The Botswana Premier League, currently known as the BTC Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

league in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...

. Organised by the Botswana Football Association, the league was formed in 1978 to replace the pre-independence Bechuanaland Union African Soccer League, which was regional. Participants in the first edition of the league included Tlokweng Pirates, Notwane, Black Peril,

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and a team from

Ngwaketse Southern is one of the districts of Botswana. The capital of Southern district is Kanye, home to the Bangwaketse and Barolong in Botswana. The Southern district is home to Botswana's second largest beef farmers where there are large privately o ...

district. The league has always been dominated by the teams that are based south of Dibete or at the southern part of the country until the 2006–07 season when Ecco City Greens made history by becoming the first team from the north to lift the lucrative competition. The league is sponsored by a mobile phone operator Be Mobile to the tune of 30 million pula. After the ABSA premiership in South Africa, the Be Mobile league is the second highest sponsored league in the COSAFA region. The league has continued to grow in leaps and bounds as shown by the increasing number of foreign players in the BPL. Some top players from mainly

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

Arnold Chaka Arnold Chaka (born 12 July 1981) is a retired Zimbabwean football defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scori ...

Master Masitara Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans * Grandmaster (chess), National Maste ...

Elvis Meleka Elvis Meleka (born 19 April 1986) is a Zimbabwean football defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Ce ...

Mandla Sibanda Mandla is a city with municipality in Mandla district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandla District. The city is situated in a loop of the Narmada River, which surrounds it on three sides ...

Sageby Sandaka Sageby Sandaka (born 17 June 1985) is a retired Zimbabwean football striker. Career Sandaka began playing club football in Zimbabwe. He moved to Botswana side Gaborone United in 2006, where he was top league goal-scorer with 14 goals in 13 mat ...

and

Tendai Ndoro Tendai Passion Ndoro (born 15 May 1988) is a Zimbabwean footballer who plays as a centre forward. Club career Ndoro started his career with Chicken Inn of Zimbabwe in 2011. Two years later, Ndoro completed a move to South African club Black A ...

have ditched the Zimbabwean PSL for the BPL in recent years. Recently Namibian stars like Jerome Luis and

Benson Shilongo Benson Shilongo (born 18 May 1992) is a Namibian professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American footb ...

arrived in Botswana in search of the Pula. After terminating their television deal with a South African company RP Productions, the league is now negotiating a long term deal with Supersport International. In early 2013, the pay TV shown five BPL games on a testing basis.

Sponsorship

Since the 1980s the Botswana Premier League has been sponsored. The sponsors have been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors were and what they called the league: * 1991–2001:

Castle Lager Castle Lager is a South African pale lager. It is the flagship product of South African Breweries and has been recognised as the National Beer of South Africa , based on the fact that it is 100% grown and produced in the country, and for its abil ...

(Castle Super League) * 2002–05: St Louis (St Louis Premiership) * 2006–08:

Mascom Mascom Wireless Proprietary Limited, is a Botswana mobile telecommunications company. Its head office is in Gaborone. It was established in Gaborone, Botswana on February 17, 1998. History The company was first licensed on 17 February 1998. It ...

(Mascom Premiership) * 2009–13: be Mobile (be Mobile Premiership) * 2010–present: BTC (BTC Premiership)

Format

During the league, from August to May, each club plays each of the other teams twice; once at home and once away, totaling 30 games for each team by the end of the season. Therefore, in Botswana football a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, each team plays once against each league opponent, for a total of 15 games. In the second half of the season, the teams play in exactly the same order that they did in the first half of the season, the only difference being that home and away situations are switched. Since the 1994–95 season, teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Since Botswana is lowly ranked in the CAF rankings only one

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and con ...

spot is awarded to the league champions. The cup winners gain a spot in the

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organi ...

. Since the 2005–06 season if two or more teams end the league with the same number of points, the deciding tie-breakers used are (in order): #Head-to-head records; #

Goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches a ...

of head-to-head records; #Goal difference of league; #Most goals for in league; #Draw

Broadcasting rights

the Botswana Football Association is the one which negotiates the broadcasting rights with broadcasters. Starting from 2002–03 until 2012–13 the broadcasting rights were held by the state broadcaster

Botswana Television Botswana Television (also known as BTV and Botswana TV) is the national broadcaster in Botswana. Botswana's first national television service started in 2000 following a 1997 government decision. The station delivers thirteen hours of local and in ...

(BTV) and its radio partner

Radio Botswana Radio Botswana- ''abbr'' RB1 is a radio station in Botswana operated by the Government of Botswana in the capital city Gaborone. The Radio station provides news, current affairs about the country Botswana, the culture of Botswana, education and ...

(RB1). The state broadcaster was paying P5 million per season for the rights. Broadcasting of the games was irregular as the TV showed majority of games played in and around Gaborone citing poor quality stadiums in the north. Two weekend games are shown live on TV, with midweek games being delayed.

SuperSport deal

In 2013 there was major excitement when South African broadcasting giant entered the local market. The deal saw the state broadcaster temporarily losing the rights, as a few games were shown on pay-per-view. However it was short lived as SuperSport and the BFA parted their ways. Broadcasting resumed normally on BTV and RB1.

Hourlies

Since 1980 all BPL games have been played at the same times. On Saturday most are played 15:00 pm CAT on winter and 16:00 pm CAT in summer. Few games are played at night due to poor lighting in most stadiums. In Sunday all games are played at 15:00 pm CAT or 16:00 pm CAT depending on the season. Most in midweek games are played at 19:00 pm CAT.

Current season clubs (2022−23)

Champions

Previous champions are: *1966: ''Not known'' *1967:

Gaborone United Gaborone United Sporting Club (GU) is a football club from Botswana based in Gaborone. It is the only professional sporting club in Botswana. Its official sponsor is Bank Gaborone, who signed a three-year deal at the beginning of the 2022-23 seaso ...

*1968: ''Not known'' *1969:

*1970:

*1971–77: ''Not known'' *1978: Notwane PG *1979:

Township Rollers Township Rollers Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gaborone, Botswana. Rollers are also known as Popa, The Blues or Tse Tala, the official nicknames of the club. The club is also often referred to as Mapalastina, a n ...

*1980:

*1981: Botswana Defence Force XI *1982:

*1983:

*1984:

*1985:

*1986:

*1987:

*1988: Botswana Defence Force XI *1989: Botswana Defence Force XI *1990:

*1991: Botswana Defence Force XI *1992: LCS Extension Gunners *1993: LCS Extension Gunners *1994: LCS Extension Gunners *1995:

*1996: Notwane PG *1997: Botswana Defence Force XI *1998: Notwane PG *1999:

Mogoditshane Fighters Mogoditshane Fighters are a football (soccer) club from the Mogoditshane in Botswana. The club's nickname is "The Brazilians". Achievements * Mascom Premier League: 4 ** 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 * Botswana Challenge Cup: 3 ** 1999, 2000, 2003 ...

*1999–00:

*2000–01:

*2001–02: Botswana Defence Force XI *2003:

*2003–04: Botswana Defence Force XI *2004–05:

*2005–06:

Police XI Botswana Police XI Sporting Club is a football (soccer) club from Botswana based in village of Otse southern of Gaborone. Achievements * Botswana Premier League : 1 ::2006 * Botswana FA Cup : 1 ::1983 Performance in CAF competitions *CAF Cham ...

*2006–07:

ECCO City Green ECCO City Greens FC is a football club from Botswana based in Francistown. Honours *Mascom Premier League The Botswana Premier League, currently known as the BTC Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level football league in ...

s *2007–08:

Mochudi Centre Chiefs Mochudi Centre Chiefs Sporting Club are a professional football club based in Gaborone, Botswana, who play in the Botswana first division following their relegation from the Premier League in 2019. Centre Chiefs have won the Botswana Premier Leag ...

*2008–09:

*2009–10:

*2010–11:

*2011–12:

*2012–13:

*2013–14:

* 2014–15:

* 2015–16:

* 2016–17:

* 2017–18:

* 2018–19:

* 2019-20: Jwaneng Galaxy *2020–21: ''Not held'' * 2021-22: