A season where Downs set records, Chiefs flopped and Bucs held on to Cups

Mamelodi Sundowns breaking a few records en route to clinching their seventh title in a row, Orlando Pirates managing to defend their two cups in the form of the MTN8 and the Nedbank Cup, Kaizer Chiefs’ enduring another dire campaign and Stellenbosch’s rise, were some of the 2023/23 campaign’s major takeaways. We reflect on how each side fared in 2023/24.

AmaZulu

Finished: 11th

Last season: 12th

Carling Knockout: semifinal

Nedbank Cup: quarterfinal 

Coach Pablo Franco took over at the beginning of the season and was handed a mandate of finishing in the top four but failed to get even a top eight finish. Their away form was a concern with only three wins, suffering seven defeats and recording five draws. Under the guidance of the Spaniard, AmaZulu never improved.

Rating: 4/10

Cape Town City

Finished: 5th

Last season: 4th

MTN8: first round

Carling Knockout: first round

Nedbank Cup: first round

The Citizens struggled to replicate their form from last season as they regressed. They had a good first half, but struggled in the second term and only picked up form in the last four matches, winning three and drawing one. Apart from finishing fifth, they had nothing positive this season.

Rating: 5/10

Cape Town Spurs

Finished: 16th

Last season: 2nd in Motsepe Foundation and won the play-offs

Carling Knockout: first round

Nedbank Cup: first round

Losing their first seven games into the season already showed that the writing was on the wall for Spurs to be relegated. The Urban Warriors had a better second half of the season under experienced coach Ernst Middendorp, who picked up 20 points from 19 games, but the damage had already been done. Under Middendorp Spurs looked rejuvenated and competitive compared to when they were coached by Shaun Bartlett, who was sacked after losing the opening seven fixtures. 

Rating: 2/10

Chippa United

Finished: 12th

Last season: 14th

Carling Knockout: first round

Nedbank Cup: quarterfinals 

For a change, Chippa stayed away from the relegation zone for the better part of the season. In fact, the Chilli Boys looked like they were going to finish in the top eight when they rarely won three games on the trot in April but the wheels eventually fell off as they went on to collect just two points in the six games that followed that purple patch. Co-coaches Kwanele Kopo and Thabo September, who arrived in January changed the side’s fortunes.

Rating: 4/10

Golden Arrows

Finished: 9th 

Last season: 9th

Carling Knockout: quarterfinal

Nedbank Cup: first round

Abafana Bes’thende had an average campaign. When they lost co-coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi in September last year, they were having an impressive run. That impressive start ended in November when Mabhuti Khenyeza started struggled losing their next 11 matches in succession. Arrows then replaced him with Steve Komphela in March and was in charge for 11 games, but never improved as he guided them to three wins, six draws and two defeats including the 7-1 hammering from Pirates. Arrows lacked quality players as they mainly relied on players they bought from lower division sides.

Rating: 4/10

Kaizer Chiefs

Finished: 10th

Last season: 5th

MTN8: semifinals

Carling Knockout: first round

Nedbank Cup: first round

To say Chiefs had an awful campaign would be an understatement. From being elbowed out of the Nedbank Cup in the first round by second division side Milford to conceding five goals, for the first time ever in a competitive game when they lost 5-1 to Sundowns, the 2023/24 season was a hopeless one for Amakhosi. Chiefs played with no purpose all season long and their players were just dispirited to say the least. The Soweto club ended up finishing 10th, their worst ever finish.

Rating: 3/10

Mamelodi Sundowns

Finished: champions

Last season: champions 

MTN8: runners-up

Carling Knockout: first round

Nedbank Cup: runners-up

CAF Champions League: semifinals

Sundowns continued to dominate as they won the league title for the seventh successive term with six matches to spare. This time around they came close on becoming invincible as they suffered defeat only on the last day against Cape Town City. They set their new record of points as they finished with 73. Sundowns also won the inaugural African Football League title, while also had a good run in the CAF Champions League as they were knocked out from the semifinals after losing to Esperance.

Rating: 8/10

Moroka Swallows

Finished: 14th

Last season: 8th

MTN8: first round

Carling Knockout: first round

Nedbank Cup: second round

Swallows had a chaotic season, thanks to their well-documented financial difficulties. The Birds even failed to honour two of their fixtures against Sundowns and Arrows in December amid the players’ protest. The chaos eventually saw them part ways with coach Steve Komphela and a few key players like Andile Jali. After the turmoil, they dropped  into the relegation zone with Musa Nyatama the caretaker coach. Luckily, Nyatama managed to save them.

Rating: 3/10

Orlando Pirates

Finished: 2nd

Last season: 2nd

MTN8: champions

Carling Knockout: quarterfinals 

Nedbank Cup: champions

CAF Champions League: Eliminated in preliminaries

It was another solid domestic campaign for Pirates, managing to defend both the MTN8 and the Nedbank Cup, while they also finished as runners-up again. Again, Pirates only weakness was inconsistency in the league. The Sea Robbers had some good moments in the league, especially in the second round of the season but it was already too late to catch Sundowns. Pirates’ also disappointingly failed to reach the group stages of the CAF Champions League, losing to less-fancied Botswana side Jwaneng Galaxy preliminaries.

Rating: 7/10

Polokwane City

Finished: 8th

Last season: Motsepe Foundation Championship champions

Carling Knockout: quarterfinals

Nedbank Cup: first round

As the new kids on the block, Polokwane did fairly well by finishing eighth. Rise and Shine parted ways with coach Lehlohonolo Seema 12 league games into the campaign with Phuti Mohafe taking the reins. Seema won four of the 12 games he oversaw with five stalemates and three losses. Polokwane never flirted with relegation, albeit they only secured their eighth slot on the final day of the season. Keeping 12 clean sheets from 30 league games, Polokwane were very tight at the back.

Rating: 5/10

Richards Bay

Finished: 15th

Last season: 13th 

Carling Knockout: semifinal

Nedbank Cup: second round

The Natal Rich Boyz struggled this campaign hence they are participating in promotion playoffs. The arrival of coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi didn’t improve the situation as they never moved from the danger zone. Their poor record on the road affected them as they only recorded two wins on the road, suffering 10 defeats and three draws.

Rating: 2/10

Royal AM

Finished: 14th

Last season: 11th

Carling Knockout: first round

Nedbank Cup: first round

Royal’s struggles this season were mainly due to inability to sign players in the past two transfer windows as they were banned by Fifa after failing to pay their former player, Samir Nurkovic. Thwihli Thwahla were in the relegation zone all season long but still managed to survive, escaping the play-offs by just three points. Royal were also affected by the long-term injury of their goalkeeper Hugo Nyame, who missed the first eight league games of the season.

Sekhukhune United

Finished: fourth

Last season: 7th

MTN8: first round

Carling Knockout: quarterfinals

Nedbank Cup: second round

CAF Confed Cup: group phase

Sekhukhune’s season was just fantastic, especially given the fact that they changed coaches three times and they were also involved in the exacting CAF Confederation Cup, where they couldn’t progress pass the group phase. Brandon Truter started the season at the helm but was replaced by Lehlohonolo Seema. Seema would go on and inspire Babina Noko to a blistering run, garnering seven wins from 16 outings with seven draws and two defeats, before he was placed on special leave with two league games to go.

Rating: 6/10

Stellenbosch

Finished: 3rd

Last season: 6th 

MTN8: semifinals

Carling Knockout: champions

Nedbank Cup: semifinals

The season proved to be one of the best for Stellies as they not only won their first ever cup in the topflight, but also finished in their best position ever in the Premiership to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup. The Cape Winelands side would have qualified for the Champions League but lost out to Pirates on the final day. Stellies also had a best run as they recorded 25 matches unbeaten. Players like Iqraam Rayners, Devin Titus and Junior Traoré were all outstanding in their brilliant run.

Rating: 7/10

SuperSport United

Finished: 7th

Last season: 3rd

MTN8: first round

Carling Knockout: first round

Nedbank Cup: quarterfinals

Confed Cup: Group stage

By their standards, SuperSport had a poor campaign despite maintaining their top-eight record. They never had a momentum going this season. After losing two key players in Thapelo Maseko and Patrick Maswanganyi, promising youngster Shandre Campbell raised his hand and was outstanding for them. Matsatsantsa a Pitori also had a poor second half with only two wins in 14 matches, while they failed to progress from the CAF Confederation Cup group stages.

Rating: 4/10

TS Galaxy

Finished: 6th

Last season: 10th

Carling Knockout: runners-up

Nedbank Cup: quarterfinals

Galaxy were one of the surprise packages of the campaign. The Rockets did excellently, considering they sold seven of their stars like Bathusi Aubaas, Given Msimango and Melusi Buthelezi to Sundowns, Chiefs and Pirates respectively. They hardly replaced these stars with the same quality but coach Sead Ramovic managed to still build a competitive squad from nothing. Galaxy, who also played their first ever final in the topflight when they lost to Stellenbosch in the Carling Knockout decider in December, had never finished in the top-eight before.

Rating: 6/10