Bucs set to improve poor Telkom record
STATS AGAINST BAROKA AS THEY MAKE THEIR CUP FINAL DEBUT
Baroka FC will tomorrow become the 33rd club since the establishment of the professional league in South Africa in 1971, to contest a cup final but statistics are heavily stacked against them.
The club from Limpopo, only in their third season in the top flight, will meet Orlando Pirates in the Telkom Knockout final at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth and will lose if history is anything to go by.
Only 12 of the 33 clubs - just over a third - have managed to take a trophy in their maiden cup final appearance.
The last was Cape Town City two years ago, when they beat SuperSport United in the Telkom Knockout final in Polokwane only a matter of months after the club was established.
Before that it was Lamontville Golden Arrows winning the MTN8 in 2009, and Ajax Cape Town taking the Rothmans Cup (later the Telkom Knockout) in 2000.
In between the likes of University of Pretoria, Black Leopards, Maritzburg United and now defunct Manning Rangers and Platinum Stars all lost in their first cup finals.
Maritzburg were beaten this year in Cape Town by Free State Stars in the Nedbank Cup final.
The other winning debutants over the last 47 years have been Kaizer Chiefs, Wits, Black Aces, Arcadia, Bloemfontein Celtic, Free State Stars, Vaal Professionals, Umtata Bucks and Cape Town Spurs.
Baroka will take some confidence though from Pirates’ poor record in past Telkom Knockout finals.
Pirates may have sealed a ninth visit to the final of the competition, but have known mostly heartbreak in the past - a win over Wits in 2011 being the Buccaneers only success in eight final appearances.
They have suffered more disappointment since, going down 2-1 to Platinum Stars in 2013 when they were again heavy favourites.