop to the lower division.

“We apologise, because means cannot justify the end. As much as we tried under very difficult circumstances caused by situations beyond our control, we failed to escape the axe for the second year in succession.

“We further wish to extend our appreciation to all our supporters and fans for their loyal and unending support. We thank our players and the technical staff who played, fought and performed under difficult conditions. Unfortunately the battle was lost. Our appreciation goes to all those parties and individuals who supported us in many ways more than once and we hope their names and faces will be revealed to the public sooner rather than later. Lastly we thank the very few staff members who stayed behind and kept the candle burning up to now.

“As Swallows' management we hope that the ongoing talks and programmes of changing the ownership and the leadership of Swallows are soon finalised to allow 'The Birds' a fresh breath and a space to fly back to the top.”

African News Agency