With Cape Town City into the dreaded PSL promotion/relegation play-offs, Soccer Laduma analyses the chances of NFD sides, Casric Stars and Orbit College, with the statistics of previous winners of the mini-tournament.
Over the years, the promotion/relegation play-offs seemed to have favoured PSL sides, who have managed to retain their Premiership statuses more times than teams from the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
Read: Comitis: 'Fair Play Not Exhibited' As City Prepare For Playoffs
However, looking at the statistics for the past decade, the tide has been changing, with second division sides pulling upsets in the three-team round-robin competition.
Orbit and Casric would have a daunting task trying to topple The Citizens, who have not been relegated since they bought the status of Mpumalanga Black Aces in 2016.
In the last ten seasons, PSL sides have been able to retain their statuses in the play-offs six times, with four campaigns seeing two teams from the National First Division promoted, one via the play-offs.
After finishing 15th in the Betway Premiership in the 2022/23 season, Maritzburg were unable to remain in the elite league after Cape Town Spurs won the play-offs of that campaign.
That was the first time a team won promotion to the top flight via this route since the 2017/18 term, where Black Leopards took the place of Platinum Stars, who could not use their second opportunity.
For two seasons in a row, in 2015 and 2016, Highlands Park and Jomo Cosmos managed to gain promotion to the Premiership from the second tier via the play-offs, after Moroka Swallows and University of Pretoria were unable to redeem themselves as PSL sides.
Read: Chiefs Among Four-Way Battle For Signature Marksman?
Richards Bay, Swallows, Chippa United, Leopards, Maritzburg and Baroka were able to retain their PSL statuses from the play-offs in the last ten years.
This season's play-offs will get underway next Wednesday, when Orbit hosts Casric.
The Mother City outfit will be at home against Orbit next Saturday in their opening match.
