Another exciting season in South African football is set to come to an end next month after a campaign in which Mamelodi Sundowns have dominated, Royal AM emerged as a surprise package and Cape Town City announced themselves as genuine top-four competitors.
A number of players across the division have announced themselves as the cream of the crop with their strong performances throughout the year, but only eight could make it as finalists for the annual KICK OFF Footballer of the Season award.
It is with great pleasure then that this publication can announce, in alphabetical order, the nominees for the 2021/22 edition of the accolade:
Hernia surgery disrupted the end of this season for the 25-year-old, but he was so strong at the start of the campaign that he is an easy selection on the shortlist of the Footballer of the Season. Multiple Man of the Match awards in Sundowns' unbeaten start to the campaign attest to that. If an observer of the South African league was asked to single out one player, still attached to a local club, who had the ability to make it in a top league, Coetzee would be that player.
This season, he has got more right than wrong and the impact of a productive Hotto has been a positive one on Orlando Pirates, particularly with Vincent Pule spending much of the season out of action and Thembinkosi Lorch only playing in patches. Hotto has registered his largest goal haul in nine seasons in South African football, starting at Lamontville Golden Arrows, then Bloemfontein Celtic, Bidvest Wits and now the Buccaneers.
This season, it was evident Andile Jali has become a master of his craft; clever positioning, patient approach, short passing. Out went any temptation for the extravagant and in came a mature measure and vision. He has become the anchor of a dominant side, prodding and probing, tidying up and setting up, cajoling and leading. He is leaner, fitter and seemingly less distracted. At 32 years of age, he still has several seasons left at a high level, but this has been among his best.
Letsoalo's rise to become the leading South African striker in the league this season has been in the works for a few years, especially after he became the only player to net a hat-trick on debut for Bafana when he scored three against Lesotho at the Cosafa Cup. Much of it is to do with a more composed approach to his finishing. It is unusual to see him hurrying his shot or panicking in the box and that, he says, is the result of many hours studying his own game.
Darren Keet got injured in pre-season training and left Cape Town City with a goalkeeping crisis just days before the start of the season. Hugo Marques stepped up and has proved not only a solid goalkeeper but a brilliant team man, and one of the signings of the season. He played the first 22 league games of the campaign and City are considering offering him a contract for another year, even if Keet has now recovered after surgery. Marques might not look dominant in the air at times, but he made some stunning saves throughout the season and his primary contribution has been to offer stability and confidence.
The 26-year-old had joined last season from relegated Black Leopards but made only four starts in the league campaign. But from the beginning of the 2021/22 campaign, he was thrust into the starting line-up and quickly proved his worth. He might not be as quick as Thapelo Morena but is much more clever in timing his contributions to the attack and, much more importantly, an effective defender when forced back.
After a purple patch, there followed a hamstring injury and a setback of several weeks at a time when Hugo Broos should have spotted his ability and thrust him into the South Africa team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. But when he returned, Mudau raised the bar, looked even better and deservedly has had a chance to stake his claim as the country's in-form right back.
The Mamelodi Sundowns goal ace is the most proficient scorer South African football has seen in over a decade. This is his third season with a haul of 15-plus goals in the league – first at Highlands Park and now with the Brazilians – and he has kept it up with a steady flow from the start of the campaign that has since seen him breach the elusive 20-goal mark.
There was a patch of five successive games, shortly after the restart following the break for the Africa Cup of Nations finals, where the Namibian did not find the net, setting off a round of crisis reports about a "goal drought". The last laugh was on his detractors, however, as Shalulile was quickly back to his scoring ways.
A move to Orlando Pirates at the start of the season for Bandile Shandu after 16 years at Maritzburg United came as a surprise. Whether Pirates' recruiters spotted something others did not, or whether they just got lucky, remains the subject of conjecture.
What is certain is that Shandu has delivered and quickly made the position his own, adding an additional element to the team's attacking approach. He has also discovered a goalscoring knack. In nine seasons at Maritzburg, he scored four goals. He has almost doubled that tally in his first season with the Buccaneers and won his first two Bafana Bafana caps.