This year’s MTN8 final will keep Orlando Pirates’ chase of what has been achieved by Kaizer Chiefs switched on.
Pirates come up against Stellenbosch FC in this year's final, to be played at a sold-out Mbombela Stadium when domestic football resumes on September 13.
READ | Pirates loanee to come back in the reckoning for national team
While Abdeslam Ouaddou is expected to lead the bench in his first final, it will be Bucs’ 20th final in this competition.
Chiefs have played in 21 finals of this competition, whose history stretches back to 1972.
While the Houghton-based outfit have been successful in recent years and have 13 titles in total, Amakhosi still enjoy the lead with 15.
However, of interest is that Pirates remains the only club to ever win three in a row and now stand in line to push it to four.
Fifteen clubs have lifted this trophy through its lifespan under different sponsors, which started under oil and gas company BP, then had SAA, before MTN took over in 2008.
From the PSL era years – effective August 1996 – Chiefs still enjoy the best cup final success rate having won 17 out of 26.
This gives them a 65% success rate in cup finals and includes the three that they have played on the continent in the CAF Champions League, CAF Winners’ Cup and CAF Super Cup.
Chiefs’ PSL era trophy total, inclusive of their four league titles, now stands at 21.
For Pirates – they have won 13 out of 27 finals, including the three that they have played on the continent throughout the PSL era years – one in the Champions League and two in the CAF Confederation Cup.
This means their cup final success rate stands at 48%.
READ | World Cup qualification extras for Bafana
Inclusive of their four league titles, Pirates are on 17 trophies in the PSL era years with this total minus the 1996 BP Top 8 and CAF Super Cup of the same year, which were played before August 1996 when the PSL came into effect.
This year’s MTN8 is their 25th domestic cup final of the PSL era years.
Mamelodi Sundowns have won 13 out of 30 finals (43,3%) in the PSL years but have the most overall trophies with 27.
Photo: Alche Greeff/Gallo Images
