A-Z of the 2021-22 DStv Premiership season

The 2021-22 DStv Premiership season is a thing of the past and it was quite a rollercoaster ride for many clubs right up until their final game.

We bring you the A-Z of a season that will live long in the memory!

A – AmaZulu recorded the most draws in the DStv Premiership with 17 out of their 30 games. That was three short of the record of 20 set by Swallows FC the season before.

B – Baroka FC suffered relegation after six seasons in the topflight and many previous brushes with the drop. Finally their luck ran out.

C – Cape Town City finished second despite selling a number of top stars in January as coach Eric Tinkler looked to trim his squad and focus more on young, hungry players. They will play in the CAF Champions League next season.

D - There were 45 goalless draws in the 2021-22 season, which is a new record for any PSL season.

E – Chippa United striker Bienvenu Eva Nga doubled his previous best topflight tally with 10 goals in the league, havinh managed just five the season before. He was one of three players to reach double figures.

F – TS Galaxy had the joint best form in the final six rounds of the league campaign, claiming 11 points from a possible 18, which matched the efforts of Mamelodi Sundowns and Stellenbosch FC. That saved The Rockets from relegation.

G – There were 479 goals scored in the 240 games this season, the lowest ever in a PSL season, with the average per game (1.99) slipping below two for the first time.

H – A total of 11 head coaches at nine different clubs were sacked during the 2021-22 season.

I – Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Denis Onyango saves all three penalties he faced in the DStv Premiership, showing great instinct to thwart opponents from 12 yards.

J – Stellenbosch FC’s Nigerian teenager Ibraheem Jabaar was one of the best midfielders in the league and has a massive future ahead of him.

K – Kaizer Chiefs finished in fifth place in the league after winning only 13 of their 30 games. It was still an improvement on eighth place in 2020-21!

L – Lamontville Golden Arrows missed out on a top eight place following the very last game of the season as SuperSport United overtook them with a 2-0 win against Orlando Pirates.

M – Mamelodi Sundowns’ league title win by 16 points is the biggest in PSL history and betters their own previous top mark of 14 points set in 2015-16.

N – Marumo Gallants’ diminutive midfielder Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo had his best scoring season with eight league goals, though five of those came from the penalty-spot. He scored just a single goal in his maiden topflight campaign in 2020-21.

O – Orlando Pirates could only manage sixth place in the league, their lowest finish since they ended in 11th place in the 2016-17 campaign.

P – Peter Shalulile had a dream season in which he scored 23 league goals (and 30 in all competitions), the most in the topflight since Collins Mbesuma got 25 for Kaizer Chiefs in 2004-05.

Q – Royal AM had an excellent seasons to finish third, but questions may be asked by management as to why the team did not pick up a single win in their last seven games of the campaign (D4 L3) which cost them CAF Champions League football next season.

R – Iqraam Rayners broke his barren scoring run of more than two years when he netted for SuperSport United against AmaZulu in March 2022. His previous league goal before that was for Stellenbosch FC against Highlands Park in January 2020. Rayners ended the league season with two goals.

S - Stellenbosch FC only narrowly avoided relegation the previous season, but stunned many with a fourth-place finish in 2021-22, though there may also be the lingering feeling within the club that they might have done even better were it not for 14 draws.

T – Mfundo Thikazi proved a super sub for Royal AM with all four of his goals coming off the bench, including in the 4-1 away win over Kaizer Chiefs and the 2-2 draw with Orlando Pirates. Only Maritzburg United’s Leletu Skelm (17) came off the bench more times than Thikazi (16) this season.

U – It is scary to think that all 15 DStv Premiership sides will go into next season as the underdogs against Mamelodi Sundowns, such is the dominance of the Tshwane side!

V – Royal AM forward Victor Letsoalo was the runner-up for the Golden Boot this season with 15 goals, though six of those were from the penalty spot. No player netted more spot-kicks than him this campaign.

W – Perhaps not surprisingly Mamelodi Sundowns picked up the most wins this season with 19, which was short of their record of 22 set in 2015-16. The next highest number of victories this season was Kaizer Chiefs with 13.

X – TS Galaxy did not win any of their first eight games this season and were bottom of the league before a 2-1 home win over Baroka FC in November.

Y – Marks Munyai picked up the most yellow cards this season with 10. The TS Galaxy defender was one ahead of Baroka FC’s Richard Mbulu (9). Munyai also received a red card.

Z – Orlando Pirates forward Zakhele Lepasa returned to action after more than a year on the sidelines this past season and will now hope to push on with his career in the 2022-23 campaign.