Considering their massive fan bases, huge sponsorship compared to most other clubs in the league, and ability to attract top players, that’s quite an amazing statistic.
Even more so when considering that to lift the MTN8 trophy, for example, takes just winning four games, or potentially even three, as the semi-finals are two-legged affairs.
For Chiefs, you have to go back to 2015 when they last claimed silverware – the league title at the end of the 2014/15 campaign. The year 2014 was when they last won a cup competition – the MTN8.
It's even worse for Pirates – they won the Nedbank Cup in 2014 while the last time they won the league was back in 2012. The last time Bucs won the top-eight trophy was in 2011.
Of course, both teams have been to numerous finals in the intervening years, both domestically, and continentally in Pirates’ case, but have each time fallen at the final hurdle.
In the interim, fans from across the Soweto divide have had to watch as Sundowns have won trophy after trophy while even ‘smaller’ clubs such as Bidvest Wits and SuperSport United have been far more successful than Chiefs and Pirates in recent times.
It’s not just the fans who need a reason to celebrate again, but it’s also the players who could do with a confidence boost, and perhaps even more importantly, the coaches.
At these big clubs, even a season without a trophy is a long time and supporters tend to quickly turn their anger towards the head coach when there are no triumphs.
Bucs coach Josef Zinnbauer is now in his second season with the Sea Robbers and although there are some signs of decent progress, he hasn’t exactly turned the club’s fortunes around.
Another season without a trophy and things could quickly turn sour for him.
Gavin Hunt perhaps has a little more time, having only been in the Amakhosi job for around a month.
But he will also know just how important an early success could be in laying the foundations for what he hopes to achieve with the club.
With this background adding flavour to the semi-final showdown, we could be in for a fascinating couple of games over the next two weekends, starting this Saturday afternoon at the Orlando Stadium.
