Milford owner-coach Xanti Pupuma has insisted that so far he hasn’t seen any need to sign foreign players, highlighting the club’s values to prioritise homegrown talent.
Newbies Milford gave a very good account of themselves, despite losing 2-0 to reigning league champions in what was their first game in the Premiership at Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday, where Oswin Appollis and Tshepang Moremi found the back of the net for the home side.
Milford’s squad is hugely made up of the players that have been with the club since their formative years in the lower divisions. And, all their players are South Africans.
Pupuma has since narrated why they haven’t yet exercised the right to bolster the squad with at least one foreigner, insisting the current team was capable of surviving their maiden season in topflight.
“We’re a team that’s coming up with players from ABC Motsepe League. It’s very rare that you have foreign players in the ABC Motsepe League, so we took these guys and came up to the MFC with them and now we are proceeding with them even in the Premiership,” Pupuma stated.
“We haven’t had an opportunity to say we’re looking outside. Unfortunately we haven’t identified any foreign players. There have been suggestions from agents and other team owners [to sign foreign players], but we’ve always wanted to give first preference to local boys from around Richards Bay.”
We’re a team with players from ABC Motsepe League. We took these guys and came up to the MFC with them, and now we are in the Premiership. We give first preference to local boys from around Richards Bay.
— Xanti Pupuma, Milford owner
Pupuma, who’s from Nqamakwe in the Eastern Cape, insisted that he had no problem with foreign people, suggesting it was the club’s core values that inform their decision to only go for local players so far. The Milford owner-coach didn’t rule out the possibility of signing non-locals in the future.
“And us [as Milford owners] coming from the Eastern Cape, we also want to involve the Eastern Cape people in bolstering the team, so as long as there’s a player from Nqamakwe that is at the same level as a player from Zimbabwe, I am going to take the one from Nqamakwe,” Pupuma stated.
“Not that I have a problem with people from outside, but I feel that I’d relate more with a Nqamakwe boy knowing where he’s coming from. Maybe going forward, as we grow in the professional ranks that will change.”
Sowetan
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