The Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban has been chosen because the venue for the 2025 Nedbank Cup remaining, with Kaizer Chiefs particularly having combined recollections on the 2010 Fifa World Cup venue.
Chiefs will tackle Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates within the marquee fixture on Saturday, the fifth occasion that the Nedbank Cup decider has been performed on the iconic venue.
It was the scene of Chiefs’ 1-0 win over SuperSport United within the remaining of the 2013 Nedbank Cup, a recreation that went to extra-time earlier than Bernard Parker’s lengthy vary effort sealed victory.
The final remaining there in 2019 additionally concerned Chiefs however this time it might finish within the bitter disappointment of defeat as they have been edged 1-0 by then second-tier TS Galaxy, the one ever occasion the place a workforce from exterior the topflight has lifted the trophy.
The opposite two Nedbank Cup finals performed on the Moses Mabhida Stadium concerned Pirates and so they too have bittersweet recollections.
The Buccaneers defeated BidVest Wits 3-1 within the 2014 remaining, however then misplaced 4-1 to SuperSport United in 2017 for a 50 per cent report in Nedbank Cup finals on the venue.
This shall be Pirates’ eleventh remaining on the stadium, together with successful the primary trophy to be determined there in 2010, simply months after the World Cup remaining, once they edged Moroka Swallows on post-match penalties to raise the MTN8.
SEVEN OF TEN
That was one in every of seven trophy successes at Moses Mabhida, whereas they’ve misplaced the opposite three.
It’s made up of MTN8 success in 2010, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024, plus the 2011 Telkom Knockout and the 2014 Nedbank Cup remaining.
Pirates misplaced the 2013 MTN8 remaining on penalties to Platinum Stars after which once more the subsequent 12 months to Chiefs when Tefu Mashamaite scored the one purpose of the sport. Additionally they misplaced that 2017 Nedbank Cup decider.
There have been 12 totally different venues used for a Nedbank Cup remaining within the 18 years of the competitors since 2008, however the Moses Mabhida Stadium has now featured in 5 of these years.
Final 12 months’s remaining venue was the Mbombela Stadium, the place Pirates defeated Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1, and earlier than that Loftus Stadium in Pretoria, the place the Buccaneers beat Sekhukhune United 2-1.
And the 12 months earlier than that the ultimate was performed on the Royal Bafokeng Sports activities Palace in Phokeng within the North West province as Sundowns defeated Marumo Gallants by the identical scoreline.
Deciding on a stadium to host the decider will not be as lower and dried because it might sound and there are a selection of things at play.
The primary of those is that it’s often in a impartial province, except each groups are from the identical one. An instance of this could be the Orlando Stadium, which in 2012 hosted SuperSport United defeating Mamelodi Sundowns.
The one different time the ultimate was staged in Orlando, it was not a impartial venue, although there have been extenuating circumstances.
NON-NEUTRAL VENUES OF THE PAST
This was for the 2020 decider when Sundowns beat Bloemfontein Celtic, however home soccer was being performed within the Gauteng bio-bubble and so organisers had no different alternative.
Different events when there was not a impartial venue was within the inaugural season in 2008 as Sundowns beat Mpumalanga Black Aces on the Johannesburg Stadium, and in 2010 when the newly rebuilt FNB Stadium performed host to BidVest Wits towards AmaZulu.
It was a match to showcase the brand new venue and South Africa’s readiness for the Fifa World Cup that was to be performed that 12 months.
There is only one 2010 World Cup venue that has not but hosted the Nedbank Cup decider since 2008 – Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Except for the Moses Mabhida Stadium, the Orlando Stadium (2012, 2020) was the one different venue to have hosted a number of Nedbank Cup finals earlier than the Mbombela Stadium (2011, 2024) was added to that record this 12 months.
Different finals have been performed on the Johannesburg Stadium (2008), Rand Stadium (2009), FNB Stadium (2010), Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (2015), Peter Mokaba Stadium (2016), Cape City Stadium (2018), Free State Stadium (2021), Royal Bafokeng Sports activities Palace (2022) and Loftus Stadium (2023).
