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The first documented matches took place in 1862 between White civil servants and soldiers in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth..... more from South Africa Soccer Chronology which provides useful information over all the decades since this time.

 South African soccer is controlled by S.A.F.A. - South African Football Association - which was founded in December 1991 as the apartheid era was coming to a close. The body was recognised by FIFA in 1992 and brought the country back into the international fold. The national side subsequently won the African Nations Cup in 1996, were runners up two years later , and took part in their first world cup, in France, in 1998.
Which teams hold the trophies?
The 2005 / 2006 Premiership title was won by a Pretoria based side - Mamelodi Sundowns , second and third placed were two of the most popular clubs Orlando Pirates and Kaiser Chiefs who are both based in Johannesburg. Kaiser Chiefs who are probably the most recognised side in southern Africa won the title in 2003 / 2004 and 2004 / 2005. This year they triumphed in a pre season 3 team round robin tournament which involved a Manchester United squad. They beat the English team on penalties in the final game
 
  Quick Links

The National Team
"Bafana Bafana"

 International soccer interest in South Africa is now tending towards the 2010 world cup and the 2009 CONCAF cup to be hosted by an African nation for the first time In an effort to improve their own national side the experienced Brazilian - Carlos Alberto Parreira - was recently appointed new coach to the South African squad
See Wikipedia for more detail
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                       South Africa's national side play a friendly fixture against Egypt in London on 15 November 2006
  
  South Africa National Team from Authentic Soccer, providing a brief overview of the team and its performances
 Bafana Bafana  from Sportscheduler provides good coverage of all the national squads, including Events
South African Soccer from South Africa Info, covering the broad soccer scene, including "The Boys"
African Soccer Team Rankings show South Africa at the head of the rankings
Tournaments and Performance
    Cosafa - both men and women's k.o. event for teams in southern Africa ( Zambia and south )
   Africans Nation Cup news, results and reports of SA progress in their group
SA Soccer 365 soccer news, fixtures, results, history ....
   

The  SA League Structure

 Besides the senior men's side, there are national representative sides at under 23 , under 20 and under 17 level, and strong women's sides at under 19 and senior level. Professional teams play in all provinces and the highest league - the Premiership (P.S.L ) - involves 16 professional clubs. The season is mid August to the end of May
Promotion / relegation is on a 2 up / 2 down basis from / to the national first division. The first division is fed from national play offs involving the different provincial log leaders. In addition there are various knock-out cups.
  

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Premier    
  Premier Soccer league official site; news, standings, results, teams
 Background from Wikipedia with history, teams, stats
Table and scores  IOL,
Coverage by Kick-off South Africa
Teams:
     Black leopards , Bloemfontein Celtic , Silver Stars United, Wits University
 
MVela
Golden League		 The First division, below the Premier League. Automatic promotion for the top team at the end of the season, with play-offs for teanms in positions 2, 3 and 4
 		  
  Coverage by Kick-off South Africa
 
   Other league coverage
 		  
The  Cups The major competitions played in SA are:
Absa cup - all teams;  Coca cola cup - premier teams only;  SAA Supa 8 competition -top premiership teams;  Telkom Charity cup - 4 teams voted most popular by the fans 
 

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  Telkom Charity Cup standings, press corner ....
  2006 details from Sports Scheduler
Telcom Knockout Cup  for the premier soccer league clubs; background from Wikepedia
  Official Site news, fixtures, tables, results, features.
 
News Highlights  Key happenings in the soccer world of South Africa

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  Cape Times Soccer covering world as well as hot SA soccer news
The Homeless world cup , watched and endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu , Oct 2006 in Cape Town . Of the 48 countries participating the Russian team were worthy winners.  
World Cup Developments see  FIFA media
Soccerex the business convention for football worldwide , is to be held in Johannesburg in late November 2007 and for the following 2 years thereafter.
 
SA Soccer Players  
  SA Players Abroad                           See Sports Scheduler  
 
  Player        Detail      Location
Lance Davids
South Africa under 23 s , midfielder 
Djurgardens ( Swedish first division )
Mark Fish Central defender ex Charlton Athletic , now retired 
Benni McCarthy Striker Blackburn Rovers
Quinton Fortune midfield  ex Manchester United Bolton Wanderers
Lucas Radabe South African captain , central defender ex Leeds United, retired
     
Women's Soccer  The women's soccer section is played in provincial leagues with the two top sides in each league going through to a national play off to determine the women's champions. In 2002 the senior women's national side were crowned the COSAFA cup champions.  
  Women's Soccer in South Africa    March 2004 from South Africa Information site
Highlights from SAFA
 		  
General information: Other links with useful resources
 		  
  Kick-off South Africa  the online site of South Africa's premier monthly soccer magazine.  

If you need further information on the Soccer in South Africa, fill out the details below and contact our baseball librarian.
Please make sure that you have checked the above links first. We do not answer Trivia questions.