Durban City coach Pitso Dladla and chairman Farook Kadodia are steering the club towards an unexpected top-five finish in the league.
Image: Backpagepix
The earliest memory I have of Chatsworth Stadium is watching Manning Rangers play at "the Den" between 2000 and 2001. I was between 5 and 6-years-old then and all I remember is holding my dad's hand with my left and holding a packet of peanuts with my other. The thing I remember most was how packed Chatsworth Stadium used to be.
The grass embankment used to be piled up with fans waiting to watch their local team go at it. You had to be a die hard supporter to get a spot on the stands above the change room, while most people went for the open-air bleachers or stood underneath if it rained.
As fate would have it, I returned to Chatsworth Stadium two decades later but it doesn't feel the same. It's been years since a team used Chatsworth Stadium as a base of operation so the novelty of attending a game there just faded over the years. It also felt different because I only had the cooldrink and snacks in my hands.
But then Durban City arrived in the PSL this season and that air of football mania seems to be filling up the stadium once again. Its been a slow walk back, with most games going by relatively empty. The recent KZN derby against Richards Bay United felt a little bit like the old days, a clear tick in an upward trajectory in terms of fan attendance.
Understandably, economic times are tougher. Watching football is considered a luxury when putting food on the table is a challenge. But still, human beings are a social species. Watching our favourite team thrash some out-of-towners is what gets the blood flowing.
Durban City might just be the team to bring back that feeling and atmosphere to Chatsworth Stadium.
This coming weeks, they have the perfect opportunity to restore the natural order and bring football back to Chatsworth and hopefully sell-out the once popular Chatsworth Stadium.
It's only fair the new generation get to feel and experience their home town stadium packed to the rafters.
Having a Nedbank Cup semi-final at home and a PSL feature against Mamelodi Sundowns might just be the draw cards the community needed to fill up Chatsworth Stadium once again.
Saturday will be the first opportunity in years that Chatsworth fans get to experience a huge cup semi-final at home. The tension, the drama, the screaming, skills and all that come with it.
Should Durban City secure the win and their place in the final, it could reignite the community's love of football.
Do or die tension, the oldest Cup in South African football on the line and an iconic stadium waiting to be filled up again. Saturday has all the makings for a historic match for all involved.
Jehran Naidoo is sports reporter for Independent Media and social media coordinator of the our YouTube channel The Clutch.