Highbury FC are facing a venue crisis with no home ground to call their own after the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality missed the deadline to renew the Gelvandale Stadium’s safety certificate.
The Yellow Nation have used the Gelvandale Stadium as their home venue since last season.
However, the current safety certificate expires on Thursday, which means that the Gqeberha side will not have a venue for their Motsepe Foundation Championship fixture against Casric Stars on Friday because the Gelvandale Stadium will not be compliant.
Frustrated Highbury chair Cameron Klopper said his only options would be to find a home ground outside the city because the Wolfson Stadium and the Westbourne Oval were also not compliant, or attempt to move their match to Thursday.
However, both options will cost the club dearly.
Klopper said he reminded sport, recreation, arts and culture executive director Charmaine Williams and relevant managers earlier in October that the Gelvandale Stadium safety certificate was due to expire.
An email seen by The Herald, sent by Klopper on October 6, read: “Could you kindly assist with the renewal of the safety certificate for the Gelvandale Stadium, which expires on the 23rd of October 2025.
“Please treat this as a matter of urgency, as we will be playing our home game at the Gelvandale Stadium on the 24th of October 2025.”
Williams replied to Klopper’s email, saying the process to renew the safety certificate had started but was not yet approved.
Klopper sent another email on October 16 requesting an update.
Williams responded: “We regrettably are not able to confirm that we will have the renewed grading certificate available in time for 24 October 2025.
“It might be better to proactively explore the use of an alternative venue to give timely notice to the opponent and PSL.
“My humble apology for the inconvenience, and we hope to sort this matter before your next home game.”
An annoyed Klopper said: “We are playing on Friday, but we do not have a venue.
“The only [other viable] option we had was the university [Madibaz], but the field is not available.
“Now we would have to play outside the metro or play on October 23, on the day that the safety certificate expires.
“Casric Stars are prepared to play on that day; however, now we have to pay for their flights to arrive on Wednesday.
“These two options will cost the team either way, whether we play outside the metro or play the fixture a day earlier than the set date.
“Wolfson and the Westbourne Oval are not compliant.
“I do not get a cent from this metro where I pay rates and taxes.”
When asked for comment, Williams said the municipality was busy getting the venue’s grading certificate.
Disaster management, safety and security acting head Thomas Cameron was contacted to inquire if the renewal process had indeed started and how long the process would take.
Cameron directed questions to the metro’s communication department.
Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya did not respond to queries.
The Herald
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