Top five PSL teams of the last decade

The last 10 years saw some incredible teams compete in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

The decade began just after SuperSport United had claimed their third successive Absa Premiership title.

Orlando Pirates then made history by clinching a famous double treble, but their dominance was ended by their Soweto rivals, Kaizer Chiefs.

Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns became perennial league title rivals, before Bidvest Wits stunned the whole country when they clinched their maiden PSL trophy in 2017.

After that Sundowns became the team to beat in South African football and they have created a footballing dynasty.

Here are the top five PSL teams since the start of the 2009/10 season based on the number of major trophies won:

Bidvest Wits

Trophies: 4

The Clever Boys ended their 15-year trophy drought when they lifted the Nedbank Cup after defeating AmaZulu FC in the final during the 2009/10 campaign.

Wits had to wait six years for their next trophy as they lifted the 2016 MTN8 under accomplished tactician Gavin Hunt, who was determined to transform the team into perennial Absa Premiership title contenders.

That's exactly what Hunt did and the Students won the Absa Premiership title to complete a league and cup double having already won the MTN8 earlier during the 2016/17 campaign.

Hunt, who is a tactically astute coach, then led Wits to the 2017 Telkom Knockout Cup triumph in the following season and it remains the Braamfontein-based side's last major trophy.

Kaizer Chiefs

Trophies: 6

The Soweto giants remain the cup kings of South African football having started the last decade with Telkom Knockout Cup glory.

Chiefs clinched two back-to-back Telkom Knockout Cups under Serbian mentor Vladimir Vermezovic between 2009 and 2010 - extending their record for the most South African League Cup trophies (13).

Vermezovic was replaced by English coach Stuart Baxter, who hit the ground running in his maiden campaign with the team as Chiefs won a league and cup (Nedbank Cup) double during the 2012/13 season.

Baxter guided Amakhosi to another league and cup (MTN8) double in his final campaign (2014/15) with the Soweto giants.

Chiefs are now hoping to end their five-year trophy drought this season when football resumes in the country having been halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

SuperSport United

Trophies: 6

Matsatsantsa started the decade with a 2009/10 Absa Premiership title triumph under Gavin Hunt and it remains the club's last league trophy.

However, SuperSport have become cup specialists as they lifted three Nedbank Cups - defeating local giants, Orlando Pirates in two consecutive finals in 2016 and 2017.

The Tshwane giants also claimed their first and only Telkom Knockout Cup in 2014 under the guidance of one of the most decorated coaches in South African football, Gordon Igesund.

SuperSport also lifted the 2017 MTN8 which proved to be their last trophy in the last decade and they have also won the same competition earlier this season.

Orlando Pirates

Trophies: 7

The Buccaneers dominated South African football soon after the 2010 Fifa World Cup finals and at some point, they held all four major trophies at the same time.

It all started when Dutch legend Ruud Krol led Pirates to the 2010 MTN8 triumph and the team went on to complete a treble by winning the league title and Nedbank Cup in the 2010/11 season.

The Soweto giants then became the first club since the inception of the PSL in 1996 to have won three major trophies in a single season back-to-back when they clinched the league title, Telkom Knockout Cup and MTN8.

Former Chiefs coach Vladimir Vermezovic then guided Pirates to the 2014 Nedbank Cup triumph as they brushed aside Bidvest Wits in the final and it remains the Soweto giants' last major trophy.

Mamelodi Sundowns

Trophies: 8

The Brazilians were the most dominant team in the last decade thanks to coach Pitso Mosimane, who has been credited for reawaken a sleeping giant.

The Kagiso-born tactician, who arrived at the Chloorkop-based giants in 2012, has won four league titles having beaten Orlando Pirates to the last two PSL trophies in tightly contested title races.

Mosimane is also the first and only South African coach to win the most prestigious club competition in Africa, CAF Champions League in 2016, before adding the 2017 CAF Super Cup to the club's trophy cabinet.

Masandawana have also enjoyed some success in local cup competitions under the former Bafana Bafana coach as they clinched the Telkom Knockout Cup and Nedbank Cup in 2015.

Sundowns began the new decade by winning the 2019 Telkom Knockout Cup and they have set their sights on this season's Absa Premiership title.