Orlando Pirates head coach José Riveiro says that the most surprising aspect upon his arrival at the club was the lack of support at the club’s home games at Orlando Stadium.
The Spanish tactician was brought in by the Soweto giants on a three year deal in 2022 to help turn the club’s fortunes around after finishing sixth in the league during the 2021-22 season.
After a disappointing season a year prior, some of the club’s supporters had seemingly turned their back on the club, opting to instead watch the games on television.
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After helping the club turn the corner by winning back-to-back domestic cup doubles and finishing second in the league, the Buccaneers' faithful have started filling Orlando Stadium again.
Speaking in the Buccaneers' behind the scenes documentary on YouTube, Riveiro revealed that he was shocked by the lack of supporters at Orlando when he first arrived at the club.
“If I got back to the time when I started here as head coach, the first thing that shocked me as a coach in our own stadium was the lack of people in our stadium.
“We are giants, we have a huge fan-base behind us but the stadium was empty. Maybe five thousand, six thousand. Thank you to those who came,” Riveiro said.
Riveiro added, some of the few supporters that did pitch up at Orlando Stadium wanted to see the team perform but were extremely critical of the players.
“But it’s not only that we had a small crowd. It was also that people were there were not really supporting us. No patience with the boys.
“Putting pressure after every single mistake. It seemed like people were anxious to see us performing, they really wanted the team to succeed.
“And when they saw thing were not coming together again it was tough, it was difficult,” Riveiro concluded.
IOL Sport