Marumo Gallants have confirmed the purchase of the Moroka Swallows franchise, taking over one of the iconic names of South African football, whose future is now unclear.
A statement from Gallants on Thursday said the Premier Soccer League had approved the sale of Swallows to the Limpopo-based club.
“Following the final approval of the Premier Soccer League, (PSL) today, Marumo Gallants Football Club officially confirms the acquisition of Moroka Swallows Football Club. Gallants will take over Swallows with immediate effect. The club also confirms that home games for the upcoming season will be played in Bloemfontein.”
“Gallants will provide more details of plans once staff, technical teams and players have been addressed. At this stage the club will not be issuing further comments or taking interviews – a date will be communicated for a press briefing that will take place shortly,” it added.
🚨Immediate Release🚨
— MARUMO GALLANTS FC (@_Marumogallants) June 27, 2024
MARUMO GALLANTS F.C. CONFIRMS ACQUISITION OF MOROKA SWALLOWS F.C.#Marumogallantsfc #PSL #diski #BreakingNews #FootballFever pic.twitter.com/z0iyNBrYUW
Gallants will now take Swallows’ place in the top flight after they came close to being relegated for a second successive season.
Gallants were started in 2021 when Polokwane-based businessman Abram Sello bought the franchise of Tshakhuma Tsa Madzivhandila, who in turn had bought the status of Bidvest Wits in 2020 for a place among the elite.
But owner Lawrence Mulaudzi ran out of money and sold to Sello, who moved the club to Polokwane.
He could not immediately change the name of the club, however, so the club was still TTM when it won the 2021 Nedbank Cup.
They also played in the 2022 Nedbank Cup final and competed in the African Confederation Cup last year, reaching the semifinal.
But their participation was clouded in ignominy when Sello failed to pay hotel and charter flight costs in Libya and left his brother-in-law, team manager Rufus Matsena, as collateral, effectively held hostage for several weeks before diplomatic intervention freed him.
Gallants were relegated at the same time and then finished 11th in the Motsepe Foundation Championship this season, winning four of their last five games to finish five points clear of the relegation places.
It is not known if Swallows will take up the place in the second tier.
Swallows were resurrected in 2020 with the purchase the franchise of Maccabi FC and won promotion.
Embarrassingly, the Birds missed two games at the end of last year after a player strike and ceded the points, as well as had to pay a hefty fine.
They saw several players leave as well as coach Steve Komphela, setting up the prospect of a disastrous second half of the season but they managed to stay up and finished in 14th place.