Pirates Cup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Organiser(s) | Orlando Pirates F.C. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2016 |
| Region | South Africa |
| Teams | 54 |
| Current champions | FC Leapers (1st title) |
| Most championships | Orlando Pirates U/21 (3 titles) |
| Website | www |
 2026 | |
The Pirates Cup is an U/21 soccer tournament hosted annually by Orlando Pirates.[1]
The current champions are FC Leapers who defeated TS Galaxy 4-3 via penalties in the final.[2]
The inaugural edition was founded in 2016.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
Champions
| Year | Champions | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Orlando Pirates | |
| 2017 | Orlando Pirates | |
| 2018 | Orlando Pirates | |
| 2019 | SuperSport United | Orlando Pirates |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 | |
| 2021 | ||
| 2022 | Ambassadors FC | Bosso 90 |
| 2023 | Stars of Africa Football Academy | Orbit College |
| 2024 | University of Johannesburg | Teltonika Amahle |
| 2025 | Lerumo Lions | Orlando Pirates |
| 2026 | FC Leapers | TS Galaxy |
Project X
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.[6][7] In 2018, they toured Brazil.[8]