There were three main causes for the Cape Town Spurs’ relegation

After being promoted to the PSL ahead of the 2023–24 season, Cape Town Spurs had high expectations; sadly, the Urban Warriors could not duplicate their performances from the previous season, when they were the Motsepe Foundation Champion.

Here are three key factors that contributed to Spurs’ early DStv Premiership exit.

Establishing the mood

Spurs had eight losses in their first eight games of the 23–24 season in South Africa’s top tier. The well-liked Cape team was unable to bounce back from their disastrous start to the season and have been at the bottom of the log ever since. However, the Urban Warriors broke their drought in a 2-1 victory over Orlando Pirates on November 1.

A weak attack force

With 20 goals in their past 28 games, the Urban Warriors are now the lowest scoring team in the league. During his tenure as head coach of Spurs in the DStv Premiership, Shaun Bartlett frequently discussed the team’s lackluster goal-scoring performance and how they frequently posed little attacking danger to opposing defenses.

Resolving problems

Days after their 3-1 loss to cross-town rivals Cape Town City, Bartlett was fired on October 2nd, following a sluggish start to the season. Sean Connor was brought on as a temporary coach with the intention of taking over as the team’s new technical director in the future. On November 17, Ernst Middendorp was introduced as the new Spurs coach in an effort to salvage the season. But while Connor was on the sidelines, the team had one win and three losses.

With less time and an extremely difficult task ahead of them, Middendorp managed just four wins in the hot seat on their way to being demoted right away to the Motsepe Foundation Championship.