See also: Pirates Cup (Women).
| Pirates Cup | |
| Founded: | 2016 |
| Number Of Teams: | 54 |
| Website: | https://www.orlandopiratesfc.com/ |
| Region: | South Africa |
| Organiser: | Orlando Pirates F.C. |
| Current Season: | 2024 |
| Most Successful Team: | Orlando Pirates U/21 (3 titles) |
The Pirates Cup is an U/21 soccer tournament hosted annually by Orlando Pirates.[1]
The inaugural edition was founded in 2016.[2] Orlando Pirates won the first three editions of the tournament.
In 2019, the tournament started allowing U/21 teams from the PSL and the NFD to participate and increased the numbers of teams from 24 to 32 teams.[3] Orlando Pirates were defeated 1-0 in the final by SuperSport United making Matsatsantsa the first team other than the Buccaneers to win the tournament.[4]
| 2016 | |||
| 2017 | |||
| 2018 | |||
| 2019 | |||
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19pandemic in South Africa | ||
| 2021 | |||
| 2022 | Ambassadors FC | Bosso 90 | |
| 2023 | Stars of Africa Football Academy | Orbit College | |
| 2024 | University of Johannesburg FC | Teltonika Amahle | |
The best players at the tournament get to feature in the Project X team. Project X, is a developmental team formed by Orlando Pirates to develop its future stars and expose them to the highest level of football. The team has a yearly tour in which they play matches against some best academies.
The 2017 and 2019 Project X tours saw the team jet out to England.[5] [6] In 2018, they toured Brazil.[7]
The following players were rated best:[8]
| 2016 | |||||||
| 2017 | |||||||
| 2018 | |||||||
| 2019 | Rodi Sibanda (12 goals) | Reagan Appollis | |||||
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19pandemic in South Africa | ||||||
| 2021 | |||||||
| 2022 | Mehluleli Maphumulo | Ambassadors FC | Relebogile Ratomo | Transnet School of Excellence | |||
| 2023 | Lungile Mokoena | Amahle FC | Siyabulela Mabele | Orbit College | |||
| 2024 | Thokozani Sibanyoni | eMalahleni United | Mpendulo Phewa | Midlands Academy | Lungelo Sithole | University of Johannesburg FC | |
The tournament is sponsored by:[9]