1996–97 South African Premiership

Premiership
Season	1996–97
Champions	Manning Rangers; Inaugural Premiership champions; 1st South African title
Relegated	Michau Warriors; Witbank Aces
CAF Champions League	Manning Rangers
African Cup Winners' Cup	Kaizer Chiefs (withdrew); Mamelodi Sundowns (replaced Kaizer Chiefs)
Matches played	306
Goals scored	692 (2.26 per match)
Top goalscorer	Wilfred Mugeyi; Umtata Bush Bucks; (22 goals)
Biggest home win	Kaizer Chiefs 7–2 Witbank Aces; Kaizer Chiefs 5-0 Real Rovers
Biggest away win	Witbank Aces 1–7 Hellenic; (28 May 1997)
Highest scoring	Kaizer Chiefs 7–2 Witbank Aces (9 goals)
	1997–98 →

The 1996–97 South African Premiership, known as the 1996–97 Castle Premiership for sponsorship purposes, was the first season of the newly established top-flight professional football league in South Africa. The league was an 18-team competition established in 1996 by Irvin Khoza, Kaizer Motaung, Raymond Hack and Jomo Sono in conjunction with the South African Football Association and it would run parallel to the European football calendar.

Season summary

Manning Rangers comfortably finished top of the log to win the first Premiership title ahead of several more fancied opponents.^[2] Rangers, known as the Mighty Maulers, dominated to such an extent that they finished eight points clear of second-placed Kaizer Chiefs and a further two ahead of Orlando Pirates.

The Chiefs, known as the Amakhosi, had a more potent attack and a better defensive record than Rangers, and they lost fewer games, but their propensity to draw matches that they should have won cost them the trophy. It handed Gordon Igesund the first of four Premiership titles that he would win in the competition and got South Africa's new top-flight league off to a noteworthy start.

Umtata Bush Bucks and Hellenic completed the top five, with Mamelodi Sundowns in sixth, Jomo Cosmos in seventh and Cape Town Spurs in eighth.

Popular clubs Bloemfontein Celtic and Moroka Swallows came in 10th and 11th respectively, while KwaZulu-Natal giants AmaZulu finished 14th on the 18-team log.

The first two teams to be relegated to the second tier from the Premiership were Witbank Aces – who won just four games all season and finished with 19 points – and Michau Warriors. Real Rovers and Vaal Professionals (36 points each) finished a single point ahead of Warriors and avoided the demotion.

There was an abandoned game between Bloemfontein Celtic and Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday 16 February 1997. The game in Bloemfontein was called off in the 40th minute, with the home side trailing Chiefs 2-0, due to crowd trouble. Kaizer Chiefs were given the result along with 3 log points due to the trouble with the crowd being instigated by the Celtic fans. This was a rather surprising turn of events as the Celtic fans, while having a reputation for being extremely vocal and passionate, are not known to be unruly.^[3]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manning Rangers (C)	34	23	5	6	53	28	+25	74	1998 CAF Champions League First Round^[a]
2	Kaizer Chiefs	34	18	12	4	56	23	+33	66	Withdrew from the 1998 African Cup Winners' Cup^[b]
3	Orlando Pirates	34	18	10	6	43	27	+16	64
4	Umtata Bush Bucks	34	16	9	9	45	29	+16	57
5	Hellenic	34	15	8	11	46	31	+15	53
6	Mamelodi Sundowns	34	13	11	10	35	30	+5	50	1998 African Cup Winners' Cup first round^[a]^[b]
7	Jomo Cosmos	34	11	16	7	32	27	+5	49
8	Cape Town Spurs	34	14	6	14	40	45	−5	48
9	SuperSport United	34	10	16	8	40	35	+5	46
10	Bloemfontein Celtic	34	13	5	16	38	39	−1	44
11	Moroka Swallows	34	11	10	13	33	35	−2	43
12	Wits University	34	11	8	15	27	31	−4	41
13	Qwa Qwa Stars	34	10	8	16	39	49	−10	38
14	AmaZulu	34	9	10	15	34	46	−12	37
15	Vaal Professionals	34	10	6	18	38	49	−11	36
16	Real Rovers	34	8	12	14	35	46	−11	36
17	Michau Warriors (R)	34	10	5	19	32	50	−18	35	Relegated to the National First Division
18	Witbank Aces (R)	34	4	7	23	26	72	−46	19	Relegated to the National First Division

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Due to the Premiership following a different football calendar to the rest of Africa, which runs over a single calendar year and not the international August–May calendar followed by the Premiership, Manning Rangers & Mamelodi Sundowns would only be eligible to enter the 1998 editions of the respective CAF competitions they qualified for.
^ ^a ^b Kaizer Chiefs, who had qualified for the African Cup Winners' Cup, withdrew from the competition and were replaced by Mamelodi Sundowns.

References

^ Worldfootball.net. "Premier Soccer League: Top scorers' list". worldfootball.net.
^ Reporter, Staff (20 June 1997). "Unknowns who made Rangers famous". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
^ Reporter, Staff. "Five Kaizer Chiefs matches that were abandoned over the years". Kickoff. Retrieved 28 November 2024.

External links

[table_note_res_CL10.043454892487943-4] Due to the Premiership following a different football calendar to the rest of Africa, which runs over a single calendar year and not the international August–May calendar followed by the Premiership, Manning Rangers & Mamelodi Sundowns would only be eligible to enter the 1998 editions of the respective CAF competitions they qualified for.

[table_note_res_WD0.043454892487943-5] Kaizer Chiefs, who had qualified for the African Cup Winners' Cup, withdrew from the competition and were replaced by Mamelodi Sundowns.

[1] Worldfootball.net. "Premier Soccer League: Top scorers' list". worldfootball.net.

[2] Reporter, Staff (20 June 1997). "Unknowns who made Rangers famous". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2024.

[3] Reporter, Staff. "Five Kaizer Chiefs matches that were abandoned over the years". Kickoff. Retrieved 28 November 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[a]

[b]

v t e 1997 in African football (CAF)
« 1996 1998 »
Domestic leagues	Algeria 96–97 97–98 Angola 97 Cameroon 1997 Cape Verde 97 Egypt 96–97 97–98 Libya 96–97 97–98 Senegal 1997 South Africa 96–97 97–98 Tunisia 96–97 97–98 Uganda 97
Domestic cups	Algeria 96–97 97–98 Angola 97 Uganda 97
CAF competitions	CAF Champions League final African Cup Winners' Cup CAF Cup Super Cup

v t e South African Premiership seasons
2024–25 teams	AmaZulu Cape Town City Chippa United Golden Arrows Kaizer Chiefs Magesis Marumo Gallants Mamelodi Sundowns Polokwane City Pirates Richards Bay F.C. Royal AM Sekhukhune United Stellenbosch SuperSport United TS Galaxy
Former teams (defunct teams)	African Wanderers Ajax Cape Town F.C. Baroka Bay United Benoni Premier United Black Leopards Bloemfontein Celtic Bush Bucks Cape Town Spurs Dynamos Free State Stars Hellenic Highlands Park Jomo Cosmos Manning Rangers Maritzburg United Michau Warriors Moroka Swallows Mother City Mpumalanga Black Aces Platinum Stars Polokwane City Real Rovers Ria Stars Santos Seven Stars Thanda Royal Zulu Tembisa Classic Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila University of Pretoria Vaal Professionals Vasco da Gama Wits University F.C.
Associated competitions	Nedbank Cup Telkom Knockout MTN 8 National First Division
Seasons	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Seasons in South African soccer
Premiership teams (2024–25)	AmaZulu Cape Town City Chippa United Golden Arrows Kaizer Chiefs Magesi Marumo Gallants Mamelodi Sundowns Pirates Polokwane City Richards Bay Royal AM Sekhukhune United Stellenbosch SuperSport United TS Galaxy
First Division teams (2024–25)	Baroka Black Leopards Cape Town Spurs Casric Stars Durban City Highbury Hungry Lions JDR Stars Kruger United Leruma United Milford Orbit College Pretoria Callies University of Pretoria Upington City Venda
Premiership	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
National First Division	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
SAFA Second Division	1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Nedbank Cup	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
MTN 8	1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Telkom Knockout/Carling Knockout Cup	1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2023 2024
Carling Black Label Cup	2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2019 2021 2022
National Football League	1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
Federation Professional League	1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
NPSL (1971-1977)	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NPSL (1978-1984)	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
NPSL (1985-1995)	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1984 1992 1983 1994 1995
National Soccer League (NSL)	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
SASF Cup	1961 1962 1963 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
Telkom Charity Cup	1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Vodacom Challenge	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011

Season summary

Final league table

See also

References

External links