Former Bloemfontein Celtic chairman Jimmy Augousti says he was disappointed by the direction Max Tshabalala took the club and insisted he would love to revive the club.
Tshabalala struggled to pay salaries of players after he bought the club from the Augousti family in 2014, with players all time not being paid.
He then decided to sell the premier division status to Shauwn ‘Ma’ Mkhize who then formed Royal AM just four days before last season got underway.
During the off season, Tshabalala also sold the women’s team status to ‘MaMkhize’ that featured in the Hollywoobets Super League.
“It’s disappointing,” Augousti told iDiski Times after he had won the SAA Supa and TKO when in charge, while no trophies were lifted under Tshabalala.
“You planted the seed and it turns into a trillion and starts delivering fruits and you hand it over to someone hoping the next guy will take it to the next level, but it goes in the opposite direction. So I spoke to 10 thousands of people in the Free State, and they were very disappointed.”
To make matters worse, Celtic’s provincial rivals Free State Stars, just like Celtic, sold its status to Casric FC this season. That means there’s no professional team in the Free State, who have the 2010 World Cup stadium to boot – the Toyota Stadium.
Augousti was at the same venue on Sunday, where he caught up with iDiski Times, watching Royal AM beat Kaizer Chiefs on penalties. He sat all alone, reminiscing the good old time when Celtic used to play the Macufe Cup during the FIFA break.
“Life is good, and it is always good to me. I make the rest of it but definitely miss football,” he added.
“And that’s why I’m there. But it was quite emotional to come to the Macufe Cup game which was sold out in the past when it was Chiefs and Celtic and even the league games when we played at the venue, we used to fill up the stadium.
“There was an atmosphere, a vibe and was second to none in the country. It shows football in Bloemfontein or the Free State is dying. I would love to revive Celtic and it was always part of the plan.
“But it also needs to make economic sense.”
With Celtic struggling under Tshabalala to pay players and technical staff, Augousti attempted to buy the club back but he was unsuccessful.
“I tried it twice to buy it from Max Tshabalala. We had discussions and we couldn’t come to an agreement and I moved on and Max sold the club and the rest is history. Today we are sitting without a club here,” he said.
Story by Robin-Duke Madlala (@duke_robin).
