Hungry Lions coach Henry Basie has revealed that the club is struggling to make ends meet, so much so that they've had to scale down on meals and refreshments for their playing personnel.
However, that has not derailed their progress in the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
The Northern Cape side are in their second season in the NFD, and have managed to throw their name in the hat of promotion candidates. They are currently in second place on the log with 22 points from 11 games.
Their most recent victory was 3-0 over TTM at the weekend.
The financial difficulties of running a fully-fledged professional club have caught up with Hungry Lions. The R500 000 monthly grant that’s provided by the PSL helps to a certain extent but it does not cover all the club's expenses.
“We are working on limited resources. Last season we had the R1m from the ABC Motsepe League and it helped us to survive. This season it was not there, so it is difficult,” said Basie.
“This season we are trying to stretch our budget. Sometimes we eat dinner late, around 8pm, so then in the morning we can skip breakfast and give the boys fruits, and have lunch. We are trying, with transport. We book two 22-seaters instead of a bus. We save that way.
“When we book at the hotel, we ask the players to take the water that they give them in the rooms, so we give them water before training and then they use the one from the hotel after training.
Basie said the players understand the situation at the club and that has fuelled their desires to get promotion.
“It is tough. The players know that this is our reality. We try to make the players understand. We tell them not to compare themselves with their friends from the other clubs because we are not as fortunate as the other clubs,” he said.
“This is a promotion league. We have the ambition of getting promotion. We want promotion but it’s tough. We are better than we were last season. We learnt from last season and we are using that learning to get through the season,” Basie said.
NFD results
Hungry Lions 3 - 0 TTM; Black Leopards 0 - 0 JDR Stars; Platinum City Rovers 1 - 0 Magesi; Pretoria University 1 - 2 Casric Stars.
Fixtures
Today: Venda v Pretoria Caillies, Thohoyandou Stadium, 3.30pm
Lions hungry for promotion
Going tough for NFD contenders
Image: Philip Maeta
Hungry Lions coach Henry Basie has revealed that the club is struggling to make ends meet, so much so that they've had to scale down on meals and refreshments for their playing personnel.
However, that has not derailed their progress in the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
The Northern Cape side are in their second season in the NFD, and have managed to throw their name in the hat of promotion candidates. They are currently in second place on the log with 22 points from 11 games.
Their most recent victory was 3-0 over TTM at the weekend.
The financial difficulties of running a fully-fledged professional club have caught up with Hungry Lions. The R500 000 monthly grant that’s provided by the PSL helps to a certain extent but it does not cover all the club's expenses.
“We are working on limited resources. Last season we had the R1m from the ABC Motsepe League and it helped us to survive. This season it was not there, so it is difficult,” said Basie.
“This season we are trying to stretch our budget. Sometimes we eat dinner late, around 8pm, so then in the morning we can skip breakfast and give the boys fruits, and have lunch. We are trying, with transport. We book two 22-seaters instead of a bus. We save that way.
“When we book at the hotel, we ask the players to take the water that they give them in the rooms, so we give them water before training and then they use the one from the hotel after training.
Basie said the players understand the situation at the club and that has fuelled their desires to get promotion.
“It is tough. The players know that this is our reality. We try to make the players understand. We tell them not to compare themselves with their friends from the other clubs because we are not as fortunate as the other clubs,” he said.
“This is a promotion league. We have the ambition of getting promotion. We want promotion but it’s tough. We are better than we were last season. We learnt from last season and we are using that learning to get through the season,” Basie said.
NFD results
Hungry Lions 3 - 0 TTM; Black Leopards 0 - 0 JDR Stars; Platinum City Rovers 1 - 0 Magesi; Pretoria University 1 - 2 Casric Stars.
Fixtures
Today: Venda v Pretoria Caillies, Thohoyandou Stadium, 3.30pm
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