Sundowns and Pirates stars share spotlight as 2025-26 PSL awards unveiled

Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates players were among the main headline-makers as the Premier Soccer League announced the winners of the 2025-26 season awards on Monday evening.

The ceremony confirmed a changing of the guard from last year, when Mamelodi Sundowns forward Lucas Ribeiro Costa dominated the gala by sweeping four major prizes – PSL Footballer of the Season, Betway Premiership Players’ Player of the Season, Goal of the Season and the Golden Boot.

This time, the build-up to the event had focused heavily on Orlando Pirates pair Relebohile Mofokeng and Oswin Appollis, who were each shortlisted for four different awards after playing key roles in the Buccaneers’ remarkable domestic treble, which yielded the Betway Premiership title, the MTN8 and the Carling Knockout trophy.

Durban City also arrived at the ceremony on the back of a historic achievement, having lifted the Nedbank Cup for the first time in the club’s history.

Early honours for Pirates and Durban City

The first trophy handed out on the night underlined Orlando Pirates’ dominance of the cup competitions, with winger Tshepang Moremi receiving the MTN8 Last Man Standing award in recognition of his performances in that tournament.

Another player with Orlando Pirates links, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, was rewarded for his displays in a different knockout competition, being named Carling Knockout Player of the Tournament after impressing during the inaugural edition of the rebranded cup. Mbokazi is now listed as an ex-Orlando Pirates player.

Durban City’s Nedbank Cup success was reflected in the individual prizes as goalkeeper Darren Keet collected the Nedbank Cup Player of the Tournament award following his pivotal role in the club’s first triumph in that competition.

There was further recognition for emerging talent in the Nedbank Cup, with TS Galaxy youngster Seluleko Mahlambi named Nedbank Cup Most Promising Player of the Tournament (under 23).

Major league honours yet to be disclosed

While several cup accolades were confirmed, a number of the headline Betway Premiership and PSL awards were listed without the winners being made public at the event.

The vacant categories include:

– PSL Footballer of the Season – Betway Premiership Players’ Player of the Season – Betway Premiership Coach of the Season – Betway Premiership Goal of the Season – Betway Premiership Goalkeeper of the Season – Betway Premiership Defender of the Season – Betway Premiership Midfielder of the Season – Betway Premiership Young Player of the Season (under 21)

Similarly, across the Motsepe Foundation Championship – South Africa’s second tier – several key honours were recorded without the names of the recipients.

Those awards are:

– Motsepe Foundation Championship Players’ Player of the Season – Motsepe Foundation Championship Young Player of the Season (under 19) – Motsepe Foundation Championship Goalkeeper of the Season

Youth football and officiating were also acknowledged, but again with the winners still to be disclosed. The categories noted were:

– DStv Diski Challenge Player of the Season – PSL Assistant Referee of the Season – PSL Referee of the Season

The Premier Soccer League did not provide further details on when the outstanding individual winners in these categories would be confirmed.