AHEAD of the start of the PSL promotion play-offs at Tuks Stadium tomorrow (3pm kick-off), when the University of Pretoria host Baroka FC, the two Motsepe Foundation Championship teams will be encouraged to know that the three-way battle for a spot in the elite league often favours the lower-division side.
The other team involved in the tussle to be in the DStv Premiership next season is Richards Bay, who campaigned in the top echelon of South African football in the term that officially ends today with the Nedbank Cup final between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates in Mbombela.
In the last 10 years of the play-offs, which sees the teams finishing second and third in the Championship battling it out with the side that ended second last in the Premiership, the lower-division teams have had the upper hand – although only just.
There have been six teams promoted via the play-offs in comparison to four that retained their Premiership status, which should boost both AmaTuks and Bakgaga as they kick off the six-match mini-league competition.
As they seek to return to the top-flight, AmaTuks will be buoyed by yet another statistic.
On the six occasions that National First Division teams won the play-offs, the Championship runners-up were victors five times – Cape Town Spurs last year, Black Leopards, Baroka, Highlands Park and Jomo Cosmos in 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 respectively.
The only third-placed team promoted via the play-offs was Marumo Gallants in 2020.
Baroka can, however, look at the fact that they were victorious in their only other promotion play-off, while AmaTuks lost theirs.
All those are but statistics, and the discerning football fan – let alone the coaches of the two clubs – will know only too well that stats are nothing but numbers that have very little influence on the outcome of matches.
Having drawn 1-1 in the final games of the season to secure their places in the play-offs, the two teams appear to be evenly-matched, and a similar result tomorrow would likely be more welcomed by Baroka.
Coach Dan Malesela has done a remarkable job with the Limpopo outfit to give them a chance of Premiership football, and there can be no doubt the highly experienced tactician would love to once again show his prowess by leading Baroka to promotion.
The former Orlando Pirates captain, who also had a stellar playing career at Mamelodi Sundowns, has had some outstanding results with lower-division clubs, but just cannot seem to crack it in the big time.
⚽️⚽️⚽️NEXT MATCH ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
— Baroka Football Club (@Baroka_FC) May 24, 2024
🏆| Promotion Play-offs
🆚I AmaTuks
📅I 02 June 2024
🏟️ I Tuks Stadium
⏲️I 15H00
#lennakemoroka #barokafire
@GobalOilSA @Monflair_ZA @borgatmansa @mycolana
@BarokaFunerals pic.twitter.com/py2ppZdPNt
He has coached Chippa United during numerous stints in the elite league, and was also in charge of Marumo Gallants at one stage.
But the man fondly referred to as ‘Dan Dance’ continues to be overlooked by the bigger clubs, some of them hiring coaches way less experienced than him.
He has previously voiced his hope that the work he does with the smaller clubs will earn him that big-club call, but with his phone not ringing, he has to keep at it.
Earning promotion for Baroka will get his name back on the PSL radar, and who knows what then thereafter.