A year in review – 30 fast facts from a history-making 2023
The 2023 calendar year was a remarkable one for Stellenbosch FC who ended the year as Carling Knockout champions and on an 11-match unbeaten streak across all competitions. Here are 30 fast facts from the previous 12 months.
Junior Mendieta scored Stellenbosch FC’s first goal of the year, netting in a 1-1 DStv Premiership draw against Marumo Gallants on 11 January.
Iqraam Rayners scored two goals in seven different matches in 2023. He has scored more braces (15) than any other player in the club’s history.
Stellenbosch FC scored 3+ goals in 10 different matches during the year, including six in a record-scoring 6-3 win over TS Galaxy in March.
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Andre de Jong was the only player to score in all four of South Africa’s four top-flight domestic competitions during the calendar year.
Players from five different countries, namely South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast scored for Stellenbosch FC in 2023.
Stellenbosch FC ended the year on a six-match winning streak, the longest such streak in the club’s history.
Seven different players (namely Andre de Jong, Kgaogelo Sekgota, Iqraam Rayners, Devin Titus, Antonio van Wyk, Anicet Oura, and Ismael Toure) scored in Stellenbosch FC’s triumphant Carling Knockout campaign.
Stellenbosch FC scored a tournament-high eight goals in the Carling Knockout en route to winning South Africa’s domestic League Cup competition.
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Sage Stephens has recorded nine clean sheets in 18 matches during the second half of 2023, keeping a shut-out in every other match during the 2023/24 season thus far.
Stellenbosch FC ended the 2023 calendar year having won 10 of their last 11 matches across all competitions.
Stellenbosch FC ended the year on an 11-match unbeaten streak, the second longest such streak in the club’s history (existing record is 15 between May and November 2021).
A total of 12 players made their Stellenbosch FC debuts during the 2023 calendar year (excluding Iqraam Rayners who returned for a second spell).
Stellenbosch FC’s match against Orlando Pirates in their last match of the year was the 13th meeting between the two sides, at least two more than any other opponent the club has faced since 2016.
Stellenbosch FC ended the year with 14 players aged 25 or younger in the first team squad (minimum one appearance for the season).
The Club has now recorded 15 ‘domestic doubles’ since its formation in 2016 after recording a first-ever double over Orlando Pirates on the last fixture of the year.
A U-21 representing Stellenbosch FC made a 16 000-kilometre round trip to Mumbai, India in June to take part in the 2023 Premier League Next Generation Cup. They ended as runners-up to English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
A total of 17 different players scored for Stellenbosch FC across all competitions during the calendar year (excluding an own goal from Orlando Pirates’ Zakhele Lepasa).
At 18 years, 11 months, and 30 days, Olwethu Makhanya became Stellenbosch FC’s youngest-ever goalscorer in the DStv Premiership when he netted in the 5-2 DStv Premiership win over Golden Arrows in April.
Iqraam Rayners has scored a club-record 19 goals in the DStv Premiership, 14 of which came in 2023 (he has scored 57 in total across two spells and all competitions, 21 of which came in 2023).
Following appearances by Sibongiseni Mthethwa and Iqraam Rayners at the COSAFA Cup earlier this year, players from Stellenbosch FC have now won a combined 20 caps for Bafana Bafana while playing for the club (alongside Jayden Adams, Antonio van Wyk, and Athenkosi Mcaba)
Iqraam Rayners scored a club-high 21 goals in just 34 appearances across all competitions after re-joining Stellenbosch FC in January.
At 22 years, 6 months and 28 days, Jayden Adams became the youngest player to reach 100 appearances for Stellenbosch FC, reaching the milestone during the club’s Carling Knockout semi-final win over Richards Bay in December.
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Stellenbosch FC boasted a positive goal difference of 23+ in 2023 after scoring 65 goals and conceding 42 goals throughout the year.
Stellenbosch FC won 24 of the 42 matches the club competed in 2023, a club high across any calendar year (previous record was 15 in 2018).
Iqraam Rayners recorded a club-high 25 goal involvements (21 goals and 4 assists) during the 2023 calendar year in just 34 appearances across all competitions.
Stellenbosch FC’s end-of-year tally of 26 points for the 2023-24 season is the club’s highest mid-season tally in the DStv Premiership.
Twenty-seven year old Deano van Rooyen ends 2023 as the only remaining member from the club’s inaugural season (2016-27) in the National First Division.
Sihle Nduli and Iqraam Rayners (both 28) are the oldest outfield players in the Stellenbosch FC squad, which boasts an average age of around 25 at the time of writing.
Olwethu Makhanya became the first Stellenbosch FC player to transfer to Major League Soccer in the United States after joining Philadelphia Union mid-way through the year. He wears the No. 29 jersey for the North American club.
Devin Titus played all 30 league matches for Stellenbosch FC last season and featured in 40 of the club’s 42 matches during the 2023 calendar, the highest number of matches by any player at the club during this period.
Bonus facts and statistics:
Stellenbosch FC won their first cup competition after defeating TS Galaxy 1-1 (5-4 on penalties) in the Carling Knockout final. It is the club’s second major trophy after lifting the 2018-19 National First Division title.
Stellenbosch FC competed in 42 matches across all competitions in 2023, the most games the club has taken part in during a single calendar year (previous record was 41 in 2021)
Deano van Rooyen became Stellenbosch FC’s most-capped player (143 appearances in total across all competitions) and the first player from the club to reach 100 appearances in the DStv Premiership.
Jayden Adams has been called up to represent South Africa at the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Ivory Coast.
Iqraam Rayners became the first player to score 50 goals for Stellenbosch FC when he reached the milestone during the club’s 5-2 DStv Premiership win over Golden Arrows in April.
Stellenbosch FC’s U-18 team won the Engen Knockout Challenge Western Cape and the Engen Champ of Champs competitions for the first time in 2023.