PSL Age Analysis: Which teams use younger players

Just behind them, Polokwane City and Sekhukhune have also had solid seasons so far. In terms of games played, the season is less than halfway through, so there is still a lot of football to be played.

With young players shining at Pirates, Chiefs, and elsewhere, we wondered what the compositions of squads were and which teams were giving more or less minutes to younger and older players.

Young Players

Firstly some highlights:

• 16 September: Mfundo Vilakazi became the fifth youngest player to score a league goal for Kaizer Chiefs (aged 18y 301d)
• On 6 November, Kutlwano Letlhaku became the youngest-ever player to score a league brace for Sundowns in the PSL (18y 227d)
• 26 November: Mohau Nkota became the youngest PSL player to score a brace on his African away debut, after Jabu Pule (20y 17d).

For this article, we’ve broken down the younger players into two groups – Under 20 and those between 21 and 24. SuperSport United’s talent factory remains unmatched, as they are the league leaders for minutes given to players in the league this season (14% of minutes went to players aged 20 and below this season). Sundowns and Cape Town City were second on the list, with 12% of minutes going to players Under 21. However, when you combine up to players Under 24, Stellenbosch and Orlando Pirates have 45% of minutes given to players under the age of 24, which is very impressive.

Older Players

Some highlights:

• November 26: Thabo Matlaba scored for Royal AM against Golden Arrows, to become the oldest scorer in the league this season (36 years 11 months & 13 days).
• December 16: Lindokuhle Mbatha came on as a substitute for TS Galaxy against Kaizer Chiefs, to become the oldest player to make an appearance in the league this season (39 years, 5 months, and 20 days).
• Mbatha is the oldest player to make a league appearance since Siyabonga Nomvethe in May 2019 (41 years, 5 months, and 9 days)

Marumo Gallants and AmaZulu have placed trust in experience more than other sides. 61% of minutes at Marumo Gallants have gone to players aged 30 and above. Of the top-10 used players this season, seven of them are above the age of 30. This includes 39-year-old keeper Washington Arubi. Second on that list of teams with older players on their roster is AmaZulu, who have reserved just over half the minutes (52%) for players aged 30 and above.

Orlando Pirates (17%) and Stellenbosch (14%) are the teams with the fewest minutes reserved for players aged 30+. In that regard, Chiefs (26%) and Sundowns (30%) are not too far behind. Playing older players is not a bad thing on its own – these players have the experience and know-how to win high-pressure games and help teams retain their top-flight status. However, older players are more prone to injuries and need their workload carefully managed.

NB: Age data is from the PSL via OPTA, with 99% of players’ ages available.