Premier Soccer League
 | |
| Country | South Africa |
|---|---|
| Confederation | CAF |
| Founded | 1996 |
| First season | 1996–97 |
| Divisions |
Premier Division National First Division |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Promotion to |
2 CAF Champions League spots 2 CAF Confederation Cup spots |
| Relegation to | National First Division |
| Domestic cup(s) |
Telkom Knockout MTN 8 Nedbank Cup |
| International cup(s) |
CAF Champions League CAF Confederation Cup |
| Current champions |
Kaizer Chiefs (2014/2015) |
| Most championships | Mamelodi Sundowns (7) |
| Website | Official Website |
 2015–16 South African Premier Division | |
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is a league competition featuring professional soccer clubs from South Africa. It is the top level football league in South Africa and has been since its foundation in 1996.
The PSL was created following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnants of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). The Premier Soccer League is a trading name for the National Soccer League. The Premier Division is seen as a successor of the National Soccer League.
The company acts as a governing body and competition organiser. The PSL are affiliated to the South African Football Association but SAFA do not govern the PSL competitions. Teams that are relegated from the PSL organised leagues compete in the SAFA-organised Second Division. The National First Division (NFD) is the second-highest league of South African club soccer.
The Premier Soccer League is a 16 teams league consisting of 30 matches per team, the league consisted 18 teams on its establishment until 2001/2002 season which saw 2 teams Ria Stars & Free State Stars being disbanded.
The relegation and promotion process for the PSL allows one team to be promoted directly with one relegated directly, the team occupying 15th spot in the PSL together with 2 teams occupying 2nd & 3rd spots in National First Division form a mini-league for promotion/relegation play-offs.
Competitions
The Premier Soccer League sell the naming rights of their competitions to a title sponsor. The PSL organise the following competitions:
- League competitions
- Cup competitions
They had previously organised Charity Cup, a one-day, four team, season opening cup, which ran from 1986 to 2010. The Baymed Cup was open to First Division sides, but the competition was terminated after one edition in 2006.
The structure of the PSL cup competitions is made by 3 different types with sponsors for each getting naming rights:
League Top 8
Top 8 teams on the log compete on the cup.
MTN 8 sponsored by MTN since 2008.
SAA Super 8 sponsored by SAA 2003-2007.
BP Top 8 sponsored by BP 1972(1996)-2002.
League Cup
All 16 teams on the league compete on the cup via a random draw.
Coca-Cola Cup sponsored by Coca Cola 1996.
Rothmans Cup sponsored by Rothmans 1997-2000.
Coca-Cola Cup sponsored by Coca Cola 2001-2005.
Telkom Knockout sponsored by Telkom since 2006.
Association Cup
Consisting of 32 teams from:
16 PSL teams.
8 NFD teams.
The other 8 teams being from Vodacom League & Castle Regional League.
Nedbank Cup sponsored by Nedbank since 2008.
Absa Cup sponsored by Absa 2003-2007.
Bob Save Superbowl sponsored by FNB 1988(1996)-2001.
League licenses
Licenses to participate in the league can be bought and sold on the free market. In August 2002, the PSL bought two Premier Division licences, from the owners of Ria Stars F.C. and Free State Stars F.C., the PSL dissolved the license to ease fixture congestion and reduce their own costs by 400k ZAR per month as each top tier club received 200k ZAR on a monthly basis from the PSL.[1] The two clubs were purchased for 8 million ZAR. The two clubs had differing fates, Ria Stars never appeared again whilst Free State Stars bought the league license from Maholosiane F.C., a team participating in the National First Division in the 2002/2003 season and earned promotion to the top tier in the 2003/2004 season.
Structure
The NSL is the only special member of the South African Football Association (SAFA). The NSL has 32 members, the 16 clubs from the Premier Division and 16 clubs from the first division who together form the Board of governors. The Board of governors is the supreme body and its functions are stated in Article 13 of the NSL constitution. The Board of governors elects the Chairman and the Executive committee, it is empowered to delegate management and operational functions to the Executive Committee. The Executive committee consists of 8 elected members and the Chief Executive Officer. The Executive is appointed for a period of four years at the quadrennial general meeting. The Executive delegates some of its operational functions to the CEO.
References
- ↑ "Debt crushes PSL team into history". City press. 28 July 2002. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
*Kickoff Magazine SA
*Soccer Laduma
*Sport 24
*World Of Champions
External links
- South Africa Champions, RSSSF.com
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