The new Betway Premiership season get underway on Saturday with Orlando Pirates beginning the defence of their title with a home game against newly promoted Milford and hoping to keep up the unbeaten streak that Mamelodi Sundowns had for eight successive years as defending champions in their first game of the new league campaign.
Sundowns avoided defeat in their last eight opening games of the season as champions, winning six and drawing two, including their first league game of last season which was 1-1 draw away against Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Before last season, Sundowns won six successive opening games of the season.
The Premier Soccer League was launched 30 years ago, and the defending champions have won 16 out of 29 times in their first match of the season following their title success. There have been eight draws and five losses for the defending champions.
As defending champions, Sundowns have lost their opening league fixture twice to Umtata Bucks in 2000 and then to AmaZulu in 2007.
The only other defending champions to lose the opening game in defence of their title were Pirates in 2003, when SuperSport United beat them, and then SuperSport in 2010 when they suffered 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Bidvest Wits.
Bidvest Wits in turn lost their opening game in 2017 to Cape Town City.
Performances of defending PSL champions in their first game of following season
1997-98 Cape Town Spurs 0 Manning Rangers 3
1998-99 Cape Town Spurs 1 Mamelodi Sundowns 1
1999-00 SuperSport United 1 Mamelodi Sundowns 4
2000-01 Mamelodi Sundowns 0 Umtata Bush Bucks 1
2001-02 Orlando Pirates 2 Umtata Bush Bucks 1
2002-03 Jomo Cosmos 2 Santos 3
2003-04 SuperSport United 2 Orlando Pirates 0
2004-05 Dynamos 1 Kaizer Chiefs 4
2005-06 Bush Bucks 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1
2006-07 AmaZulu 0 Mamelodi Sundowns 0
2007-08 Mamelodi Sundowns 1 AmaZulu 2
2008-09 SuperSport United 1 Free State Stars 0
2009-10 Maritzburg United 1 SuperSport United 1
2010-11 Bidvest Wits 3 SuperSport United 0
2011-12 Black Leopards 0 Orlando Pirates 2
2012-13 Orlando Pirates 2 Lamontville Golden Arrows 1
2013-14 Mpumalanga Black Aces 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1
2014-15 Mamelodi Sundowns 1 Maritzburg United 1
2015-16 Chippa United 0 Kaizer Chiefs 0
2016-17 Maritzburg United 0 Mamelodi Sundowns 0
2017-18 Bidvest Wits 0 Cape Town City 1
2018-19 Mamelodi Sundowns 1 Kaizer Chiefs 1
2019-20 Mamelodi Sundowns 2 SuperSport United 0
2020-21 Kaizer Chiefs 0 Mamelodi Sundowns 3
2021-22 Mamelodi Sundowns 1 AmaZulu 0
2022-23: Cape Town City 0 Mamelodi Sundowns 2
2023-24: Sekhukhune United 1 Mamelodi Sundowns 2
2024-25: Mamelodi Sundowns 2 SuperSport United 0
2025-26: Chippa United 1 Mamelodi Sundowns 1