Stellenbosch FC coach Evangelos Vellios is confident that he has assembled a strong squad for the 2025-26 DStv Diski Challenge season.

The campaign will kick off on Saturday, 6 September, with a festival at Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammersdale.

Last season, Stellies finished second on the log with 63 points, seven behind champions Kaizer Chiefs. They will start their season with an away clash, visiting AmaZulu on Sunday.

"We are excited for the season, and we are excited to see how the boys develop. Many of them are entering their first season in the Diski programme, so it's a nice new journey, and it's a nice group of players," stated Vellios.

"We're all really looking forward to another new season for Stellenbosch FC, which is also my seventh year with the club's Diski programme.

"There have been some changes to the team with a couple of new players that we have brought in, but it's mostly players stepping up and graduating from within our youth structure, which is a credit to the work Jean-Pierre Farrugia (Head of Academy) and the rest of the youth coaches are doing."

The coach also confirmed that they have made plenty of changes, from players to the technical team.

"The most important thing is to create a good team with a good core that can take this programme forward for the next couple of seasons, and hopefully see some graduates go on to achieve great things for our club, abroad, and, of course, for our national teams.

"There have also been some changes off the field with [former DDC assistant coach] Jason Rhoda becoming the club's General Manager, and [former DDC strength & conditioning coach] Menanto De Lange becoming the Head of Performance, so it's a fresh, fresh look for us this season."

Stellenbosch and Golden Arrows are the only two teams to have won the Diski Challenge title twice since its establishment in 2014.