The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL 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, 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 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 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 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 Betway 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 and the 2021–22 CAF Confederation Cup 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 Lager (Castle Premiership) * 2007–2020: ABSA (ABSA Premiership) * 2020–2024: DStv (DStv Premiership) * 2024–present: Betway (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 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, 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 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 is the only manager to have won the league with 4 clubs; Manning Rangers 1996-97, Orlando Pirates 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 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 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: Kaizer Chiefs,

, Orlando Pirates,

*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. vs Marumo Gallants F.C. (2024/2025) *Most goals scored in a season: 73 – Kaizer Chiefs (1998/99) *Most goals conceded in a season: 85 – Mother City (1999/00) *Most points in a season: 75 –

(1998/99) & (1999/00) and Kaizer Chiefs (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)'', England, 21 October 2017. Retrieved on 23 October 2017. *110 goals: Daniel Mudau *104 goals: Manuel Bucuane *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 * Cape Town Spurs * Hellenic * Jomo Cosmos * Kaizer Chiefs * 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 ...

* Orlando Pirates * QwaQwa Stars *Real Rovers *

* Bush Bucks * Vaal Professionals * Witbank Aces * Wits University

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