Jomo Cosmos promotion push gets battery boost

The ABC Motsepe League club recently announced Lucas Batteries as their new sponsor ahead of the 2024/25 season which will be kicking off soon. 

The third tier of South African football is one of the most financially draining divisions in the country, with club owners often solely covering costs from their pockets, but Sono says he’s fortunate to still be attracting partners.

"To be honest, Jomo Sono and Jomo Cosmos are two brands in one, and you cannot wash away these two brands from South African football," said Sono.

"If you talk about football in South Africa, you have to mention Jomo – good or bad, you have to mention Cosmos. If you talk about the best strikers in the country, or development in the country, you have to mention Jomo [Sono] and Jomo Cosmos.

"So these are brands, whether the brand is in the third, fourth division, or fifth division, this brand will always be number one in South African football – whether you like it or not, you have to accept it, that's it."

Ezenkosi, as they are popularly known, were relegated from the PSL’s Premier Division in 2015/2016 and dropped further to the amateur ranks in the 2021/2022 season. 

Sono is hoping this could be the season to return to the National First Division.

"It's every chairman or coach's dream to go back to the PSL, so we are going to give it a go because our plan was for three years, and we are in our third year now," he added.

"So with the backing of Lucas Batteries, I think we definitely will go up. [How will the sponsorship help?] Paying of the referees because SAFA doesn't pay referees.

"The referees get allowance from the clubs, so we as the clubs must pay allowances to the referees, and it's not SAFA paying them."

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