Stat attack: MTN8 records

Video: Orlando Pirates captain Lucky Lekgwathi chats about this weekend's MTN8 encounter against Bloemfontein Celtic

Now entering its fifth decade as a competition, it remains a popular fixture on the football calendar since it was first played in 1972. 

In the Cup the top eight teams from the previous season's League square off, these days for a first prize of R8-million, which already makes it one of the richest competitions on the African continent.

To put it into perspective, teams need play only four matches to win the cash, while had Black Leopards won the CAF Confederations Cup this season, they would have played 15 games for just R5-million.

The quarter-finals are played as a one-match match, while the semi-finals are over two legs in order to give the sponsors more exposure through the competition. The final reverts to a single game.

Needless to say, the competition has a rich history down the years and here are top eight competition facts and figures:

• The record score is an 11-1 win for Swallows over amateurs Winter Roses in the expanded edition in 1975.
• Chiefs were kicked out of the 1974 edition when their semi-final against Pirates was abandoned because they refused to allow Bucs to take a late penalty that the referee had awarded.
• In 1974, there were two top eight competitions. The first was played in January and then there was another at the end of the season.
• In 1975 the format was increased to include 16 teams, including some amateur clubs, and the next year to 32, both played at the end of the season. But it went back to eight after that.
• The first ever penalty shootout in the tournament came in 1976 when amateurs Malimo from Welkom upset Bloemfontein Celtic 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in the opening round. The record penalty shootout score is 9-8 in favour of Dynamos over Swallows in their 1981 semi-final replay.
• In 1975, Manguang United had to forfeit their match against Pirates because they could not obtain enough petrol for their trip to Johannesburg. There were fuel restrictions in those days.
• The 6-0 win for Golden Arrows over Ajax Cape Town three years ago is a record win in any final in the country's football history.
• There have been three cup final hat-tricks in the competition's history – Ace Ntsoelengoe for Chiefs against AmaZulu in 1976, Marks Maponyane for Chiefs against Rangers in 1987 and Phil Masinga for Jomo Cosmos against Chiefs in 1991 when, despite his three goals, he still finished on the losing side.
• Three own goals were scored when Arcadia beat Wits in the first leg of the 1986 final in Durban including a spectacular diving header into his own net by Arcs' centre back Dave Bukowski.
• The only time the two legs of the final ended tied and the competition needed a final replay was in 1988 when Sundowns edged out neighbours Arcadia, in match not allowed in verkrampt Pretoria but played instead at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg.
• When the new Premier Soccer League was formed, the competition was done away with until being restored to the calendar in 2000.

TOP EIGHT WINNERS

1972 – Orlando Pirates
1973 – Kaizer Chiefs
1974 (January) – Orlando Pirates
1974 (December) – Kaizer Chiefs
1975 – Moroka Swallows
1976 – Kaizer Chiefs
1977 – no competition
1978 – Orlando Pirates
1979 – Moroka Swallows
1980 – Witbank Black Aces
1981 – Kaizer Chiefs
1982 – Kaizer Chiefs
1983 – Orlando Pirates
1984 – Wits University
1985 – Kaizer Chiefs
1986 – Arcadia
1987 – Kaizer Chiefs
1988 – Mamelodi Sundowns
1989 – Kaizer Chiefs
1990 – Mamelodi Sundowns
1991 – Kaizer Chiefs
1992 – Kaizer Chiefs
1993 – Orlando Pirates
1994 – Kaizer Chiefs
1995 – Wits University
1996 – Orlando Pirates
2000 – Orlando Pirates
2001 – Kaizer Chiefs
2002 – Santos
2003 – Jomo Cosmos
2004 – SuperSport United
2005 – Bloemfontein Celtic
2006 – Kaizer Chiefs
2007 – Mamelodi Sundowns
2008 – Kaizer Chiefs
2009 – Golden Arrows
2010 – Orlando Pirates
2011 – Orlando Pirates