Clayton Daniels Celebrates 'Revenge' As Maritzburg United Are Relegated from Premiership

• Clayton Daniels was captain of Maritzburg United but was released by the club at the end of the 2021/22 season
• The Team of Choice was relegated after they finished second in the Promotion Playoffs behind Cape Town Spurs
• Ajax Cape Town were on the verge of winning the league title in 2010/11 but finished behind Orlando Pirates

Maritzburg United have been relegated from the DStv Premiership, and Clayton Daniels couldn’t be happier.

The former Team of Choice captain is overjoyed with the news, mainly because he had a hand in their drop to the Motsepe Foundation Championship.

As noted by The Witness, Maritzburg was relegated to the first division after they drew 0-0 with Cape Town Spurs in the Promotion Playoffs.

The draw meant that Daniels’ team was promoted to the DStv Premiership, replacing the KwaZulu-Natal side in the South African top flight.

Finidi George wins first title as Enyimba emerge Nigeria League champions again

Football

Why is Daniels happy?

Daniels is not only happy this his new team were promoted to the DStv Premiership, but he is also overjoyed that his former side is going down for two reasons, iDiski Times reported.

The most recent reason listed is that Maritzburg United released the former captain at the end of the 2021/22 season, following which he would then go on to join Cape Town.

Daniels holds 12-year grudge

The other reason stems back to the 2010/2011 season when Orlando Pirates beat Ajax Cape Town to the league title on the final day of the term.

Ajax led the league with 59 points in their final game against Maritzburg, while Pirates were on 57. The Buccaneers took on Golden Arrows in their last match, beating the KwaZulu-Natal side 2-1 thanks to a late Isaac Chansa goal.

The Cape Town side, who needed a win, could only draw 2-2 against the KZN team and lost the league title on goal difference. With Daniels finally getting revenge, he opened upon how it felt.

Nicolas Pepe: Mikel Arteta makes final decision on winger after loan spell in France

Football

“This game was very personal to me because, if you remember, years back, they took the league title from us on the last day in Cape Town,” he said.

Kadodi: Maritzburg betrayed by players

Farook Kadodia is not holding back regarding his assessment of the past season, Sports Brief has also reported.

The Maritzburg United chairman isn't happy with their performance, even blaming players for 'betraying the club.'

The KZN side competed in the DStv Premiership but finished 15th on the league table and have been relegated.