Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League is South Africa's top soccer league, featuring the country's best 16
clubs.
Founded in 1996, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has helped raise the standard of club football in South Africa, providing the sport with better media coverage and much-improved revenue through strong sponsorship deals. It has also provided a platform for local players to make their mark and catch the eye of overseas clubs
The league first started with 18 teams before the number was sliced down to16 after the end of the 2001-02 season to avoid fixture congestion, resulting in the disbandment of two teams Ria Stars and Free State Stars.
In 2004, a match-fixing scandal rocked South African soccer, which led to the launching of an inves- tigation codenamed "Operation Dribble" by the South African police in June 2004.
More than 40 arrests were made, ranging from club bosses to match commissioners, referees and their assistants.
Domestic Giants Kaizer Chiefs are perhaps the best known club side in South African football. The Johannesburg-
based outfit was founded in 1970 by former South African professional footballer Kaizer Motaung, 66.
With a support base running into the millions and a simmering rivalry with fellow Soweto team Or- lando Pirates spurring them on, Kaizer Chiefs have twice won the Premier Soccer League 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 cross-town rivals Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates are also two-time Premier League cham- pions, and while success has proved harder to come by in recent seasons, the derby between the two clubs is one of the most anticipated encounters in the country’s football.
Regrettably, that fervor resulted in one of the worst stadium disasters in African football in 2001, when 43 fans lost their lives and a further 158 severely injured as supporters were crushed in a stampede during a clash between the two sides at Ellis Park Stadium.
The Premier Soccer League's most successful clubs are five-time champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who are bankrolled by mining magnate Patrice Motsepe and based out of Pretoria.
53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102