South African Premier Soccer League

The South African Premier Division (referred to as the ABSA Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of South African football league system. As the division is the top level of association football in South Africa, it is often referred to as the PSL – the name of the league's administrator.

The Premier Soccer League, South Africa's "administrator of professional football in the Republic of South Africa" refer to the competition as the "Premier Division" in their constitution.

History== == Manning Rangers were the first to be crowned champions of the Premier Division in 1997 when the Gordon Igesund-coached side was stunning all and sundry by winning the title ahead of a number of more fancied opponents.

From 1998 to 2000 the league was dominated by Sundowns, who pulled off a hat-trick of titles.

In 2001, Igesund moved to Orlando Pirates and helped the Buccaneers secure the title. The following season he moved to Cape Town-based Santos, and steered it to win the league title, thus becoming the first coach to win the championship with three different clubs.

The 11 April 2001 marked a dark chapter in South African history when 43 people lost their lives and 158 others were injured in a stampede during a match between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs at an overcrowded Ellis Park Stadium.

Main article: Ellis Park Stadium disaster

The league was reduced from 18 to 16 teams after the end of the 2001–02 season to avoid fixture congestion, causing two teams, Ria Stars and Free State Stars, to be disbanded.

In 2004, a match-fixing scandal rocked South African football. An investigation codenamed "Operation Dribble" was launched 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.

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 Mamelodi Sundowns capturing the title for the fourth time.

In 2007, the PSL signed a television deal with SuperSport worth R1.6-billion. It is the biggest sporting deal in the history of South Africa, and it took the Premier Division into the top 15 ranked leagues in the world in terms of commercial broadcast deals.

In the same year ABSA replaced Castle Lager as name sponsor.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010 Supersport United won a hat-trick of titles.

The league currently has teams in most of the country's largest cities, with Port Elizabeth being the obvious exception. The city has not had a team in the league since the 2008–09 Premier Soccer League, when the city's Bay United F.C. were relegated.

The league is rated as the 14th best in Africa in 2011. This is according to the CAF 5-Year Ranking system. The provisional 2012 rankings currently place them as slipping to 15th, below Niger.

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