Kaizer Chiefs will go into the next off-season with reflections of yet another campaign that has piled up the misery on those that follow the club.
Chiefs were humiliated by second tier league club Milford in the Nedbank Cup on Sunday which essentially brought their trophy hopes to an end.
READ | Misfiring Chiefs bow out of Nedbank Cup
Amakhosi are out of contention for the league title as they trail leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by 14 points having played two more games.
Caretaker coach Cavin Johnson will now concentrate on the remaining 13 league games with only pride to play for.
Chiefs' last trophy was in May 2015 under Stuart Baxter.
Since then, they have had a concoction of near misses, mediocrity, and embarrassments.
The man handed the baton by Baxter in June 2015 was Steve Komphela – who was appointed despite having never won any silverware as head coach.
Notable departures from the league-winning squad were the pair of Tefu Mashamaite and Mandla Masango with Camaldine Abraw, Siyanda Xulu, Daniel Cardoso, and Bongani Ndulula amongst the arrivals.
Chiefs huffed and puffed to a fifth-place finish – a massive 25 points behind league winners Mamelodi Sundowns.
They went out in the first round of the Nedbank Cup, lost in the finals of the Telkom KnockOut and MTN8.
Komphela remained in charge for the following season (2015/16) which came with a fourth-place finish in the league, 16 points behind Bidvest Wits while they came stuck in the first round of the CAF Champions League.
They exited all domestic cup competitions in the quarter-finals.
The third season also had Komphela in charge and ended with a third-place finish in the league and disappointment in all cup competitions.
At the start of the 2018/19 season, Giovanni Solinas was brought in but was sacked before Christmas with Ernst Middendorp then taking over as Chiefs finished ninth – 20 points behind Sundowns.
They lost in the final of the Nedbank Cup to TS Galaxy.
Then the next season under Middendorp, Chiefs had their best title challenge only to then surrender on the last day while their cup run was a failure.
Middendorp made way for Gavin Hunt for the 2020/21 season, but it ended with an unsatisfactory eighth place finish in the league and they lost in the Champions League final.
Baxter came back the next season but also delivered nothing finishing fifth in the league while firing blanks in the cup competitions.
Next in line was a sixth-place finish in the league – 26 points behind Sundowns, and this happened with Arthur Zwane in charge.
There was no joy in the cup competitions.
Chiefs have minimal chances of winning the league this season which will mean nine years without silverware and counting.
Without any trophies added, Chiefs have since been overtaken by Sundowns in being the most successful club through the PSL era years.
The Brazilians have won 16 trophies in the period since Chiefs last went up the podium as winners.
Through that time, they have missed the trophy target on 33 occasions.
Chiefs have come short in the league eight times, then MTN8 (eight times), Telkom KnockOut (five times), and Nedbank Cup (nine times).
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They have also been involved in the CAF Champions League twice without joy and came stuck in the CAF Confederation Cup during the 2018/19 season.
Of note, is the fact that through this period of their drought they have come within minutes of winning the league and have been losing finalists in the Champions League, MTN8, Telkom KnockOut, and Nedbank Cup.