By The Numbers: PSL Opening Day Records

Since the first PSL game was played on 9 August 1996 (yes, there was football before then), there have been 29 opening days altogether.

This weekend, four games are lined up as curtain-raisers for the league. AmaZulu host newcomers Orbit City, and defending champions Sundowns travel to Chippa.

Also at 3pm Polokwane play Magesi while Richards Bay and Marumo Gallants lock horns in Durban. The other four matches will be played later on Saturday evening (2) and on Sunday (2).

30 – The 2025/26 campaign will be the 30th season of professional football in South Africa.

Record results

Opening the season with a big win is the dream for any coach, but it is rare to see teams start the season flying high. Last season, for example, the biggest win on the opening day was 2-0, as Sundowns and Golden Arrows beat SuperSport United and Stellenbosch respectively by that scoreline. In three decades of PSL football, there have been 238 opening day matches, with only 5% of these seeing wins by 3-goals or more. Eleven Matchday 1 games were won by a 3-goal margin, with Kaizer Chiefs 6-0 AmaZulu the second biggest win.

7 – Manning Rangers 7-0 Hellenic is the biggest opening day win ever seen in PSL history.

Sundowns’ strong record

The last team to beat Sundowns on the first day of the season was AmaZulu in 2007. That means Sundowns are unbeaten in 17 opening day matches, keeping 13 clean sheets in those 17 games (W12 D5 since 2008). Not only is it the longest ongoing run in the top-flight, but it’s also the longest unbeaten MD1 run of all time. The next beat team for this record is Wits, who went on a 9-season unbeaten MD1 run that ended in 2012. Once again, the defending champions will be looking to start well en route to adding a ninth straight title – it as been a while since a defending champion lost.

1 – The last team to beat a defending champion on opening day was Cape Town City beating Wits in August 2017.

Other teams

Among teams to have played more than one season in the PSL, Kaizer Chiefs have the best win ratio in their opening match of the season, winning 16 of their 29 such matches. Sundowns (17) are the only team has won more games than Chiefs (16) on opening day, although Chiefs’ recent record has not been great. Afer wining 14 of the first 19 season openers, Chiefs have won just 2 of the last 10. The fixture computer has not helped – in the last 14 seasons (including this one), Chiefs have started away from home 12 times. The same can’t be said of their neighbours in the same 14-year period.

3 – Pirates have started away from home just three times in the last 14 seasons, and at home 11 times.

Full Matchday 1 fixtures:

Saturday

AmaZulu v Orbit College

Chippa v Sundowns

Polokwane v Magesi

Richards Bay v Marumo Gallants

Pirates v Sekhukhune

Siwelele v Golden Arrows

Sunday

TS Galaxy v Durban City

Stellenbosch v Kaizer Chiefs