The PSL All-Time Table
Something different for this week (inspired by a reader..)
A social media query from X user account @alexsithole inspired this week’s newsletter - what is the all-time table looking like at the moment? While the all-time PSL table may seem like a trivia footnote, it can provide a valuable lens through which to examine shifts in team dominance. Titles are the obvious marker of success, but breaking the league down in other ways helps pinpoint exactly when teams rose to power—and when they began to lose their grip at the top.
First to 500 points
The early years of the PSL era were quite competitive, with five different teams winning the first 10 titles. Sundowns (4), Kaizer Chiefs & Orlando Pirates (2 each), Santos & Manning Rangers (1 each). This early competitiveness meant that at the end of the 2002/3 campaign, the top three teams on the all-time table were separated by just 2 points: Champions Pirates (424), Chiefs (423) and Sundowns (422). Back-to-back Chiefs titles ensured they would be the first team to reach 500 points. Collins Mbesuma’s brace in a 2-0 win over Golden Arrows brought up the 500th point in November 2004.
Race to 1000 points
About a decade later, Chiefs would also be the first team to 1000 points (April 2014). Pirates & Sundowns followed in September of that year, a game apart. SuperSport United may have won three straight titles in the late 2000s, but two of these were sub-55 points, and the best was a 57-point season. As such, Matsatsantsa only got to 1000 points in 2017 (Wits in 2019). Despite failing to win a title in two seasons under Steve Komphela, Chiefs still topped the all-time table at the end of the 2016/17 season, but only just.
Race to 1500 points
It was the 2017/18 season that marked the start of Sundowns' recent dominance. You can zoom in to the December 2017/January 2018 period for a more specific time.
Start of the 2017/18 season: Chiefs 1178pts - 1174pts Sundowns
1 December: Chiefs 1194 - 1190 Sundowns
1 January: Chiefs 1200 - 1202 Sundowns
28 January after Chiefs 0-0 Downs draw: Chiefs 1208 - 1209 Sundowns
End of the 2017/18 season: Chiefs 1226 - 1234 Sundowns
Having beaten Sundowns in the October away leg, Chiefs had a chance to complete a league double in the home leg in January. A win would have also cut Sundowns’ lead at the top of the season table to just 2 points AND sent Chiefs back on top of the all-time table. Instead, the teams drew 0-0, and Sundowns maintained a 1-point lead on the all-time table.
It’s a lead they have not relinquished since.
Race to 1500 points
This past weekend, Sundowns became the first team to 1700 points (they’ve been first to 1300, 1400, 1500 and 1600 already). They comfortably lead top the all-time PSL table, thanks largely to winning the last eight titles. Chiefs have slipped down to 3rd, overtaken by Orlando Pirates this season. Again, you can zoom into the 3rd week of October for more specificity.
Monday 21 October 2024
Chiefs 1491-1486 Pirates
Midweek: (Pirates beat SuperSport 2-0 & AmaZulu 2-1):
Chiefs 1491-1489 Pirates
Chiefs 1491-1492 Pirates*
Saturday 26 October 2024 (SuperSport beat Chiefs 1-0):
Chiefs 1491-1492 Pirates
Race to 2000 points
It will be interesting to see how the next few seasons go and whether Sundowns will be the first team to 2,000 points. Can Pirates close the gap between them and Sundowns, or will Chiefs fight back? Looking at the last five years, hope springs eternal for the latter. Downs’ dominance is clear - they average 70 points post-COVID, while there is a lot of work to be done for Chiefs, who lie 7th on the table for the last five years.
