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Orlando Pirates will go into Monday night’s Premier Soccer League Player Awards with 19 nominations across seven categories – a haul that reflects a season in which the Buccaneers set the standard in the 2025/26 season.
The ceremony takes place virtually tonight, broadcast live on the SuperSport PSL Channel and SABC Sport.
Oswin Appollis and Relebohile Mofokeng head the Club’s charge, both nominated for the PSL Footballer of the Season award alongside Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena. That shortlist carries particular weight: the nominees were chosen by the Head Coaches of all 16 Premier Division clubs, the men who spent the season drawing up plans to stop them.
The same pair feature in the Betway Premiership Players’ Player of the Season category, joined by teammate Kamogelo Sebelebele. Voted for by players across every Betway Premiership club, it is the award decided in dressing rooms rather than boardrooms.
Mofokeng – who has since made his move to Europe, is also in contention for the Betway Premiership Young Player of the Season award, where he is up against Isaac Cisse of Lamontville Golden Arrows (who has also since left Arrows) and TS Galaxy’s Seluleko Mahlambi.
Meanwhile, Head Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou’s work has not gone unnoticed either. The Bucs coach is nominated for Betway Premiership Coach of the Season, competing with Miguel Cardoso of Mamelodi Sundowns and the Kaizer Chiefs pairing of Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef.
Other awards under the Betway Premiership umbrella are:
Goal of the Season – The Buccaneers are represented by Cemran Dansin for his splendid left-footed volley against Mamelodi Sundowns.
Goalkeeper of the Season – Our very own Sipho Chaine, who etched a record-setting 21 clean sheets this past season, will contest this award alongside Kaizer Chiefs keeper Brandon Petersen and Siwelele FC Ricardo Goss.
Defender of the Season – Pirates has two representatives in Nkosinathi Sibisi and Lebone Seema. The pair have been instrumental in Pirates’ record-setting season. They compete for the title with Mamelodi Sundowns’ Khuliso Mudau.
Midfielder of the Season – Appollis and Mofokeng feature once again for the Midfielder of the Season award. They will be contesting the award with Teboho Mokoena of Mamelodi Sundowns.
The MTN8 Last Man Standing category tells its own story. As champions of the competition, Pirates supply all three nominees: Appollis, Sebelebele and Tshepang Moremi. Whatever the outcome, the trophy comes home to Soweto.
Mbekezeli Mbokazi (who now plies his trade in the US) carries the club’s hopes in the Carling Knockout Player of the Tournament category, nominated alongside Marumo Gallants duo Washington Arubi and Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo.
The pipeline is represented too. Lebo Mohlala and Mpho Padime are both shortlisted for the DStv Diski Challenge Player of the Season award, with Sundowns’ Bennet Mokoena the third nominee. For a club that has always believed in building from within, seeing two of its own on that list matters as much as anything decided higher up the card. A reminder that the awards ceremony will be broadcast on SuperSport PSL Channel and SABC Sport from 7 pm
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