| 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 | 306 |
| Goals | 692 (2.26 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Wilfred Mugeyi Umtata Bush Bucks (22 goals)[1] |
| Biggest home win | Kaizer Chiefs 7–2Witbank Aces Kaizer Chiefs 5-0 Real Rovers |
| Biggest away win | Witbank Aces 1–7Hellenic (28 May 1997) |
| Highest scoring | Kaizer Chiefs 7–2Witbank Aces (9 goals) |
1997–98 → | |
The1996–97 South African Premiership, known as the1996–97 Castle Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and also commonly referred to as thePSL after the governing body, was the first season of the newly established top-flight professionalfootball league in South Africa. The league was an 18-team competition established in 1996 byIrvin Khoza,Kaizer Motaung, Raymond Hack andJomo Sono in conjunction with theSouth African Football Association and it would run parallel to the European football calendar.
Manning Rangers comfortably finished top of the log to win the first Premiership title ahead of several more fancied opponents.[2] Rangers, known as theMighty Maulers, dominated to such an extent that they finished eight points clear of second-placedKaizer Chiefs and a further two ahead ofOrlando Pirates.
The Chiefs, known as theAmakhosi, 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 handedGordon 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 andHellenic completed the top five, withMamelodi Sundowns in sixth,Jomo Cosmos in seventh andCape Town Spurs in eighth.
Popular clubsBloemfontein Celtic andMoroka Swallows came in 10th and 11th respectively, while KwaZulu-Natal giantsAmaZulu finished 14th on the 18-team log.
The first two teams to be relegated to the second tier from the Premiership wereWitbank Aces – who won just four games all season and finished with 19 points – andMichau Warriors. Real Rovers andVaal 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]
| 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 the1998 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 theNational First Division |
| 18 | Witbank Aces(R) | 34 | 4 | 7 | 23 | 26 | 72 | −46 | 19 |