Never before have three teams from outside the topflight reached the semi-final stage of the competition, and while third-tier Spears’ chances seem remote against the 2019 winners, knockout football can be unpredictable.
Casric Stars completed a 2-1 victory at AmaZulu on Saturday to book their place in the last-4, while Milford FC edged Sekhukhune United on penalties after a 2-2 draw to complete two major shocks.
It is not the first time we have had two lower league sides in the semis, but it has become rarer for teams from outside the Betway Premiership to make it this far in recent times.
Including this year, there have now been 13 instances of second-tier, or in one case third-tier, sides reaching this stage. Four have gone on to reach the final.
But this season is the first time since Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila in 2022 where a team has completed the feat.
The only third-tier side was Baroka FC in 2011, when they beat Moroka Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs on their way to the semis, where they were unlucky losers on penalties to second-tier Black Leopards. Spears will be hoping to emulate them in 2026.
All the other teams have been from what is now the Motsepe Foundation Championship, including Baroka, who repeated their semifinal feat again in 2016.
Along with Leopards (2009 and 2011), they are the only teams to reach the semis twice while in the lower leagues.
Mpumalanga Black Aces (2008) and University of Pretoria (2009) both won their semifinals but lost in the decider, while United FC (2013), with coach Dan Malesela at the helm, Vasco da Gama (2015), Pretoria Callies (2021) and TTM (2022) all lost their Last 4 matches.
TS Galaxy (2019) claimed victory over Lamontville Golden Arrows in their semifinal four years ago and went on to lift the trophy under Malesela by beating Chiefs in the decider, the only lower league team to win the Nedbank Cup.
LOWER LEAGUE SIDES INTO THE NEDBANK CUP SEMI-FINALS
2008 - Mpumalanga Black Aces
2009 - Black Leopards, University of Pretoria
2010 - None
2011 - Baroka FC (third tier), Black Leopards
2012 - None
2013 - United FC
2014 - None
2015 - Vasco da Gama
2016 - Baroka FC
2017 - None
2018 - None
2019 - TS Galaxy
2020 - None
2021 - Pretoria Callies
2022 - Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila
2023 - None
2024 - None
2025 - None
2026 - Casric Stars, Milford FC