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Chiefs' long wait for a trophy they used to dominate

football03 October 2025 09:30| © Mzansi Football
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Carling black label cup @ Gallo images

Kaizer Chiefs ended their search for silverware after 10 seasons when they won the Nedbank Cup at the end of the last campaign, but the Carling Knockout remains elusive, even if the club have won the various versions of the League Cup more than any other team.

Chiefs are, by some distance, the record holders for wins in South Africa’s League Cup with 13 since the competition was first introduced in 1982 as the Datsun Challenge. It has also been known as the JPS Knockout Cup, Coca-Cola Cup, Rothmans Cup and Telkom Knockout. The next highest is Mamelodi Sundowns on four, meaning the AmaKhosi have more than three times the number of wins as anyone else.

But more recently, they have found it a tough competition to crack, with their last victory coming all the way back in 2010.

They have been to just one final since then, in 2015, when they lost 3-1 to Sundowns in a Pitso Mosimane masterclass, and in the three editions before the competition took a break after 2019, they bowed out at the semifinal stage.

Two seasons ago, on its return as the Carling Knockout, they went out in the first round to a 1-0 home loss to AmaZulu, the first time they had not advanced to the quarterfinals at least since 2012.

In the last campaign, Chiefs thumped SuperSport United 4-0 away in their opening game but then got a home pasting by Sundowns in the quarter-final.

There have been 11 editions since their last trophy win, and they have made the semis in five of those, to go with three quarterfinal losses and three first-round exits, which, aside from Usuthu, came back-to-back in 2011 and 2012 against Platinum Stars and BidVest Wits, respectively.

Chiefs’ real dominant spell in the competition was between 1997 and 2010, a run of 14 editions of which they won an impressive eight (57 per cent). They also lost the 2002 final at that time to Jomo Cosmos.

The three semifinal losses in a row in their three appearances between 2017 and 2019 came against Wits, most painfully Orlando Pirates and surprisingly Maritzburg United.

Their biggest win in the competition during the PSL era was a 4-0 quarterfinal success against Dynamos in 2004, where goals from Arthur Zwane, Shoes Moshoeu and a David Radebe brace gave them the win, plus last year’s win over SuperSport.

Former coach Zwane, who is now leading AmaZulu, is the joint top scorer in the competition for the club since 1996/97 with five goals. He holds that record alongside Knowledge Musona.

Zwane also got a goal in Chiefs’ darkest day, a 4-1 away loss to Lamontville Golden Arrows in the first round in 2008 when the late Richard Henyekane grabbed a hat-trick in a brilliant win for Abafana Bes’thende.

The team Chiefs have faced in the competition the most in the PSL era is their Soweto rivals Pirates, with seven clashes, of which both teams have won twice, to go with three draws. The AmaKhosi have, however, won all three penalty shoot-outs against The Buccaneers.

They have met a trio of clubs six times – Wits (W3 D1 L2), Platinum Stars (W2 D1 L3) and Sundowns (W1 D4 L1). The first two now no longer part of the PSL.

In all, Chiefs have played 80 games in the League Cup since 1996/97, winning 42, drawing 20 and losing 18. They have scored 118 goals and conceded 78.

KAIZER CHIEFS RECORD IN PSL ERA

Tournament finishes

2024/25: Quarterfinals

2023/24: First Round

2019/20: Semifinals

2018/19: Semifinals

2017/18: Semifinals

2016/17: Quarterfinals

2015/16: Final

2014/15: Quarterfinals

2013/14: Semifinals

2012/13: First Round

2011/12: First Round

2010/11: Winners

2009/10: Winners

2008/09: First Round

2007/08: Winners

2006/07: Quarterfinals

2005/06: Quarterfinals

2004/05: Winners

2003/04: Winners

2002/03: Final

2001/02: Winners

2000/01: First Round

1999/00: First Round

1998/99: Winners

1997/98: Winners

1996/97: Quarterfinals

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