National Football League (South Africa)

National Football League
Countries  South Africa
Founded 1959
Folded 1977
Most championships Highlands Park F.C. (8 titles)

The National Football League (NFL) was the first professional association football league in South Africa. It was established in 1959, and was accompanied by a NFL Division II and NFL Division III in 1961 (with rules for promotion and relegation between the leagues).[1][2] The league was competitive during the apartheid era, and only white players were allowed to participate. When NFL folded after 18 years in 1977, it was superseded by a non-racial league. In practical terms, a merger happened between NFL (for whites) and NPSL (for blacks), to become the new common NPSL.

Contents

Winners

Year Winners Runners-up Third place
1959 Durban City (1) Rangers Johannesburg Durban United
1960 Highlands Park (1) Durban City Germiston Callies
1961 Durban City (2) Highlands Park Germiston Callies
1962 Highlands Park (2) Southern Suburbs Durban City
1963 Addington (1) Highlands Park Durban City
1964 Highlands Park (3) Durban City Durban United
1965 Highlands Park (4) Cape Town City Durban City
1966 Highlands Park (5) Port Elizabeth City Durban United
1967 Port Elizabeth City (1) Highlands Park Cape Town City
1968 Highlands Park (6) Durban United Powerlines
1969 Durban Spurs (2*) Powerlines Highlands Park
1970 Durban City (3) Cape Town City Maritzburg
1971 Hellenic (1) Cape Town City Durban City
1972 Durban City (4) Hellenic Berea Park
1973 Cape Town City (1) Highlands Park Hellenic
1974 Arcadia Shepherds (1) Cape Town City Maritzburg
1975 Highlands Park (7) Hellenic Maritzburg
1976 Cape Town City (2) Highlands Park Wits University
1977 Highlands Park (8) Lusitano Durban United

Source:[3]

Individual Honours

Year Player of the Year Footballer of the Year Foreign Player of the Year Top Scorer
1959 Rocco Smith (Benoni United) Les Salton (Durban City) 23
1960 Malcolm Rufus (Durban City) Les Salton (Durban City) 40
1961 Les Salton (Durban City) Les Salton (Durban City) 46
1962 George Barratt (Durban City) Peter McEwan (Germiston Callies) 42
1963 Ken Denysschen (Durban City) Bazil Johnson (Arcadia United) 43
1964 Bobby Chalmers (Durban City) Les Salton (Durban United) 42
1965 Malcolm Rufus (Highlands Park) Arne Bjørnstad (Boksburg) & Freddie Kalk (Highlands Park) 33
1966 Freddie Kalk (Highlands Park) Robin Lowe (Durban United) Willie McIntosh (Highlands Park) Walter da Silva (Highlands Park) 44
1967 Bob Davies (Rangers) Charlie Naude (Germiston Callies) Bryan Orritt (Southern Suburbs) Jim Scott (Durban City) 27
1968 Peter Hauser (Addington) Derek Smethurst (Durban City) Peter Rath (Powerlines) Stan Forster (Rangers) 32
1969 Richard Allen (Cape Town City) Frank Pereira (Powerlines) Gary France (Cape Town City) Walter da Silva (Powerlines) 21
1970 Archie Soekoe (Rangers) Bennie Booysen (Southern Suburbs) Tony Macedo (Durban City) Jim Scott (Durban City) 31
1971 George Eastham (Hellenic) Ronnie Mann (Durban City) Ben Anderson (Cape Town City) Jim Scott (Durban City/Durban United) 22
1972 Trevor Gething (Berea Park) Wilf de Bruyn (Hellenic) Johnny Haynes (Durban City) Wilf de Bruyn (Hellenic) 26
1973 Ian Bender (Durban Celtic) Hennie Joubert (Highlands Park) Peter Withe (Arcadia Shepherds)
1974 Steve Wegerle (Arcadia Shepherds) Steve Wegerle (Arcadia Shepherds) Dave Huson (Hellenic)
1975
1976
1977

List of Clubs

Club Location Seasons Name changes, mergers etc.
ADDINGTON Durban 1962-68= (=Durban Spurs)
ARCADIA SHEPHERDS Pretoria 1959-62; =69-77 Merged with ISCOR Pretoria (=Arcadia United=)
ARCADIA UNITED Pretoria 1963-68= Merger of Arcadia Shepherds and ISCOR Pretoria (=Arcadia Shepherds)
BENONI UNITED East Rand 1959-63 Merged with Brakpan United and Springs (Transvaal Lge.) (=East Rand United)
BEREA PARK Pretoria 1960-64; 70-76 Merged with Pretoria City
BLOEMFONTEIN CITY Bloemfontein 1963-66; 69-71
BOKSBURG East Rand 1960-67; 74
BRAKPAN UNITED East Rand 1959-63 Merged with Benoni United and Springs (Transvaal Lge.) (=East Rand United)
CAPE TOWN CITY Cape Town 1962-77
DURBAN CELTIC Durban 1972-74= (=Pinetown Celtic)
DURBAN CITY Durban 1959-77
DURBAN RAMBLERS Durban 1963
DURBAN SPURS Durban =1969 (Addington=) Merged with Durban United (=Durban Spurs United)
DURBAN SPURS UNITED Durban 1970= Merger of Durban Spurs and Durban United (=Durban United)
DURBAN UNITED Durban 1959-69; =71-77 Merged with Durban Spurs (=Durban Spurs United=)
EAST LONDON CELTIC East London 1969-70 Merged with East London City (Cape Eastern Lge.) (=East London United)
EAST LONDON UNITED East London 1971-77 Merger of East London Celtic and 2nd Division East London City (Cape Eastern Lge.)
EAST RAND UNITED East Rand 1964; 66 Merger of Benoni United, Brakpan United and Springs (Transvaal Lge.); played on in the NFL 2nd Division as East Rand United, then Benoni United
GERMISTON CALLIES East Rand 1959-77
GUILD APOLLO West Rand 1976= Merger of Jewish Guild and Johannesburg Corinthians (=Roodepoort Guild)
HELLENIC Cape Town 1964-77
HIGHLANDS PARK Johannesburg 1960-70; =73-77 Merged with Powerlines (=Highlands Power=)
HIGHLANDS POWER Johannesburg 1971-72= Merger of Highlands Park and Powerlines (=Highlands Park)
ISCOR PRETORIA Pretoria 1961-62 Merged with Arcadia Shepherds (=Arcadia United)
JEWISH GUILD West Rand 1971-75 Merged with Johannesburg Corinthians (=Guild Apollo)
JOHANNESBURG CITY Johannesburg =1960-61 (Northern United=) Played on in the Transvaal Lge. until 1964, then merging with Marist Brothers AFC
JOHANNESBURG CORINTHIANS Johannesburg 1967-69 Played on in the NFL 2nd Division until merging with Jewish Guild (=Guild Apollo)
JOHANNESBURG RAMBLERS Johannesburg 1960-62 Merged with Rangers Johannesburg
JOHANNESBURG WANDERERS Johannesburg 1962-65 Played on in the Transvaal Lge. as Johannesburg Wanderers, then Southern Albion
LUSITANO Johannesburg 1973-77
MARIST BROTHERS AFC Johannesburg 1960-65 Merged with Johannesburg City
MARITZBURG Pietermaritzburg 1968-77 Played in the Natal Lge. as Durban Municipals 1953-67
MARITZBURG CELTIC Pietermaritzburg 1959
NORTHERN UNITED Johannesburg 1959= (=Johannesburg City)
OLYMPIA East Rand 1965-67
PINETOWN CELTIC Durban =1975 (Durban Celtic=)
PORT ELIZABETH CITY Port Elizabeth 1964-73
POWERLINES East Rand 1968-70 Merged with Highlands Park (=Highlands Power)
PRETORIA CITY Pretoria 1959 Merged with Berea Park (Transvaal Lge.)
RANDFONTEIN West Rand 1959-61= (=West Rand United)
RANGERS JOHANNESBURG Johannesburg 1959-77 Merged with Johannesburg Ramblers
ROODEPOORT GUILD West Rand =1977 (Guild Apollo=)
SHAMROCKS Pietermaritzburg 1975-76
SOUTHERN PARK Johannesburg 1959-60= (=Southern Suburbs)
SOUTHERN SUBURBS Johannesburg =1961-72 (Southern Park=)
WEST RAND UNITED West Rand =1962-63 (Randfontein=) Played on in the Transvaal Lge. as West Rand United, then Florida
WESTVIEW APOLLON Port Elizabeth 1966-67
WITS UNIVERSITY Johannesburg 1976-77

See also

References

  1. ^ "South African football 1961". rsssf.com. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesz/zaf61.html. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 
  2. ^ "South African football 1963". rsssf.com. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesz/zaf63.html. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 
  3. ^ "South Africa League History". rsssf.com. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesz/zafchamp.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
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