When the hands of time are turned back to when Kaizer Chiefs played their first game under the PSL umbrella in 1996, they have never had so many new signings making such an immediate impact like what happened on Saturday.
Chiefs played their first match after the league's restructure on August 4, 1996, against Hellenic in the Coca-Cola Cup.
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The clock has ticked through 28 years since then but not once at the start of a new season have Chiefs had as many as five new signings playing from start to finish in the first game of the season until last Saturday.
Nasreddine Nabi was a different Chiefs coach on the bench for the first contest of a new season for a fifth consecutive campaign and in his selection had five new faces starting.
Fiacre Ntwari was in goals with Inacio Miguel and Rushwin Dortley as partners in the centre while Bradley Cross played at left-back with Gaston Sirino on the accelerator in midfield.
By the time Masixole Bambiso blew the final whistle, all five were still on the pitch signifying the kind of transfer business Cjiefs have made in this window by bringing in starters instead of squad players.
Njabulo Blom still has fitness issues to deal with but should get enough minutes when ready leaving Bongani Sam as the only new arrival with question marks on his head.
Scanning through the years, Chiefs have never had as many as five new players playing 90 minutes in the first game of the season be it 1996/97, 2004/05, or 2012/13 when the club appointed Stuart Baxter and went big on the market on the way to lifting the league.
That year only Morgan Gould, Mulomowandau Mathoho, Siboniso Gaxa, and Siyabonga Nkosi started the first match of the season of the signings made who included Tsepo Masilela, Kingston Nkhatha, and Kgotso Moleko.
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Chiefs have had four new players starting in the first game of the season for the past three years, but the impact wasn't to this level.
On Saturday, Ntwari was a pair of safe hands in goals, Miguel and Dortley stood firm in their first game playing together while Cross excelled on the left just like Sirino in attack.
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