Kaizer Chiefs host old rivals Orlando Pirates in the Soweto Derby on Saturday, another chance for players to write their names into the history books and perhaps score the winning goal.
It is a well-known fact that Kaizer Chiefs legend Pule ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe is the greatest goalscorer in Soweto Derby history with 19 strikes, a record that is unlikely to ever be beaten.
He scored goals for fun against Pirates, but these days says that if you are netting that many in the modern game, you won’t hang around in the PSL for long enough to top his mark.
So who has the most Derby goals since the formation of the National Soccer League in 1985, which was a watershed moment in the domestic game?
The record in the last 38 years is six goals, which perhaps puts Ntsoelengoe’s heroics into even greater perspective.
The mark has been achieved twice, once for each team by two top strikers from yesteryear.
Jerry Sikhosana netted a hat-trick for Orlando Pirates in a 4-1 Bob Save Super Bowl semifinal in 1996, which is also the last time a player scored a treble in a Derby encounter.
He followed that up with goals in both league encounters in the 1996/97 season, and then another in 1997/98. Pirates never lost when he was on target.
Fani Madida also netted six goals for Chiefs, though there was a four-year gap between his first in 1987 and his second in 1991.
He got two in that campaign 31 years ago and followed that up with another three goals in the 1992 season, including a brace in a 3-2 victory in the Coca-Cola Cup first round.
Those two are one ahead of the next highest scorers in the NSL era, the legendary Doctor Khumalo and Marks Maponyane, and contemporary star Thembinkosi Lorch, who could yet take the overall crown, perhaps even this weekend.
Khumalo scored his goals in a six-year period between 1087 and 1993, and it is perhaps surprising he did not get more.
Maponyane netted for both sides, grabbing four goals for Chiefs and one for Pirates as he crossed the Soweto divide.
Lorch has been a real thorn in the side of Chiefs in recent years, despite constant issues with injuries that have kept him sidelined. He is now back in the team and firing.
There are a clutch of players on four Derby goals since 1985, including legends such as Shane MacGregor, Basil Steenkamp and Siphiwe Tshabalala, while former Pirates star Lesley Manyathela would surely have added many more to his three derby goals had he not tragically died in a car accident aged 21.
SOWETO DERBY GOALSCORERS SINCE 1985
6 goals – Fani Madida (Kaizer Chiefs), Jerry Sikhosana (Orlando Pirates)
5 – Doctor Khumalo (Kaizer Chiefs), Thembinkosi Lorch (Orlando Pirates), Marks Maponyane (Kaizer Chiefs/Orlando Pirates)
4 – Daniel Cardoso (Kaizer Chiefs), Leonardo Castro (Kaizer Chiefs), Thabang Lebese (Kaizer Chiefs), Shane MacGregor (Kaizer Chiefs), Basil Steenkamp (Orlando Pirates), Siphiwe Tshabalala (Kaizer Chiefs), Scara Thindwa (Kaizer Chiefs), Benedict Vilakazi (Orlando Pirates)
3 – Albert Bwalya (Kaizer Chiefs), Denis Lota (Orlando Pirates), Lesley Manyathela (Orlando Pirates), Katlego Mashego (Orlando Pirates), Knowledge Musona (Kaizer Chiefs), Siyabonga Nomvethe (Kaizer Chiefs)