The South African Premiership, also known as the

Betway Betway is a British gambling company founded in 2006. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in Malta, alongside satellite offices in Londo ...

Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the

PSL PSL may refer to: Sport *Pakistan Super League, a Twenty20 cricket league *Palau Soccer League, top division association football league in Palau *Pilipinas Super League, a professional basketball league *Philippine Super Liga, a defunct profes ...

after its governing body, is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and the highest level of the South African soccer league system. It has been organised since 1996. The 2024–25 season started on 14 September 2024,

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

successfully defended the title in 2025 which they've held continuously since the 2017–18 season.

History

The league was founded in 1996 after an agreement between the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

and the remnants of the National Professional Soccer League. It is stated on its website that the former name still exists today, but for legal purposes, with the ''Premier Soccer League'' being its

trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

. The league was reduced from 18 to 16 teams after the end of the 2001–02 season to avoid fixture congestion, causing the disbandment of two teams; Ria Stars and

Free State Stars Free State Stars Football club was a South African professional soccer club based in Bethlehem, Free State that played in the National First Division. Formerly known as Makwane Computer Stars, Fairway Stars and Qwa Qwa Stars, their most signi ...

, though the latter was reformed and competing as of the 2020–21 season. In 2004, a match-fixing scandal rocked the football/soccer landscape in South Africa. An investigation codenamed "Operation Dribble" was launched by the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

system of South Africa police in June 2004. More than 40 arrests were made, ranging from club bosses to match commissioners, referees and their assistants.

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premiership. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zu ...

successfully defended their league title in 2005 after they won the prestigious trophy in 2004 for the first time in a decade. The 2005–06 season saw

capturing the title for a fourth time. Since the 2017–18 season, they have dominated the league, winning seven consecutive titles. In 2007, the PSL signed a television deal with SuperSport worth R 1.6 billion, which was the biggest sporting deal in the history of the country and ranked the league into the top 15 in the world in terms of commercial broadcast deals. In the same year, ABSA replaced

Castle Lager Castle Lager is a South African pale lager. It is the flagship product of South African Breweries. It is widely considered the 'national beer' of South Africa due to its widespread popularity and production within the country. History Castle ...

as the title sponsor, with the latter having sponsored the league since its inception.

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional association football, football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the South African Premier Di ...

won 3 league titles in a row between 2008 and 2010. As of August 2024, the league is rated fourth in Africa according to the

CAF 5-year ranking The CAF 5-year ranking system is used by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to determine the number of clubs that each member association may enter its club football competitions; the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. ...

system. For the 2018–19 season, the PSL gives each club a monthly grant of R 2 million, with funds coming from the television broadcasting rights and national sponsorships, with the league champion earning R 10 million. In 2019, ABSA increased their sponsorship deal to the PSL to R 39.9 million, which meant that the league winners would secure R 15 million. ABSA would however announce its cancellation of its sponsorship with the PSL a year later on 4 June 2020. On 24 September 2020, ''DStv'' were announced as the new sponsor, with the league being rebranded as the DStv Premiership. MultiChoice also announced that

Showmax Showmax is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service that launched in South Africa on 19 August 2015. Its majority owner is MultiChoice, which owns 70% of the Showmax group, while American conglomerate NBCUniversal owns 3 ...

would replace ''DStv'' as the

jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

sponsor of SuperSport United F.C. so the latter would be independent to sponsor the league outright. On the 24th of July 2024, it was announced that

would be sponsoring the league, with DStv's contract ending a year early due to

MultiChoice MultiChoice is a South Africa, South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company also operates GOtv Africa, GOtv, a minor satellite TV service operating in 9 countries, and Showmax, ...

's financial troubles. This is one of the biggest sponsorships in South African football history worth R900-Million for the term of 3 years.

CEOs

Trevor Phillips Sir Mark Trevor Phillips (born 31 December 1953) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician who served as Chair of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2001 and from 2002 to 2003. He presented ''Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Trevor Phillips ...

: 1996–1998 * Joe Ndlela: 1998–2000 * Robin Petersen: 2000–2001 (resigned) *

: 2002–2007 * Kjetil Siem: 2007–2011 * Zola Majavu: 2011 (resigned) *

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

: 2012 (resigned) * Cambridge Mokanyane: 2013 (acting) * Brand de Villers: 2013–2015 * Mato Madlala: 2016 – present (acting)

Qualification for CAF competitions

Association ranking for 2021–22 CAF competitions

Association ranking for the

2021–22 CAF Champions League The 2021–22 CAF Champions League (known as the 2021–22 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship purposes) was the 58th season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and ...

and the

2021–22 CAF Confederation Cup The 2021–22 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2021–22 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ...

will be based on results from each CAF tournament from 2017 to 2020–21. ;Legend * CL:

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 (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

* CC:

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

Sponsorship

The league has had title sponsorships since its inception. Like the

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

and the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

divisions in England, the league takes its title sponsor's name to determine its official common name: * 1996–2007:

(Castle Premiership) * 2007–2020: ABSA (ABSA Premiership) * 2020–2024: DStv (DStv Premiership) * 2024–present:

(Betway Premiership)

Format

As of the 2024–25 season, the league is composed of 16 teams competing from August to May each season, similar to the format of most European football leagues. Each team plays the other teams twice in a

double round-robin A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

format using the

three points for a win Three points for a win is a standard used in many sports leagues and group tournaments, especially in association football, in which 3 points are awarded to the team winning a match, with no points awarded to the losing team. If the game is draw ...

system. At the conclusion of each season, the champion and runner-up of the Premiership qualify for the

, while the 3rd-place team and the

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of gi ...

champions qualify for the

. The bottom team in the league is automatically relegated and replaced by the winner of the Motsepe Foundation Championship, whiles the team finishing immediately above the bottom team enters a mini-league playoff series with the 2nd and 3rd-placed league-finished teams of the

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

, with the playoff winners earning their place in the Premiership for the following season.

Broadcasting

The league's broadcaster is SuperSport, who in turn sub-leases the broadcasting rights to the

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

, so as to broadcast some matches on public television in South Africa. SuperSport was awarded an initial $277 million 5-year broadcast/TV rights deal in 2007 by the

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

to help commercialize the league globally beyond South Africa. matches on sunset times between Tuesdays and Fridays and on weekends whereas the SABC telecast matches played on Wednesday nights and on weekends. Since 2016, as SuperSport is a brand owned by the MultiChoice Group, the league is available to watch live and

on demand On-demand or on demand may refer to: Manufacturing * Build-on-demand * Just-in-time manufacturing, a methodology for production * Print on demand, printing technology and business process in which new copies of a document are not printed until ...

via their specified services; the DStv App (formerly ''DStv Mobile'' and ''DStv Now'') and Showmax Pro. Both are accessible via the DStv website for PC and

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

and as

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

s on Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. It was given a name distinct from iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones to reflect the diverging features of the two product lines, suc ...

for

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s, tablets and

Smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV or, rarely, CoTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features that allow users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart T ...

Past seasons

Previous winners, runners-up, relegated and promoted teams

League titles by club

Manager records

League winning managers

Most successful managers

Gordon Igesund Gordon Igesund (born 22 July 1956) is a former South African football player and coach who was most recently the manager of Highlands Park in the Premier Soccer League. Early life Igesund was born in Durban to George Norman Igesund (born 193 ...

is the only manager to have won the league with 4 clubs; Manning Rangers 1996-97,

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays i ...

2000-01, Santos 2001-02,

2006-07. * Rulani Mokwena become the only manager to have retained the league title 4 times in a row (4)

2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023-24; breaking previous record of Gavin Hunt and

Pitso Mosimane Pitso John Hamilton Mosimane (born 26 July 1964) is a South African former professional football player and current coach. Club career Mosimane started his senior career at Jomo Cosmos, then he played for Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pira ...

of the managers that have retained the title the most times; (3)

2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, (3)

2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 respectively. * Seven foreign managers have won the league, with

Ted Dumitru Theodore "Ted" Dumitru (born Dumitru Teodorescu; 2 September 1939 – 26 May 2016) was a Romanian football manager who is best known for his time in South Africa. Dumitru was one of few coaches who have led South Africa's 'big three' clubs ...

having won the most titles, 4. * Since the founding of the Premiership in 1996, the following two records Ernst Middendorp holds remain unsurpassed: he has coached eight different top-flight clubs in the Premiership, and has been appointed on twelve occasions as the permanent head coach of a top-flight team competing in the Premiership.

League records

*Ever presents:

*Most Premiership titles: 15 –

(1997/98), (1998/99), (1999/00), (2005/06), (2006/07), (2013/14), (2015/16), (2017/18), (2018/19), (2019/20), (2020/21), (2021/22), (2022/23), (2023/24), (2024/2025) *Biggest Premiership win: 8–1 –

vs Zulu Royals (2003/04), 8-1

Orlando Pirates F.C. Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional association football, football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as South African Pr ...

vs Marumo Gallants F.C. (2024/2025) *Most goals scored in a season: 73 –

(1998/99) *Most goals conceded in a season: 85 – Mother City (1999/00) *Most points in a season: 75 –

(1998/99) & (1999/00) and

(1998/99) *Most points in a season (30 games): 73 – Mamelodi Sundowns (2023/24)

League participants

As of the 2024–25 season.

Major titles

Overall totals

Defunct teams: .

Top goalscorers

All-time top goalscorers

*123 goals: Siyabonga NomveteMakhaya, Ernest
"AMAZULU STRIKER SIYABONGA NOMVETHE BECOMES PSL'S ALL-TIME GOALSCORER"
''

Goal (website) Goal, stylized in all caps and alternatively known as Goal.com, is a website currently dedicated to the coverage of international association football. Currently owned by the Integrated Media Company (IMC) division of TPG Inc. since 2020, it is ...

'', England, 21 October 2017. Retrieved on 23 October 2017. *110 goals:

Daniel Mudau Daniel Mudau (born 4 September 1968) is a South African former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a striker. Early life Daniel Mbulaheni Mudau was born on 4 September 1968 in Mamelodi. Career Mudau played ...

*104 goals:

Manuel Bucuane Manuel José Luís Bucuane (born 16 August 1973), better known professionally as Tico-Tico, is a former Mozambican footballer who played as a striker. In his career, Tico-Tico played primarily for Desportivo de Maputo in Mozambique and Jomo ...

*104 goals: Mabhuti Khenyeza *101 goals: Siphiwe Tshabalala *101 goals:

Collins Mbesuma Collins Mbesuma (born 3 February 1984) is a Zambian professional footballer who plays for South African club Pretoria Callies. He is nicknamed ''The Hurricane'' or ''Ntofontofo''. Club career Mbesuma was born in Luanshya. His father, Franci ...

NB: list includes all players who have scored at least 100 goals in the PSL era. Also includes cup competitions. Source:

Founding members

Bold entries are participating in the current season. *

AmaZulu Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African soccer club based in Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein Celtic had a large fan base in the Free State and competed in the Premiership before selling their status to Royal ...

Cape Town Spurs A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

* Hellenic *

Jomo Cosmos Jomo Cosmos is a South African soccer club based in Johannesburg that plays in the ABC Motsepe League. The club is owned and coached by South African football legend Jomo Sono. At the end of the 2021–22 National First Division season, the ...

* Manning Rangers * Michau Warriors *

Moroka Swallows Moroka Swallows Football Club (often referred to as Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional football club based in Soweto, Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are one of the original two Soweto clubs ...

* QwaQwa Stars *Real Rovers *

* Bush Bucks *

Vaal Professionals Vaal Professionals were a South African soccer club. Based in Vereeniging, they were a founder member of the Premier Soccer League in 1996. They were nicknamed ''Setla'' or ''Vaal Monsters''. They were relegated from the 1998–99 Premiership. ...

Witbank Aces Black Aces was a South African football club that played in the Premier Soccer League. Aces usually played their home games in the Mpumalanga province but were based and trained in Johannesburg. History The original club was founded in 1937 by ...

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

External links

*
Previous official website as ''ABSA Premiership''
(Archived)

at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

References

{{CAF Leagues Premier Soccer League

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Professional sports leagues in South Africa