South Africa Travel + Tourism Guide: South African Soccer

South African Premier Soccer League

With the World Cup just around the corner and the eyes of the globe on South Africa, football officials in the sun-kissed republic could be forgiven for banking on a surge of interest in the nation's domestic league.

Founded in 1996, South Africa's 'Premier Soccer League' is a 16-team home-and-away competition running from August until May in conjuction with several knockout cup competitions.

Domestic giants

Kaizer Chiefs are perhaps the best known club side in South African football, with the Johannesburg-based outfit founded in 1970 by one of the country's most popular personalities, Kaizer Motaung.

With a support base running into the millions and a simmering rivalry with fellow Soweto team Orlando Pirates spurring them on, Kaizer Chiefs have twice won the PSL and are generally considered the flagship club of South African football.

Their bitter rivals Orlando Pirates were founded in 1937 and are the only South African club to have won the African Cup of Champions - now known as the CAF Champions League.

Like their Johnnesburg city rivals Kaizer Chiefs, the widely popular Orlando are also two-time PSL champions, and while success has proved harder to come by in recent seasons, the derby between the two clubs is one of the most anticipated matches in African football.

Bafana Bafana.

© City of Johannesburg South African National Team

Regrettably that fervour resulted in one of the worst stadium disasters in African football in 2001, when 43 fans lost their lives and a further 158 were injured as supporters were crushed in a stampede at a clash between the two sides.

Currently, the PSL's most successful club are five-times champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who are bankrolled by mining magnate Patrice Motsepe and based out of Pretoria. Coach and former Bulgarian international Hristo Stoichkov will be hoping to end the recent dominance of fellow Pretoria side Supersport United, who have won the last two championships on offer.

Elsewhere several teams have notable links with foreign clubs, including Cape Town sides Ajax Cape Town and Santos FC.

Cup competitions

The Nedbank Cup is South Africa's equivalent of the FA Cup and allows lower league sides to compete against top tier outfits in the quest to claim knockout competition silverware.

In the top tier, an eight-team pre-season knockout tournament precedes the regular league championship - with the previous season's top eight clubs all competing, while a League Cup competition involving all 16 clubs also takes place throughout the season.

Second tier

Below the PSL is the National First Division, made up of two groups consisting of eight teams each and known as the Inland Stream and the Coastal Stream.

The respective winners of each group meet in a final to determine who wins promotion to the top flight, with the runner-up dropping into a further playoff round against the 15th placed PSL team and the two second-placed finishers from the Inland and Coastal divisions.

The future

After signing a multi-billion rand broadcast deal with SuperSport International in 2007, the future looks bright for South Africa's premier domestic football competition.

It's had its detractors over the years - not least due to clubs taking over the licences of relegated or defunct rivals - but with the World Cup set to give the competition another shot in the arm, local officials will hope to build on the momentum as they seek to welcome more fans, more sponsorship and more star players to the Premier Soccer League.

South Africa World Cup 2010 Team Profile

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