1998–99 Premier Soccer League

Premier Soccer League
Season 1998-99
Champions Mamelodi Sundowns
2nd PSL title
5th South African title
Relegated Vaal Professionals
Dynamos
CAF Champions League Mamelodi Sundowns
African Cup Winners' Cup SuperSport United
CAF Cup Kaizer Chiefs
Matches played 306
Goals scored 782 (2.56 per match)
Top goalscorer Pollen Ndlanya
Kaizer Chiefs
(21 goals)[1]
Biggest home win Mamelodi Sundowns 7-1 Santos
Mamelodi Sundowns 7-1 Vaal Professionals
(3 February 1999)
Biggest away win Mamelodi Sundowns 0-4 SuperSport United
Dynamos 0-4 Qwa Qwa Stars
Hellenic 0-4 Cape Town Spurs
Moroka Swallows 0-4 SuperSport United
Highest scoring Manning Rangers 5-4 Vaal Professionals
Cape Town Spurs 4-5 Kaizer Chiefs
(9 goals)
1997-98
1999-00

The 1998–99 Premier Soccer League, known as the 1998-99 Castle Premiership for sponsorship purposes, was the third season of the Premier Soccer League since its establishment in 1996. The season began on 31 July 1998 and ended on 9 June 1999. Mamelodi Sundowns became the first team in PSL history to defend their title as they won their second straight PSL title and their fifth South African title after previously winning the PSL's predecessor - the National Soccer League - on three occasions (1988, 1990 and 1993). In a hotly contested title race between Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs it came down to goal difference to separate the two as both finished on a joint record 75 points. A margin of +5 in goal difference was all that separated the two teams as Sundowns won their second in what would be a hat-trick of PSL titles.

As before, the league was contested by 18 teams, sixteen returning from the 1997-98 season and two newly promoted clubs; Dynamos and Seven Stars. 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).

Season summary

In what would become the most thrilling title race in PSL history, Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs - finishing as runners-up for the third successive season - were in a class of their own as they finished 15 points ahead of third place and in the process scored 10 more league goals than the next best team.

Both clubs ended the season with a record 75 points but the Brazilians lifted the trophy thanks to a superior goal difference (+44 versus Chiefs’ +39) after a gripping finale to the season that saw them at a level pegging for the last four rounds of league games.

A 5-1 win on the last day of the season over Dynamos wasn’t enough for the Amakhosi, as Sundowns’ 2-0 win over Cape Town Spurs put them top of the pile and handed them a second successive title.

Orlando Pirates again finished third, 15 points off the pace of the top two. Manning Rangers came in fourth, level on points with the Buccaneers for the second season in a row, while newly promoted Seven Stars had a fairlytale run into fifth place. Qwa Qwa Stars came in sixth with Bloemfontein Celtic and SuperSport United rounding out the top-eight in seventh and eighth places respectively.

Soweto giants Moroka Swallows continued to disappoint as they endured a terrible season, ending 15th on the log, while Santos finished just above the relegation zone once again, albeit a lot more comfortably than they did a year ago.

The unfortunate duo to get the chop were newly promoted Dynamos and Vaal Professionals. Dynamos finished six points away from Santos and safety while Vaal Professionals endured a miserable season, amassing a dismal 21 points. Both relegated teams set unwanted records during the season as the impotent Dynamos bagged a record low 20 goals while the Vaal Professionals' porous defence shipped a record high 74 goals. Sadly, much like Real Rovers - who had been relegated the year before - relegation would prove disastrous for Vaal Professionals as they would not return to the PSL and would cease to exist entirely by the end of the decade.

Final table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Notes, Qualifications & Relegations
1Mamelodi Sundowns (C) 3423657026+44752000 CAF Champions League First Round1
2Kaizer Chiefs 3423657334+39752000 CAF Cup First Round1
3Orlando Pirates 3417985528+2760
4Manning Rangers 3417986038+2260
5Seven Stars 34157124041-152
6Qwa Qwa Stars 341311104339+450
7Bloemfontein Celtic 34138133334-147
8SuperSport United 341113104538+7462000 African Cup Winners' Cup First Round1
9Bush Bucks 34135164857-944
10Jomo Cosmos 341110133739-243
11Wits University 34913123139-840
12Hellenic 34816103243-1140
13Cape Town Spurs 34912135250+239
14AmaZulu 34109154053-1339
15Moroka Swallows 34910152944-1537
16Santos 34714133654-1835
17Dynamos (R) 3478192051-3129Relegated to the National First Division
18Vaal Professionals (R) 3456233874-3621

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
(C) = Champions; (R) = Relegated

1 Due to the PSL following a different football calendar to the rest of Africa, which runs over a single calendar year and not the international August–May calendar followed by the PSL, Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs & SuperSport United were only eligible to enter the 2000 editions of the respective CAF competitions they qualified for.

External links

References

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