Football rivalries in South Africa don’t come any bigger than that between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
As soon as the league fixtures are announced ahead of any season, fans of both sides are only interested in TWO matches – the Soweto derbies.
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In the 28 completed PSL top-flight seasons to date since the professional era kicked off in 1996/97, incredibly, Amakhosi and the Buccaneers have each finished higher in the standings than each other on 14 occasions.
The biggest difference in final positions for Kaizer Chiefs ahead of Orlando Pirates is 7 places (2016/17 season), while the biggest difference in positions for Orlando Pirates ahead of Kaizer Chiefs is 8 places (2023/24 season).
Recent form
Recent form has favoured Orlando Pirates – and at the same time illustrated just how far Kaizer Chiefs have fallen.
In the last seven seasons, Orlando Pirates have finished up ahead of Kaizer Chiefs on five occasions.
They look almost certain to make that six out of the last eight seasons, this season.
At the time of publishing, Kaizer Chiefs are down in eighth place in the standings with 29 points after 23 matches.
That means, in the highly unlikely event that the Glamour Boys win their final seven matches – unlikely in the sense that they have only won eight of 23 matches to date – they will pick up a further 21 points.
That would leave Nasreddine Nabi’s side on 50 points.
Currently, Orlando Pirates are in second place in the log with 43 points after 19 fixtures.
That means to make mathematically certain of finishing ahead of their bitter Soweto rivals, Orlando Pirates need eight more points out of a maximum of 33 on offer.
That’s only two more wins and two draws out of 11 remining games – or eight draws and three defeats.
The Buccaneers DON’T even need to win another match this season to finish higher in the standings than the Glamour Boys!
League champions
Both Kaizer Chiefs (2003/04, 2004/05, 2012/13, 2014/15) and Orlando Pirates (2000/02, 2002/03, 2010/11, 2011/12) have been crowned league champions on four occasions to date.
Mamelodi Sundowns lead the way with 14 titles (likely to be 15 come May), while SuperSport United (3) and Manning Rangers, Santos and Wits (one apiece) are the only other sides to have tasted success.
For the record, there’s one more Soweto derby league match remaining this season.
That clash will take place on Saturday, 3 May at the FNB Stadium at 15:30.
Orlando Pirates won the first Soweto derby earlier this season, 1-0, thanks to a penalty deep into second-half injury time by Patrick Maswanganyi.
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