Not many people will remember the name Ricky Phuka, but it was his extra time strike twenty years ago in the first edition of the Charity Cup, when it was known as the Iwisa Maize Meal Spectacular that saw Chiefs overcome Bloemfontein Celtic to be crowned the inaugural winners of what has become the precursor to the resumption of league football in South Africa.

This sparked what was to be a relationship that lasted for more years, as Chiefs then won the Charity Spectacular again in 1987 a feat they repeated in 1988, 1989, 1990. There was a temporary separation between Chiefs and the cup when Cape Town Spurs dethroned The Amakhosi in the 1991 edition.

Chiefs then had to wait until 1994 before reacquainting themselves with the trophy. Although Chiefs were unable to win the tournament back to back again - they won it in 2002 and again in 2003. Chiefs record in the event has really set a bench mark as The Amakhosi have won the event on no less than ten occasions.

Unlike the Malawian international Phuka many people will remember the names Nelson ‘Teenage’ Dladla and Absalom Scara Thindwa, as the pair with some nifty footwork, bags of tricks and sublime artistry on the field of play warmed up the field on many winters days.

They carved their way and earned the admiration and love of The Amakhosi faithful all the while they were Chiefs players. It will take the most ardent supporter and a statistician of note to remember that Dladla was the first person to score a goal in the Charity Cup.

He opened up the scoring when Chiefs defeated cross-town rivals Moroka Swallows in the opening game at the inaugural event in 1986, although Swallows managed to find an equalizer through Thomas Hlongwane.

Thindwa popped up to score Chiefs second and send the first Iwisa Maize Meal Spectacular trophy to the Gold and Black Half of Soweto.

Current Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp is aware of the rich tradition the club shares with the Charity event and it is a tradition he hopes will be kept up as Chiefs go in search of their eleventh honour in this weekend. It won’t be easy for Chiefs as they have defending PSL Champions Mamelodi Sundowns in their opening game and he is aware of the job at hand.

“A team of real quality are Sundowns, from the back to their attack they have the ability to give you problems, we have been improving game by game and Manchester United is behind us. This is Sundowns at the FNB and the dynamics are different”.

When asked on Thursday whether his team will be able to play a game at 11h30 in the morning, if they will be physiologically up to the challenge he said “we are in the fortunate position of having played in Polokwane and most recently in Bloemfontein at a similar time in Polokwane we kicked off at ten. I do feel that our medical and technical teams have the experience to get the guys prepared for a kick off at this rather peculiar time”.

Co Coach of Chiefs opposition on Saturday Neil Tovey commenting ahead of the weekend’s encounter said of Saturday’s clash “Chiefs are at somewhat of an advantage as they have played a couple more games than us at this stage, we did have a good solid pre season camp in Durban which went along way towards preparing us for this game”.

Amakhosi captain Cyril Nzama who broke Sundowns hearts in the 2001 BP Top Eight Final when he scored a goal in the final minute of the game, is optimistic as well as realistic about Chiefs chances on the weekend.

When he added “playing Sundowns or Pirates always gives players the opportunity to lift their game, you want to prove you are better than them and that is what it is all about”. The Chiefs captain also feels that the fact that Sundowns are league Champions will count in The Amakhosi’s favour adding, “For us there really is no added pressure to prove anything.

All we need to do is play our usual game and keep up our confidence and put them under pressure from the beginning. As well being tight at the back and making the most of our chances in front of goal I do not envisage any major problems for us”.

With the PSL announcing that over 60 000 tickets have already been sold - Saturday’s game is sure to be played in front of a sold out FNB Stadium and with the weather predictions looking sunnier for Johannesburg over the weekend be sure to expect fireworks four months before the festive holidays.

Inaugural Iwisa Maize Meal Spectacular Final 1986

Semi Final 1


Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Nelson Dladla, Absalom Thindwa) Moroka Swallows 1 (Thomas Hlongwane)

Semi Final 2


Bloemfontein Celtic 2 (Jacob Pilane, Albert Sibiya) Jomo Cosmos 0

Final


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Ricky Phuka) Bloemfontein Celtic 0 (aet)