Ronwen Williams to join Tovey in record books

Ronwen Williams is set to equal Neil Tovey’s mark of 519 league and cup starts if he plays in goal for champions Mamelodi Sundowns in Wednesday’s key Betway Premiership clash against Orlando Pirates at Soccer City.

That will put him joint second in the list of player appearances but still a considerable way off the record for the most number of league and cup appearances in this country’s professional football history, held by Edries Burton.

The defender, who won two Bafana Bafana caps five years apart, finished his career aged 38 with 592 league and cup starts for Santos, Cape Town Spurs and AmaZulu in a professional career spanning 17 seasons.

This does not include appearances as a substitute.

The 34-year-old Williams has started in 14 of Sundowns’ 15 league matches this season, plus six matches in the African Champions League and four domestic cup games for a total of 24 outings.

He started the 2025-26 campaign on 494 starts in 12 seasons at SuperSport United and now four seasons at Sundowns, where he played 40 times in the last campaign.

Williams, originally from Gqeberha, played his first senior game at SuperSport United days after his 19th birthday in the 2011 Champions League preliminary round against Matlama of Lesotho, keeping a clean sheet on debut.

He has gone on to win over a half century of caps, win three league titles, three Nedbank Cups, one Telkom Knockout and two MTN8 winners’ medals.

Williams last season passed the 489 match mark for the most games for a goalkeeper, previously set by Moeneeb Josephs, and is the fourth player to go past 500 starts, joining Burton, Tovey and Vuyo Mere, who holds the record for playing in the most seasons, finishing off in the 2024/24 campaign at TS Galaxy for a total of 23 seasons.