Chairman of Thunderbirds Ladies team, Thembalethu ‘Terra’ Apleni, says they will have to do a lot of introspection about the way forward. He was speaking after his team was relegated from the Hollywoodbets Super League with four games to play.
The Eastern Cape side has had a torrid 2024-25 season and have not won a match after 27 rounds of fixtures, with only three draws to their name.
“We are all down as individuals and as a team, but life goes on. We have been saying that we failed to keep the core of the previous team, we have been using new combinations with new players. We can’t fool our brains. We worked according to the strength we had, unfortunately, our strength was not enough to sustain us,” said a distraught Apleni.
“At the end of the season we will sit down and plan the way forward. What we need is a break and do a lot of introspection to see which direction to take.”
Thunderbirds’ demise was brought about mainly by lack of financial support – a familiar cry for many teams in the South African elite women’s football league.
“It’s not a secret, in this league without financial muscle, you are going nowhere,” stated Apleni.
The Eastern Cape side suffered their biggest defeat this past weekend, losing 13-0 to reigning league champions Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies. The result was also a record win for the Brazilians, breaking a record for the highest number of goals scored in one game since the inception of the league.
“It’s not exciting at all to lose in that manner. But they were just too good, and we could not match them,” added Apleni.
Thunderbirds Ladies’ best finish since the 2019/20 season was seventh place in 2021 improving on the previous year’s 10th position. In 2022 and 2023 they ended 11th and 14th respectively.
“If you look at it, it’s a lot of history and we gained a lot of experience in the process,” added Apleni.
The team is now left with fixtures against the University of Johannesburg, TS Galaxy Queens and Royal AM before bowing out of the league.
Thunderbirds Ladies’ relegation leaves the Eastern Cape province with only two teams in the Hollywoodbets Super League – City Lads Ladies and the University of Fort Hare.
By Matlhomola Morake
