1997–98 South African Premiership
football league season
The 1997–98 Premiership, known as the 1997–98 Castle Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and also commonly referred to as the PSL after the governing body, was the second season of the Premiership, the top tier football league in South Africa, since its establishment in 1996. The season began on 1 August 1997 and ended on 13 May 1998. Mamelodi Sundowns won their first Premiership title and their fourth South African title after previously winning the Premiership's predecessor - the National Soccer League - on three occasions (1988, 1990 and 1993). This victory would be the first in a hat-trick of Premiership titles for Sundowns, as the team from Pretoria would go on to dominate the league for the next two seasons. Sundowns also won a league and cup double after winning the 1998 Bob Save Superbowl later that year.
As in the inaugural season, the league was contested by 18 teams, sixteen returning from the 1996-97 season and two newly promoted clubs; African Wanderers and Santos. The league would also continue to run parallel to the European football calendar (August–May) and not run concurrently with the African football calendar (January–December).
Club name changes
Eastern Cape club Umtata Bush Bucks decided to drop Umtata from their name from the 1997-98 season, and were instead simply referred to as Bush Bucks.
Season summary
Manning Rangers found themselves unable to retain their title as they slipped to fifth place in the final standings, some 11 points behind eventual champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who won the first of what would be three successive Premiership titles.
Kaizer Chiefs finished in the runners-up spot for the second successive season after finishing five points behind the brilliant Brazilians.
“1997–98 South African Premiership” enters the record as football league season. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what South, African and Premiership can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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