By Destine Nde
Soccer is the all-absorbing topic of conversation in Soweto this week. Last Saturday, Orlando Pirates ended their 14-year title drought with a 2-0 win over Orbit College in the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga, and were  crowned as champions of the Betway Premiership League for the 2025/6 season
The game was not very interesting, though full of drama. The stadium was packed with anxious supporters. The Soweto Giants did not deliver their usual stunning performance, but still managed to get the job done, and clinch the title. They did not score a single goal, but pressured their opponents to such an extent that they scored two own goals, one in the last minute of the first half and the other early on in the second half.
When the referee blew the final whistle, the jubilation on the pitch, in the stadium and on the streets was frenzied. Pirates fans, players, coaching staff and the management team were elated to lift the trophy. The last time Pirates took it to Soweto was in 2012. They are the only team that has succeeded in dethroning Mamelodi Sundowns as Kings of the Betway Premiership in nine years.
And this is their third trophy of the 2025/6 season – on 13 September they were crowned Champions of the MTN 8 tournament, and on 6 December as Champions of the Carling Knockout competition. Added to this, on 9 May, their  Academy/reserves team won the Dstv Diski Challenge Cup.
After Saturday’s game, Pirates chairman and managing director Irvin Khoza told reporters that their amazing success this season resulted coordinated efforts by all the different components of the club. ‘This shows that our Academy people, our scouts, and our first team management are working closely together,’ he said.
The head coach, Abdeslam Ouaddou, explained that it had been a long and difficult season: ‘It’s not easy to finish above Sundowns, … I want to thank everyone in the club, our players and supporters, for making me a proud and happy coach today.’ He also thanked the club owners for giving him the opportunity to coach of of the best teams in Africa.
The Man of the Match was the young Pirates star Simphiwe Selepe. Fans call him ‘Ben 10’, because he is too good a midfielder for his age. When collecting his award, he said the recipe for their success was ‘hard work, sacrifice and unity’.
For Orlando Pirates, the final was an opportunity to quench their 14-year thirst for the title. Before the game, they were two points behind Mamelodi Sundowns, who had already played their last game of the season. So if Pirates lost or drew the match, they would have handed the title to Sundowns. The stakes – as well as the pressure — were sky-high. Ouaddou said they would keep on fighting until the ‘last day, minute and second’, and that is exactly what they did.
Another factor that made the game so crucial was Orbit College’s precarious position on the league table. Prior to this final game against Orlando Pirates, the Rustenburg-based club was in the relegation zone, at 15th place with 24 points. In effect, they were battling against three other clubs to avoid relegation: Chippa United, Marumo Gallants and Amagesi FC. As such they had to win by any means, as either a loss or draw would have them relegated.
So the game was as crucial for them as it was for the Buccaneers. Coach Pogiso Makhoye did want to find himself in the position of having to fight for survival in a last-day clash against the Soweto giants. Two weeks ago, he said:  ‘We know what is at stake…. We don’t want to leave it until the last game, where we play Pirates who are fighting for the title.’
For Pirates it was a fight for glory, for Orbit College a fight for survival. The former had been starving for this glory for 14 years, and it was finally within reach. They were determined to dethrone Sundowns and bring an end to their eight-year reign.
The latter had only only just tasted life in the big league. This was their first ever season of competing against the ‘big boys’ in the top flight, and the first North West team to do so in seven years. To be relegated after only one year on the highest level of South African football was a bigger prospect. Consequently, they had to go up against the Soweto giants with every weapon in their arsenal.
Orlando Pirates had made things worse for themselves by drawing against Durban City the previous Saturday in the Orlando Stadium in Soweto. That result heaped enormous extra pressure on them. If they had won that game, they would have won the league. The three points would have brought them level with Sundowns on 68 points, but they would have won the title based on goal difference: they had +44 goals while Sundowns had only +36.
But they stumbled — Durban City frustrated their attacking efforts for the entire 90 minutes. The match ended goalless, and the race for the title went down to the wire. Interestingly, Sundowns couldn’t do anything to influence the outcome – they had already played their last game of the season. All they could do was to pray that Pirates would lose or draw.
To add to the pressure, the FIFA World Cup 2026 will begin in less than a month. Most of the players earmarked for Bafana Bafana are from Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns. The names of the final squad have to be submitted to FIFA on or before 1 June. As such, Saturday’s game was a last audition. Ouddou thinks having a young squad is a disadvantage when it comes to ‘these kinds of games of pressure’. Tickets for the 45 000 capacity stadium were sold out as early as Monday, in fact within a couple of hours.
In Soweto, soccer does not only take place on the pitch, and does not last for only 90 minutes. It exists deep in the hearts of locals, starts weeks (even months) before the kick-off, and continues long after the official 90 minutes are over. In fact, for most Africans, soccer represents identity, resistance and hope.
These are given the highest expression in Soweto, with Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates as their incarnations. These clubs gave millions of people a sense of pride and unity when times were tough, and a democratic South Africa was a dim prospect.
Orlando Pirates is supported by an estimated 21 per cent of South African sports fans, second only to Kaizer Chiefs with 25 per cent. Supporting these clubs provides millions of South Africans with a diversion from hardship, a way to assert their dignity, and a way of keeping country’s fighting spirit alive.
While Kaizer Chiefs (a.k.a. Amakhosi) is the most supported club, Orlando Pirates (a.k.a. the Buccaneers, or Bucs) is one of the oldest clubs in Africa. It was founded in Orlando East, Soweto, in 1937. Thirty three years later, Kaizer Chiefs appeared on the scene, founded by Kaizer Motaung in 1969. Since then, the two clubs have been fierce rivals, and the annual Soweto derby is always a thriller.
In the 2011/2 and 2012/3 seasons, Pirates won back-to-back league titles, Â and Kaizer Chiefs did the same in the following two years. Since then neither have won the league again, until last weekend, when Pirates took the prestigious trophy back to Soweto. In the process, they have not only won the title, but also reaffirmed that they are an older and better club than their archrivals.
Kaizer Chiefs did not qualify for the 2024/5 CAF Championship, but Orlando Pirates made it to the semi-finals. Pirates is presently ranked 15th in CAF’s club ranking, while Kaizer Chiefs is ranked 50th. In their last encounter, on 28 February this year, Pirates thrashed Chiefs 3-0, and has won six out of their last seven clashes.
This week, the whole of Soweto will be pulsating with talk about the Pirates victory. It has ignited widespread celebrations, from shebeens to street corners. It has capped an excellent year for the boys in black and white, who has won a record 21 games, drawing six and losing only three.
FEATURED IMAGE: Jubilant Orlando Pirates supporters in the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga. All images: Orlando Pirates website.