The First Division is the second-tier

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It operates under the auspices of the

Namibia Football Association The Namibia Football Association (NFA) is the governing body of football in Namibia. It was founded in 1990, and affiliated to FIFA and to CAF in 1992. It organizes the national football league and the national team. Its aim is to create a footb ...

Organization

The First Division is divided into the Northern Stream (NSFD) and the Southern Stream (SSFD), each consisting of 13 teams from their respective regions. For some seasons the Northern Stream has been divided into separate North East and North West streams. The Northern Stream includes clubs from the Caprivi, Kavango,

Oshana Oshana is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Oshakati. The towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, all situated with this region, form an urban cluster with the second largest population concentration in Namibia after the ...

, Omusati, Kunene,

Otjozondjupa Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters. Geog ...

Ohangwena Ohangwena is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Eenhana. Major settlements in the region are the towns Eenhana and Helao Nafidi aa well as the self-governed village of Okongo. , Ohangwena had 150,724 registered voters. Oha ...

, and Oshikoto regions. The Southern Stream includes clubs located in

Khomas Khomas is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its name refers to the Khomas Highland, a high plateau landscape that dominates this administrative unit. Khomas is centered on the capital city Windhoek and provides for this reason superior trans ...

Omaheke Omaheke ( hz, Sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari desert. The self-governed vi ...

Erongo Erongo is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. The capital is Swakopmund. It is named after Mount Erongo, a well-known landmark in Namibia and in this area. Erongo contains the municipalities of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Omaruru, as w ...

Hardap Hardap is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Mariental. Hardap contains the municipality of Mariental, the towns Rehoboth and Aranos, and the self-governed villages Gibeon, Gochas, Kalkrand, Stampriet and Maltahöhe. It is ...

, and Karas regions.

Promotion and relegation

The winners of both the Northern and Southern Streams are promoted to the

Namibia Premier Football League The Namibia Premier Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia. It operates under the auspices of the Namibia Football Association. History After ongoing problems with the Namibia Premier League (NP ...

. The three lowest placed teams from each stream are relegated to the Regional Second Division.

History

The league began operating under the now-defunct

Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL), also known as Debmarine Namibia Premiership is the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia. The league was established in 1990 and was trimmed to 12 teams from the traditional 16 in 2005. It was ...

for the 2006/07 season. In 2021 the league returned from a hiatus of over three years caused by troubles at the NFA and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. For this special transitional tournament, the league was divided into four streams: Southern, Coastal, Inland, and Central.

Champions

References

{{CAF second leagues Football in Namibia South