Richards Bay will make their debut in the DStv Premiership during the 2022/23 season having won automatic promotion at the end of the last campaign.
It was a fully deserved promotion for the Natal Rich Boys, even if they did leave it down to the wire on the final day of the campaign.
Clearly they have a squad that has mastered the GladAfrica Championship, but what about one that can tackle the topflight?
We look at five players in their ranks who could light up the elite league next season.
SAKHILE HLONGWA
Hlongwa is no stranger to South African fans having been a junior of much promise at Kaizer Chiefs who never quite lived up to his potential.
He is a former junior international as well who plays as an attacking midfielder or centre-forward and has exploded into life this campaign having massively under-achieved in the past.
The 27-year-old had only scored three league goals in eight seasons before this, though admittedly he barely played in most of those, but is the joint Golden Boot winner with 14 in this campaign. Six of those have been from the penalty-spot.
After leaving Chiefs without playing a game for them, he has spent his entire career in the GladAfrica Championship with the likes of Thanda Royal Zulu, Umtatha Bucks, Cape Town All Stars, Mbombela United, TS Galaxy and Royal Eagles.
In fact, the 2021/22 season is the first of his career where he spent two campaigns at one club, always moving on at the end of the year.
He finished the season with seven goals in his final five games.
SIMPHIWE MCINEKA
Centre-back Mcineka has been a stalwart at the back for Richards Bay over the last five seasons and so deserves his shot at the big-time.
Still only 25, there is room for improvement, but he has been a consistent performer for some time now and a big part of the most miserly defence in the GladAfrica Championship this campaign.
He played in 29 of their 30 league games and side from his defending, also pitched in with three goals, showcasing his threat from set-pieces at the other end.
One of those goals was a crucial winner at Venda Football Academy in February.
VUSI MNGOMEZULU
Mngomezulu is another who is no stranger to the topflight having spent four seasons with Polokwane City in the DStv Premiership.
The winger burst onto the scene in the 2016/17 campaign and had many people sit up and take notice with his contribution.
But he never made more than 15 league appearances in each of the four seasons after that, coming in and out of the side without stamping his authority on a place in the team.
He moved to Richards Bay at the start of 2021/22 and that change appears to have worked wonders for him.
He has missed only a handful of matches and his five goals have been crucial to their promotion push.
Now back in the elite league, can the 27-year-old finally prove he belongs?
SIBONGINHLANHLA MTHETHWA
Right-winger Mthethwa is an exciting prospect who is in just his second season as a professional but been a major player for Richards Bay in their promotion push.
The 21-year-old has scored seven goals and created numerous others for teammates in an outstanding campaign.
He debuted for the club last season but made only six appearances, though when given his chance this campaign took it with both hands.
Mthethwa will be an unknown quantity for DStv Premiership sides, certainly in the opening months of the campaign, and is one to watch.
SOMILA NTSUNDWANA
Ntsundwana has been in the DStv Premiership before with both BidVest Wits and AmaZulu, but perhaps those stints came too early in his career.
The playmaker has excellent physical attributes and always displayed incredible raw ability, but perhaps a little too raw for his coaches in the past.
However, at the age of 25 he appears to be honing that talent and maturing into the player that Gavin Hunt hoped he would become at Wits when he made his debut as a teenager in the 2015/16 season.
He later moved to AmaZulu and made 19 DStv Premiership appearances over three seasons but moved to Richards Bay in 2020/21 and has not looked back.
He will now want to prove he has what it takes to be an elite league player.