Stellenbosch FC aim for consistency as they face Kaizer Chiefs in the Premiership opener

Stellenbosch FC have firmly established themselves as one of the most progressive teams in South African football over the past five years, achieving remarkable success despite operating on limited resources.

As they head into the new campaign, expectations around the Cape Winelands club are higher than ever.

The team will begin their 2025/26 Premiership season with a challenging fixture against Kaizer Chiefs at the DHL Stadium on Sunday. It's expected to be a tightly contested affair between two sides who have often been evenly matched in recent encounters.

However, Chiefs have held the upper hand in their most recent meetings, including a 3-1 victory over Stellies in a controversial Nedbank Cup semi-final last season — part of a campaign in which Amakhosi also completed a league double over Steve Barker’s side.

Barker, who has had to constantly adapt due to losing key players to bigger clubs, continues to rally his troops with resilience and tactical flexibility. Despite often having to rebuild, Stellies enjoyed another impressive season last term, finishing third in the league and reaching the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup — achievements that have now raised the bar for the team.

Speaking at the launch of the Betway Premiership, Barker made it clear that despite past results, both teams start this season on equal footing.

“It's important that one doesn’t dwell on last season's results,” Barker said. “We know how the matches went. At least two of the three matches I felt we were a little bit unlucky. There are one or two areas that we need to be better in than we were last season.

“It’s a new season, new players, the start of a new campaign. We never go out trying to get revenge for certain matches, but the great expectation and pressure is on our opposition more than us.

“They expect to get off to a good start, especially given the ambitions they have, the coaching staff, and the signings they’ve made over the last two seasons.”

Since breaking into the top eight for the first time in the 2021/22 season, Stellenbosch have shown impressive growth and consistency.

They’ve developed a reputation as one of the more respected clubs in the league and are now being mentioned in the same breath as some of the bigger teams in South African football.

Looking ahead to the new season, Barker has challenged his side to continue raising their standards.

“We have to concentrate on what we want to achieve, which is consistency, and we have shown that in the last four seasons. The key for me is to keep getting better every season—try to improve on your points tally and points per game,” he said.

“Hopefully, if we can do that, we can be challenging for those top two positions in a couple of years. We hope to close the gap on one or two teams like Sundowns, who are currently the benchmark in our country.

“We want to be better than we were last season, improve in all areas, and have a strong Premiership season.”