Capacity crowd for first Pirates-Chiefs derby with spectators since 2020

A sold-out crowd of 93,000 will be at Saturday’s Soweto derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, organisers said on Tuesday.

It is the first time in more than two years that Pirates and Chiefs fans will be in the stadium after crowds were allowed back following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

Fourth-place Pirates host fifth-place Chiefs in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) showdown at FNB Stadium on Saturday, and the crowd will be the biggest attendance at a SA football match or sporting event in just over two years.

Stadium Management, the company that runs FNB Stadium, tweeted on Tuesday that Saturday’s derby is sold out.

“Tickets for the Soweto derby, Orlando Pirates vs Kaizer Chiefs, on October 29 are now sold out,” the company said.

The last time SA’s famous Soweto derby was played in front of a crowd was when a packed FNB witnessed a 1-0 win for Ernst Middendorp’s Chiefs over Josef Zinnbauer’s Pirates on February 29 2020.

That was just weeks before the PSL suspended all football in March, initially for a week and eventually five months, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since a return to play in August 2020, 10 derbies in all competitions were played in front of closed stadiums in the two years it took for a return of crowds in March 2022.