Khoza and his club are part of a four-way partnership in a venture which takes a 51% share of the management of the Ellis Park precinct. Pirates will move a few hundred metres from the Johannesburg Stadium, their home for the past couple of seasons, to become the latest footballing tenant at Ellis Park.

The suitability of Ellis Park as the home ground for a club whose majority support is drawn from Soweto's poor is under question. But Ellis Park holds emotive appeal.

Its situation in Doornfontein is inconvenient for all, parking is pathetic and traffic control frustrating, though in the 20-odd seasons I have been to matches there, I have always found the traffic cops making a Herculean effort to keep cars moving.

The stadium was the site of the tragedy four years ago in which 48 people died in a stampede at the derby between Chiefs and Pirates, and it has seen several other violent incidents over the years. Its suitability for midweek floodlit matches was condemned after the disaster.

Yet there remains an unarticulated magic around the venue for the soccer community in this rugby house that Jannie le Roux built so controversially.

First, the design of the stadium is such that the spectators sit much closer to the pitch than at the cavernous Soccer City, for example, making for an intimate and intense atmosphere. Soccer is generally more exciting at Ellis Park because of acoustics and the fervour generated. The pitch has mostly played true over the decades, too, despite having been subjected to the bruising and brutal wear of rugby games, sometimes just 24 hours before a big soccer clash.

It was in 1982, deep in the days of apartheid, that SA football achieved the psychological breakthrough of having enough muscle to convince a verkrampte rugby union to allow it to use its facilities. Highlands Park beat Pirates 1-0 in the first game played there ; and Pirates went for years thereafter without winning, in a run of form that many felt was jinxed.

It was also at Ellis Park that a crowd of at least 100 000 managed to squeeze in to the 1986 JPS Knockout Cup finals between Chiefs and Swallows. I trust there is better gate control today.

Ellis Park became the "Wembley" of SA soccer, while other venues such as Loftus Versfeld and Newlands refused to welcome teams. Now all major venues have rugby and soccer tenants, practical business sense that was dulled by apartheid not that long ago.

Source: Financial Mail