Local amateur football team ProMates FC is gunning for promotion to the second-tier division, the ABC Motsepe League.
The competition is administered by Safa.
The Botshabelo-based outfit has secured a spot in the promotion play-offs to the league in the Free State following a 3 – 1 win against Morojaneng United FC from Dewetsdorp.
The two clubs met on 23 April to decide the Mangaung Metro Regional League champion, with ProMates crowned the winner.
The club is now focused on the provincial promotion play-offs that will decide which two of the five competing clubs will be promoted to the province’s ABC Motsepe League, which features 16 clubs.
ProMates will compete for one of the two available slots in the second-tier division against the winners from the Lejweleputswa, Fezi Dabi, Thabo Mofutsanyana and Xhariep regions. Teams finishing in first and second position are promoted to the ABC Motsepe League, which is the semi-professional league in the country.
The five clubs will compete on a round-robin basis.
The other four opponents are expected to be announced in due course after they finish their league competitions in their respective regions.
Thereafter, the federation will announce the host venue and date of the eagerly awaited promotion play-offs.
According to Lehlohonolo Maduna, secretary of Safa Mangaung, the contest for promotion to the ABC Motsepe League will start on 13 May with a preliminary elimination fixture between ProMates and the winner from the Xhariep region.
ProMates’ campaign in the lower rank spans several years, with this being the first time the club qualifies for the provincial promotion play-offs.
This was also the first time the team won the third-tier league of the Mangaung Metro.
Morojaneng United attained promotion on the team’s fourth attempt in 2020, after failing three times in a row from 2017 to 2019.
United has managed to establish itself as a formidable force in the third-tier league in the Mangaung Metro.
