Former Moroka Swallows coach Gordon Igesund admits he is devastated by the club’s recent collapse but hopes the Dube Birds can soon return to the top of South African football. Swallows have endured a tumultuous decline over the last few years, suffering relegation in each of the three previous seasons to find themselves in the SAB League, the fourth tier of club football in the country. The future of Swallows as a football club at all is now also uncertain as the club are said to owe millions of rands to the South African Revenues Services. And, speaking of the Soweto giants’ decline, Igesund, who led Swallows to the MTN8 title and a runners-up finish in the Absa Premiership in 2012, said: “It’s very sad because I had my best time at Swallows.

“[In the final game of the 2011/12 PSL season] 10 minutes from the end of the game, Swallows were champions and then Bennie [McCarthy] stepped up to score the goal [for Orlando Pirates] and we were not champions anymore,” said Igesund. “But really for the club to go down, people don’t know what happened. It was very tough. I am not trying to protect people but [club CEO] Leon [Prins] really had a tough time because when [Dieter] Bock passed on, Leon took his money, borrowed money. There was never a day when a player went unpaid at the end of the month but there was no money coming in because the sponsorship came to an end and never renewed,” he added. Igesund, though, remains hopeful that Moroka Swallows could bounce back and believes South African football are already missing the Dube Birds. “I am hoping and my wish is someone can buy the status [of an NFD club] or whatever and get the team back. People are talking about Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs but one more team is missing: that is Moroka Swallows,” he concluded.