2019–20 National First Division

The 2019–20 National First Division (called the GladAfrica Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the season from August 2019 to May 2020 of South Africa's second tier of professional soccer, the National First Division.

National First Division
Season2019–20
ChampionsMoroka Swallows
PromotedMoroka Swallows
RelegatedTS Sporting
Royal Eagles
Matches played240
Goals scored555 (2.31 per match)

For this season, the National First Division received new sponsorship from GladAfrica, with prize money being substantially increased to R3 million for the winners, R1.5 million for the runners up and R1 million for the third-placed team.[1]

Teams

Stadium and Locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Ajax Cape Town Cape Town (Green Point) Cape Town Stadium55,000
Cape Umoya United Cape Town (Cape Flats) Athlone Stadium34,000
Free State Stars Bethlehem Goble Park 20,000
JDR Stars Pretoria (Soshanguve) Giant Stadium 18,000
Jomo Cosmos Potchefstroom Olën Park 22,000
Mbombela United Mbombela KaNyamazane Stadium 15,000
Moroka Swallows Johannesburg (Soweto) Dobsonville Stadium 24,000
Real Kings Durban (Clermont) Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium 6,500
Richards Bay Richards Bay Richards Bay Stadium 8,000
Royal Eagles Pietermaritzburg Harry Gwala Stadium 12,000
Steenberg United Cape Town (Cape Flats) Athlone Stadium 34,000
TS Galaxy Kameelrivier Kameelrivier Stadium 11,000
TS Sporting Kabokweni Kabokweni Stadium 8,000
Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila Thohoyandou Thohoyandou Stadium 40,000
University of Pretoria Pretoria Tuks Stadium 8,000
Uthongathi Durban (KwaMashu) Princess Magogo Stadium 12,000

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Moroka Swallows[lower-alpha 1] (C, P) 30 17 6 7 41 27 +14 57 Promotion to 2020–21 South African Premier Division
2 Ajax Cape Town 30 18 3 9 50 37 +13 57 Qualification to Promotion play-offs
3 Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila 30 14 6 10 36 31 +5 48
4 Real Kings 30 12 11 7 42 31 +11 47
5 Free State Stars 30 11 12 7 41 32 +9 45
6 Uthongathi 30 10 14 6 32 26 +6 44
7 JDR Stars 30 11 10 9 46 40 +6 43
8 Steenberg United 30 9 12 9 35 36 −1 39
9 University of Pretoria 30 9 11 10 37 39 −2 38
10 TS Galaxy 30 8 12 10 29 31 −2 36
11 Cape Umoya United 30 9 8 13 33 36 −3 35
12 Richards Bay 30 9 8 13 28 39 −11 35
13 Jomo Cosmos 30 8 9 13 23 35 −12 33
14 TS Sporting (R) 30 6 14 10 26 34 −8 32
15 Royal Eagles (R) 30 4 9 17 29 51 −22 21 Relegation to 2020–21 SAFA Second Division
16 Mbombela United 30 8 9 13 27 30 −3 9[lower-alpha 2]
Updated to match(es) played on 27 August 2020. Source: https://za.soccerway.com/national/south-africa/1st-division/20192020/regular-season/r52940/
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored;
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Prior to the start of the season, Moroka Swallows purchased the league licence from Maccabi.[2]
  2. Mbombela United were deducted 1 point after they failed to field at least two under-23 players against Jomo Cosmos on 10 November 2019[3] They were further docked 23 points, and relegated to the SAFA Second Division after fielding Sabelo Ndzinisa, who had initially signed for Sporting, in 23 games.[4]

Play-offs

Black Leopards defeated Ajax Cape Town 2-0 to retain their place in PSL.[5]

Season statistics

Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals[6]
1 South Africa Keoikantse Mosiatlhaga Ajax Cape Town 17
2 South Africa Moeketsi Makhanya JDR Stars 12
3 South Africa Ruzaigh Gamildien Steenberg United 11
Ghana Daniel Gozar Free State Stars
Zambia Collins Mbesuma University of Pretoria
South Africa Menzi Ndwandwe Uthongathi
7 South Africa Kamohelo Mahlatsi University of Pretoria 10
South Africa Kagiso Malinga Moroka Swallows
8 South Africa Decide Chauke TS Sporting 9
South Africa Thembisani Nevhulamba Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
South Africa Keoikantse Mosiatlhaga Ajax Cape Town TS Sporting 3-2 (A)[7] 26 October 2019
South Africa Thembisani Nevhulamba Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila Royal Eagles 3-1 (A)[8] 2 November 2019
South Africa Moeketsi Makhanya JDR Stars Jomo Cosmos 5-1 (H)[9] 23 November 2019
Ghana Daniel Gozar Free State Stars Uthongathi 3-1 (H)[10] 11 January 2020
Notes

(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Player
  • Most red cards: 2[11]
    • Ghana Daniel Gozar (Free State Stars)

See also

References
  1. "New sponsor for NFD, now GladAfrica Championship". KickOff. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  2. "Moroka Swallows buy their way back into First Division football". Sport. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  3. "PSL deducts one point from Mbombela United". Thami Soccer. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  4. "Mbombela United relegated to ABC Motsepe League". SowetanLIVE. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  5. "Promotion/relegation play-off match report Ajax Cape Town v Black Leopards". Kick Off. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  6. "1st Division". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  7. "TS Sporting vs Ajax Cape Town 2-3". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  8. "Royal Eagles vs Tshakhuma Madzivhadila". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  9. "JDR Stars vs Jomo Cosmos 5-1". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  10. "Free State Stars vs Uthongathi 3-1". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  11. "1st Division Disciplinary". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
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