Well before the launch of the 2006 SAA Supa 8 competition, Kaizer Chiefs were aware that they would be facing Golden Arrows in their ¼ Final Match up. Chiefs were not aware though where the game would be played, on Tuesday the luck of the draw favored The Amakhosi when they were given home ground advantage and will host Arrows in the ¼ Finals. The draw which was conducted ‘The Venue’ inside the up market Melrose Arch Complex in Johannesburg, gave Chiefs the opportunity to host Arrows for the first time at home in a Cup Game. Although the two teams have met in Cup matches before, namely in the 2002 and 2004 Coca Cola Cup with Chiefs emerging as the victors on both occasion this will be the first time Arrows will journey to Johannesburg to face Chiefs in a cup game.

During the event which marked the launch of the 2006 SAA Supa8 competition Jaqui O Sullivan a spokesperson for the sponsors South African Airways said “during this years competition we will be hoping to bring the event closer to the South African soccer supporter, one of these initiatives will include us bringing a number of school children to attend the various matches through out the competition”. Recently returned from his holidays PSL CEO Trevor Phillips in his address at the launch spoke about the importance of the SAA Supa8 when he added “this competition is the prelude to the start of the PSL proper and if we have a well contested Supa8, the tough and competitive nature of matches here will ensure the same is kept when the league starts”.

By virtue of finishing out side the top 8 this past season, the 2005 Supa8 winners Bloemfontein Celtic will not be participating in this year’s competition which means that we will have a new champion flying home from the Final with a loot of R1.3 million. The final will be contested on October 21st and as yet a venue still needs to be set. The Amakhosi last won the Supa8 competition in 2001 when they defeated Mamelodi Sundowns on penalties after 120 pulsating minutes, ended with the score at 2-2. Since the change of Sponsor in 2003 Chiefs have made it once to the final back in 2004 when they narrowly lost to Super Sport United in Durban. Chiefs other foray’s in the SAA Supa8 saw them lose to Wits University in the ¼ Finals in 2003 and they were bundled out by eventual winners Bloemfontein Celtic at the same stage in 2005.

Ernst Middendorp not one to be phased by facts and figures does not read much into statistics and said of the draw which gave Chiefs the home ground advantage “playing them in Johannesburg or Durban would not have made a difference to me, we knew two months ago that we would be playing Arrows so we have had them in the back of our minds. Arrows are never an easy team to play they usually raise their games against the big teams, even with out Alton Meiring they still are a dangerous team” said the Chiefs coach.

The 2006 SAA Supa8 will take off on the weekend of the 11th of August with two ¼ Final Matches scheduled to be played with one game on Saturday 12th August and Sunday 13th August, these matches will be followed a week later by the remaining ¼ Finals which will happen on the 19th and 20th August respectively. The Semi Finals of the competition will occur on the 23rd and 24th September with the Final on the 21st October. With the way the draw for the ¼ Finals panned out, which sees two games taking place in Johannesburg and two in Tshwane (Pretoria) there, is a strong possibility that the organizers will want to spread the play around the country in the later rounds of the competition.

2006 SAA Supa8 ¼ Finals Draw

Mamelodi Sundowns Vs Santos

Super Sport United Vs Orlando Pirates

Kaizer Chiefs Vs Lamontville Golden Arrows

Moroka Swallows Vs Silver Stars

*Team placed first denotes home team

* Dates, Venues and Kick Off times to be confirmed

Kaizer Chiefs Vs Golden Arrows past results in Cup Competitions

2002 Coca Cola Cup ¼ Finals

ABSA Stadium Durban

November 3rd 2002

Golden Arrows 1 (Mkhonza 68 min) Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Mkhonza o.g. 13 min, Mussasa 78 min)

2004 Coca Cola Cup Last Sixteen

ABSA Stadium Durban

October 24th 2004

Golden Arrows 1 (Sibeko 24 min) Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Zwane 14 min, Mbesuma 48 min)

Kaizer Chiefs Vs Golden Arrows Head to Head Cup Competitions

P W L GF GA GD

Kaizer Chiefs 2 2 0 4 2 2

Golden Arrows 2 0 2 2 4 -2

Past Top 8 / Supa8 Champions

BP Top Eight

1972 Orlando Pirates

1973 Orlando Pirates

1974 Kaizer Chiefs

1975 Moroka Swallows

1976 Kaizer Chiefs

1977 Kaizer Chiefs

1978 Orlando Pirates

1979 Moroka Swallows

1980 Witbank Black Aces

1981 Kaizer Chiefs

1982 Kaizer Chiefs

1983 Orlando Pirates

1984 Wits University

1985 Kaizer Chiefs

1986 Arcadia

1987 Kaizer Chiefs

1988 Mamelodi Sundowns

1989 Kaizer Chiefs

1990 Mamelodi Sundowns

1991 Kaizer Chiefs

1992 Kaizer Chiefs

1993 Orlando Pirates

1994 Kaizer Chiefs

1995 Wits University

1996 Orlando Pirates

1997 no cup

1998 no cup

1999 no cup

2000 Orlando Pirates

2001 Kaizer Chiefs

2002 Santos

SAA Supa8

2003 Jomo Cosmos

2004 Super Sport United

2005 Bloemfontein Celtic