The 32-year-old was brought on in the dying moments of the Buccaneers’ Betway Premiership opener against the Chilli Boys. His low-key entrance placed him among a select few who have worn the badge on 200 or more occasions.

For one of the Bucs development structures’ biggest success stories, it’s another landmark in a journey that began long before he was first introduced to the wider audience – representing the First Team for the first time against Lamontville Golden Arrows in October 2017 – and a clear testament to his loyalty and dedication to the famous skull and crossbones.

Reflecting on his remarkable progression from the Academy ranks where his football story began along with that of many other hopefuls, Maela revealed that reaching this milestone far exceeded anything he had envisioned.

“When I joined the Academy, my first goal was to improve as a player as much as I can. I didn’t even think that one day I’d be playing for the first team,” he told orlandopiratesfc.com. “To get the opportunity to represent the Club so many times has been an honour to me and a privilege. I dedicate this milestone to all the players from the Academy who didn’t have the opportunity to play for the First Team. This is for them.”

Maela’s career has been littered with many key moments, from impacting iconic fixtures to repaying his teammates’ faith in him by steering the team to silverware. According to the skipper, these all rank very high in the list of his favourite memories as a Buccaneer.

“One of my favourite memories is scoring against Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto Derby,” he said. “That memory will stay with me for a very long time, and obviously becoming the Club’s captain. That was a huge milestone for me and an honour to be voted by my teammates.

”It shows the contribution that I’ve made to the Club and how they see me as a human being and as a leader.

 “So that was also one of my favourite memories, as well as lifting trophies. As a development player, it’s great when you get the opportunity to play for the First Team, and they name you as captain, then you go on and lift trophies.”

As a senior player and leader, Maela is aware of the responsibilities on his plate and is determined to give back by dedicating the current chapter of his career to contributing towards shaping the up-and-coming talent coming through at the Club.

“I think for me it’s to help the younger players as much as I can, to help my teammates when they need me, and to contribute as much as I can to the team, to the Club, and also to try and improve because we can never stop improving” Maela said. ”So what I’m hoping to achieve is to help the younger ones settle into the setup and realise their potential,” he concluded.

Riaasat – a two-time VS Gaming eDiski winner – and Aasim were representing the Pirates eSports team in the Finals, versus Bravado representatives Masoom and Ubaid, who had just left the Buccaneers in the two semi finals.

After a very impressive win versus his previous teammate Ubaid in their last-four encounter (4-0, 4-0), it was time for Aasim to face Bravado’s star Masoom in the grand final on the Comic Con VS Gaming main stage, in front of a very enthusiastic crowd.

The 18-year-old managed to handle the pressure of the event perfectly and registered two wins in as many games in this best-of-three encounter (4-0, 1-0), winning the biggest title of his eSports career so far and collecting R100 000 as prize money for his effort. Teammate Riaasat finished fourth at the event, adding a R10 000 cheque to his earnings.

A great way to finish FIFA22 for the Buccaneers, and a great motivation to start FIFA23 on a good note.

Abu bids farewell to the Club having achieved numerous accolades under his belt. Having assisted the Pirates eSports team in unearthing FIFA African talents in the likes of Mohamed Diop (DC United and US National team) and the current #1 player in South Africa Zaid April, Abu has also recorded an amazing VS Gaming World Championship win.

”I would like to thank Orlando Pirates for giving me the opportunity as a player and a coach in the Pirates eSports team. From the very beginning, the support was incredible. Orlando Pirates helped me develop into the eSports coach that I am today, and I’ll forever be grateful to them for pushing me constantly to be a better performer. Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate” said Abu Akhalwaya.

The Club would like to thank Mr Akhalwaya for his outstanding services to the team and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours.

The team, consisting of Gareth ”Snowyy” Spiers, Ethan ”Darth” Deysel, and Niel-Robèrt ”SkillSteal” Burger has had an impressive RLCS campaign so far, only dropping one event in the finals of the Winter Regionals 1. The consistency displayed by the South African trio has paid off as the Buccaneers became the first team on the global stage to have already booked their spot for the event in Dallas (USA) in August of this year, with only 2 qualifying events remaining.

The RLCS World Championship Wildcard event will consist of 16 teams that will qualify from all continents, with the top 8 going into the RLCS Main Event.

Supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Intel hosted and showcased the best players and teams from around the world in the well-known Rocket League game.

There was only one Africa Team spot up for grabs. The Pirates Exdee Team managed to secure their place as the best team on the continent to win the closed African qualifiers, and a chance to represent South Africa on the global stage in a tournament that equals the Olympics for gamers.

The Regional Finals saw Pirates Exdee (South Africa) being drawn in a very difficult group consisting of the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and Norway.

With the tournament being played on European Servers and with a Ping over 200 for South Africa, it was almost mission impossible for the Buccaneers. Alas, the boys took to the task finishing 8th in the competition and creating some good goals and opportunities throughout.

The Buccaneers walk out of the Rocket League Intel World Open With a cash prize of $4,000, the Buccaneers exit the Rocket League Intel World Open but have high hopes of competing on the world stage again in the near future.

A few recognized football clubs on the continent were represented by their eSports players, with the likes of Stade Tunisien (Tunisia), ASEC (Ivory Coast), NC Magra (Algeria),  Al Merrikh (Sudan), and the three Libyan giants Al Ittihad, Al Ahli SC, Al Ahly Benghazi.

After an unbeaten run in the group stages, the Buccaneers’ Pro Clubs side Ballerz x Pirates met Tunisian outfit Stade Tunisien, and eased through to the Quarter Finals with a 5-2 victory on aggregate, to face another Tunisian outfit, Team Majesty.

In an extremely close battle that needed a replay after 2 legs, the Pirates team captained by Aidan Goodrich managed to pull through a 5-4 win on aggregate to reach the semi finals in an encounter against Moroccan Champions eFavela. A great first leg at home with a Pirates 4-0 win enabled the Buccaneers to reach the first continental final in their history, with the match finishing with a 7-4 aggregate score.

Al Ahli hosted the Buccaneers on their North African server for the first leg, and took a healthy 3-0 advantage coming into the return leg on South African servers. The Buccaneers threw everything they had in the second encounter in front of more than 1 000 viewers on Pirates TV, with a staggering amount of 14 shots on target, but it was not meant to be as the Buccaneers could only score 2 goals in a 2-0 home win, to lose the tie 3-2 on aggregate, with the Libyans lifting the VPG eAfrica Champions League trophy for the first time.

Pirates eSports together with Ballerz partnered and entered a new look team, the Ballerz x Pirates squad, to compete in the SAPL Premier League against the 16 best Pro Clubs teams in the country.

After quite a slow start to the season, the Buccaneers found themselves in 4th place after 10 matches, 2 points behind the log leaders at the time.

An impressive run of 9 wins and 1 draw in their next 10 matches made sure Ballerz x Pirates were propelled to the top of the league table, with vital wins against top of the log rivals New Era and Zamalek making the difference.

The Bucs went on to finish a staggering 11 points clear of their nearest rival, Artemis.

With a record 23 wins, 76 goals scored and 18 goals conceded throughout the 30-match season, Ballerz x Pirates won yet another significant trophy for the Club’s eSports section.

As far as individual accolades are concerned, players from the Ballerz x Pirates squad were able to snap up awards such as the Golden Boot, Assist King, as well as Golden Glove for the goal keeper with the most clean sheets in the SAPL Premier League.

Following this title, six of the Pirates players have been selected to represent South Africa in the VPG World Cup Qualifiers in 2021.

A very impressive start by the new team that will hope to carry this form on in 2021.

Four Pirates eSports players were involved in the final stages of the illustrious tournament, namely Zaidy, Shuaib, Ryan and Abu.

After an unbelievable run in the lower bracket, and beating some SA’s top players, including his teammates Shuaib 3-2 in semi final and Zaidy 5-2 in the finals, Abu took on Africa’s best Xbox player, Kaylan Moodley in the tournament’s Grand Final.

Against all odds, Abu managed to register two aggregate wins of 3-1 and 4-1, claiming Africa’s biggest trophy, and bagging him a healthy R100 000 cash reward.

A very good run for the Pirates FIFA team, with Zaidy completing the podium with a prize money of R20 000, and Shuaib finishing 4th, collecting R12 000 for his efforts.

A well deserved impressive win for the loyal Orlando Pirates Captain, who now shifts his focus to his new position as FIFA Head Coach for the Buccaneers, sharing his years of experience at the highest level with the new FIFA21 Pirates FUT team.

Four Pirates players were involved in the Finals, namely Tebogo, Riaasat, Nic James and new signing Ubaid, with trialist Victor Kanama also part of the mix.

After a perfect run beating, amongst others, SA’s best PS4 player Julio Bianchi, and his fellow teammate Ubaid to reach the Grand Final, Riaasat came out to face Victor, who managed to win the lower bracket finals.

A very tight encounter between the two Buccaneers saw Riaasat beat Victor 4-3 on aggregate and win the biggest title of his FIFA career so far, collecting R100 000 as prize money for his efforts.

A great double for Pirates esports to end the FIFA20 season on a high, and a great motivation to inspire the whole team for the FIFA21 season.

The newly created team, lead by Captain Aidan Goodrich, managed to have a perfect round in the group stages, and went on to beat some of SA’s best ProClubs teams, like Crusaders, New Era and Unleashed, along their way to the final.

Ballerz x Pirates then faced Zamalek in a very tight final where the Buccaneers managed a 1-0 win to clinch their first trophy of the new FIFA21 Pro Clubs season, keeping seven clean sheets out of the eight tournament’s matches played.

A very good start to the season and a confidence booster for the next competitions coming up for the latest Bucs team in the eSports scene.

Pro Clubs is an online mode on the FIFA videogame where the 11 players playing on the pitch are piloted by 11 different teammates with different positions, in a true representation of real football transcripted into an online game.

CPT Ballerz, created in 2014, have been competing within the South African Pro Clubs community for 6 years and have accumulated a total of 26 titles in the South African Pro League (SAPL), as well as becoming the first ever South African VPG (Virtual Pro Gaming) champions. This last achievement means that Ballerz x Pirates will be playing in the African VPG Champions League in the next few months.

The main aim for the newly created team will be to enable SA Pro Club top players to showcase their talent within South Africa, but also beyond the country borders by playing more international games against top Pro Club teams in World football.

Pirates Exdee, represented by Snowwy, Mr Low and Darth took part in this Best of Five double elimination bracket tournament.

After defeating Doomsee Boys, arguably one of the top 3 teams in the country by a score of 3-0 in the first round, the Buccaneers registered another emphatic 3-0 win this time against Expythons to qualify for the semi finals of the twelve team tournament.

The semi final clash against iEnvy Gaming was one to look forward to between the two best teams in the country. The Pirates boys certainly played their best series of the tournament, taking it in a sweep without conceding any goals in the 3 games, in what is called a “perfect series” in Rocket League.

The Buccaneers met Doomsee Boys again in the Best of Seven Grand Finals, with a 4-2 win to claim the tournament win, and confirm their position as #1 Rocket League team in South Africa.

Football players like George Maluleka (Kaizer Chiefs), Cole Alexander (Bidvest Wits), Leo Thethani (Ajax Amsterdam) and Eleazar Rodgers (Ajax CT) were amongst the 25 competitors names.

Orlando Pirates eSports enrolled four of its players in this tournament, namely @Pirates_Nic, @UnFaizdd, @Pirates_Shuaib and @8Zaidy8, who came out fresh from an international encounter against Turkish giants Besiktas Istanbul, that ended in a thrilling 5-5 draw on Friday evening.

After group stages and knockout rounds, two of the Bucs players ended up in the final, where Nic James beat his teammate Zaidy 2-1 to be crowned Ajax CT eCup Champion. This is the first #FIFA20 title of the season for the Durban based Buccaneer player.

Stay tuned to the @esportspirates Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels for some more information on the next exciting FIFA20 international matches that the Club will be announcing soon.