Middendorp or Malesela to add name to list of Nedbank Cup winning coaches

There will be a new name added to the list of Nedbank Cup winning coaches since the competition was first played under this guise in 2008, as Kaizer Chiefs’ Ernst Middendorp plots the downfall of Dan Malesela’s TS Galaxy.

Stuart Baxter has been the most successful coach in that time with three titles, two with SuperSport United and one with Chiefs, the only coach to lift the trophy more than once.

Malesela will be hoping for a special piece of history across all eras of South African football – if he can lead National First Division side Galaxy to the title they will be the first second-tier side to lift the trophy.

Whoever wins it, they will be following in the footsteps of some of the recent greats of South African coaching.

Here is the full list of winning coaches in the Nedbank Cup since 2008:

2008 TROTT MOLOTO (MAMELODI SUNDOWNS)

Moloto took over at Sundowns from Gordon Igesund in February 2008, just a month before Sundowns started their Nedbank Cup campaign. He saw them past both SuperSport United and Kaizer Chiefs, before a meeting with National First Division side Mpumalanga Black Aces in the decider. Lerato Chabangu scored a late winner for Sundowns and they lifted the trophy.

2009 JULIO LEAL (MOROKA SWALLOWS)

This would prove to be the final game in charge for the Brazilian Leal, who was axed despite his side lifting the Nedbank Cup trophy, paying the price for some indifferent league form. He got his side to the final where they faced another NFD side, University of Pretoria, and had too much for the second-tier side as Brazilian Vinicius Da Silva scored the only goal of the game.

2010 ROGER DE SA (BIDVEST WITS)

De Sa led Wits to a surprise final appearance with a young team that was by no means the finished article. They faced off against AmaZulu and in a tight game, vanquished their opponents 3-0 after three late goals, two from Sifiso Vilakazi and a third via Brazilian Fabricio da Silva.

2011 RUUD KROL (ORLANDO PIRATES)

Another coach who won the Nedbank Cup and left immediately afterwards, Dutchman Krol led his Pirates team to the League and top eight trophies as well, but did not have his contract renewed. Pirates went behind in this final against NFD side Black Leopards, but stormed back to win 3-1 thanks to goals from Thulasizwe Mbuyane (two) and Isaac Chansa.

2012 GAVIN HUNT (SUPERSPORT UNITED)

This was the first of three finals in a row for Hunt and his SuperSport side easily defeated Sundowns 2-0 as Thabo September and Kermit Erasmus netted second half goals. He would return in 2013 only to see SuperSport lose 1-0 to Kaizer Chiefs, and then following a switch to BidVest Wits, led them to the 2014 final as well where they were beaten 3-1 by Orlando Pirates.

2013 STUART BAXTER (KAIZER CHIEFS)

Baxter started like a house on fire at Chiefs, pulling off the ŒDouble¹ in his first season as he ended it with the Nedbank Cup trophy following a 1-0 win over SuperSport. Bernard Parker got the only goal of the game in extra-time as the AmaKhosi denied Matsatsantsa back-to-back trophy wins.

2014 VLADIMIR VERMEZOVIC (ORLANDO PIRATES)

Pirates had already advanced past the Last 32 of the Nedbank Cup when Vermezovic, who also spent nearly three seasons at Chiefs, arrived at the club. He promised his players that if they reached the final, he would ensure they won it and so it proved as they roared back from a goal down to beat Wits 3-1 with Kermit Erasmus (two) and Sifiso Myeni on target.

2015 PITSO MOSIMANE (MAMELODI SUNDOWNS)

Mosimane had already lifted the trophy with SuperSport in 2005, and edged to another win with Sundowns as they defeated De Sa¹s Ajax Cape Town in the decider in a penalty shoot-out following a 0-0 draw. Abbubaker Mobara had a chance to win it for Ajax in the shoot-out, but missed and Sundowns won the day as Sundowns repeated their 2008 success.

2016 STUART BAXTER (SUPERSPORT UNITED)

Baxter had only been at SuperSport a matter of months when he led them to the Nedbank Cup trophy, defeating Pirates 3-2 in the final. After going a goal down, his side stormed into a 3-1 halftime lead as Jeremy Brockie, Bradley Grobler and Michael Boxall all found the net to give Baxter his second trophy win.

2017 STUART BAXTER (SUPERSPORT UNITED)

Baxter helped SuperSport retain the Nedbank Cup title with a thumping 4-1 victory over Orlando Pirates in the decider. Bradley Grobler got two, with Jeremy Brockie and Kingston Nkhatha also on the scoresheet. It meant that Baxter never lost a Nedbank Cup fixture in his 18 months in charge at SuperSport. In fact, Baxter only suffered a single out-right defeat in 21 Nedbank Cup matches with SuperSport and Kaizer Chiefs which was a 2-1 loss to Black Leopards in 2015.

2018 LUC EYMAEL (FREE STATE STARS)

Belgian coach Eymael guided Free State Stars to the final, where they met Maritzburg United at the Cape Town Stadium. The latter were probably the slight favourites, but it was Stars who triumphed in the decider as they provided a tactical masterclass to keep the KwaZulu-Natal side at bay. Goodman Dlamini scored the winning goal in a 1-0 success for Ea Lla Koto.