Tension in the air as Pirates take on opponents in Soccer Premier League

If you ever thought that watching a Gor Mahia or AFC Leopards midweek match at the Nyayo National Stadium is where you get the ultimate experience of a night match, then you have to visit the Orlando Stadium in Soweto and feel the energy and tension in the air as the home team Pirates take on one of the teams in the Soccer Premier League (SPL).

I have always thought Gor Mahia and sometimes AFC have the most loyal colourful fans across Africa, but it was until I was proven wrong when I got to the Orlando Stadium together with a group of journalists from Kenya, Uganda and Zambia on a SuperSport sponsored tour, on Saturday night as Pirates played Mamelodi Sundowns in a PSL match.

Just as you drive to the stadium you just feel the tension in the air but wait until you get inside the stadium when the match is on and you will be forgiven if think you are not watching a match in an African league.

The atmosphere is more like in the English Premier League or the Spanish La Liga but with the African culture on show this is what every football lover would wish to be part of.

Fans here come in all sorts of attire and I was surprised to see a Pirates fans in a flowing robe complete with the logo of sea robbers but was carrying bible and the stadium should be the last place to see someone carrying the holy book.

Colourful attireTo make it even more interesting, fans were either in Pirates or Sundowns jerseys, no one was in either Arsenal, Man United or Chelsea jersey while watching Gor, AFC, Mathare or Sofapaka, does that sound familiar?

As if that was not enough, the fans in the colourful attire don’t converge in one place never mind that the entire stadium is enclosed just like Kasarani as there is no fear of being rained on if you are at the ‘Russia’ stand at the Nyayo Stadium.

The fans each have their particular places where they cheer their team on and they prefer to stand throughout the match even though there are seats all over the stadium.

But then one may ask about the organisation as fans get into the 40,000-seater stadium.

The movement of fans in and out of the stadium here is just an experience that one would want to have in Kenya especially when the issue of the fans who died in the Gor and AFC Leopards match comes to mind.

For those who get into the stadium in their vehicles will just park as indicated in their tickets. Tickets not only show where one will sit, but it also shows where one will park.

And for those who park outside the stadium — and they were quite a number who did that on Saturday — you just find your way to the stadium in many of the entrances without much trouble and at no time did I see people trying to force their way into the stadium.

Once inside the precincts of the stadium, depending on where your seat is, you can find your way there via the lifts, which go up to, the third floor or you can use the stairs.

Presidential suiteThe journalists also have their own suite and before they even get into the lift to get to the suite they are welcomed at the reception just next to the lifts by staff of Pirates where you get details of the club apart from getting the starting line ups of both the teams and what formation each coach is going to use.

Apart from the media suite, just next to it there is the Super Suite which they also call the presidential suite and here you don’t get in there without official attire and even if you manage to go in dressed in a jeans then you should not be in sports shoes.

But to the fans in the stadium, the singing and booing is non-stop but the good thing is that they don’t boo at the officials for bad calls but they boo the opposition when they have possession of the ball and it becomes even louder when they get a shot off target or lose possession.

Both sets of fans also enjoy themselves in their own way which they think will make their teams play well and at no time will you see an opposing fan going to confront the other, food for thought for our fans back in Kenya?

After the match which ended in a barren draw, you will also be surprised as how the stadium clears very quickly without any incident and also outside there is no looting or cars being vandalised and remember this is Soweto where as you have heard before, it is supposed to be a hub of crime.