Opening Day headline makers
Kaizer Chiefs kick off match day one of their 55th professional top-flight league campaign today. For the most part over the previous 54 campaigns, Amakhosi have started out with victories. www.kaizerchiefs.com examines and looks back on the teams and individuals who stood out on opening day.
Eight in a row
From 1971 to 1979, Chiefs managed to go through their first eight top-flight campaigns without losing their first game. Indeed, Amakhosi won all eight opening league games, before going down 3-1 away to Hellenic on 7 March, 1980. They managed some impressive victories on this successful run, which included an 11-1 win over African Wanderers in 1971. Chiefs also managed a 5-1 home win over Mangaung United in 1972, a 7-1 win away at Witbank Black Aces in 1973 and another big win against African Wanderers, this time a 10-1 triumph in 1974, the season in which Chiefs would go on to win the title.
Ace Ntsoelengoe
According to club records, Ntsoelengoe is one of only two players at Chiefs to have scored more than a century of goals for the Club, with his tally standing at over 240 goals in the famous Gold & Black. He had a knack of scoring in opening games, particularly against African Wanderers, managing to score four when Chiefs opened up the 1971 season with an 11-1 win, five in a 10-1 victory in 1974, and four in 1975 when they won 6-1. Ace was also in target in a 7-1 triumph against Witbank Black Aces in 1972, and converted the only goal of the match from the penalty spot against Welkom Real Hearts in 1979.
Kaizer Motaung
As a player, the founder and current Chairman contributed to the Club’s on-field success as well. In 1973, he was the star of the show on the opening day, scoring four goals in a 7-1 away win against Witbank Black Aces, and went on to score a total of nine league goals for the club in the 1973 campaign.
Hattrick Heroes
In the PSL era, two Chiefs players have managed to score three or more times in the Club’s first league game of a season. Collins Mbesuma put Dynamos to the sword as Chiefs opened up the defence of their league title in 2004-05 with a 4-1 win in Giyani. The Zambian marksman began with a treble in a season that would see him score 25 league goals. Chiefs’ other PSL era hattrick hero is Bernard Parker, who netted four in a 6-0 win away against AmaZulu in Durban - their biggest opening game win in the PSL era - as Chiefs laid down the marker for what would be a triumphant campaign in 2012-13.
