2 days Ago
Mpisane – who doubles up as club chairman – started the club’s opening game of the new season against Cape Town City, which ended in a 1-1 draw. This was the longest he has ever lasted on the pitch in a first-team match. The 23-year-old was withdrawn just a few minutes after the break with the team 1-0 down and his replacement Sera Motebang ultimately found the equaliser.
Whatever he did on the pitch will always divide opinion and leave his coach John Maduka with questions to answers regardless of whether it was his decision to play him. "When it comes to the chairman himself, yeah, we gave him a chance," said Maduka after the match. "You know he played whatever, he did whatever he was supposed to do, then we had to make a change and put someone else.
"It is part of football and part of the game. "Things like that will happen here and there so many times and yeah, life goes on. "It’s just a normal situation where if he is given a chance to play, he plays.
"There will be times maybe when we will give him maybe 15 minutes, or 20 minutes depending on what’s happening on the field of play," said Maduka after the league opener at Harry Gwala Stadium. Mpisane made his debut with a 10-minute cameo role in the 0-0 draw with Richards Bay FC in the last game of the 2022/23 season. Last season, he was introduced with the clock on 88 minutes, before getting his first start against AmaZulu FC four days after Christmas last year when he disappointed, before being pulled out at the break.
Mpisane was an unused substitute for his first two seasons in the First Division after being registered but only got to make his first-team debut during the 2020/21 season when he played two games. After that, Mpisane’s family bought the status of Bloemfontein Celtic, then renamed and relocated the club to KwaZulu-Natal, paving the way for their entrance into top-flight football. In the first season (2021/22), he only sat on the bench once and was then handed his top-league debut against Richards Bay in the last game of the 2022/23 season (May 20, 2023).
That debut was greeted with so much debate just like has been his most recent appearance..
