Women's_soccer_in_South_Africa
Women's soccer began in South Africa during the 1960s and gained popularity in the 1990s, when the first national women's team was formed.[1][2]
| Women's soccer in South Africa | |
|---|---|
| Country | South Africa |
| Governing body | South African Football Association |
| National team(s) | Women's national team Women's U/17 team |
| Nickname(s) | Banyana Banyana (senior national team)
Basetsana (U/20) Bantwana (U/17) |
| Clubs | 160 |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
International competitions | |
South African women's soccer started in 1960 during the Apartheid era. Orlando Pirates Women's Football Club and Mother City Girls were among the first women's soccer clubs formed in 1962.[3]
Sanlam National Women's Football League was set up in the late 1990s with the goal of increasing the number of women in soccer administration and a second season was played in 2002.[4]
In 2009, a semi-professional women’s football league the Sasol Women's League was established with the aim of developing the women's game.[5]
In 2012, then Minister of Sports and recreation, Fikile Mbalula, called for the creation of a women's football league after the national women's football team, Banyana Banyana, returned from the 2012 Olympic Games defeated.[6]
2019-present:SAFA Women's National League
In August 2019, the inaugural SAFA Women's National League was launched.[7] The following teams formed part of the 12 team league. They consisted of the nine provincial winners that took part in the 2018 Sasol League National Championship and three teams invited to join the league.
| Team | Province |
| Thunderbirds Ladies | Eastern Cape |
| Bloemfontein Celtics Ladies | Free State |
| Tsunami Queens* | |
| Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies* | Gauteng |
| TUT Ladies | |
| UJ Ladies* | |
| Durban Ladies | Kwa-Zulu Natal |
| First Touch | Limpopo |
| Coal City Wizards | Mpumalanga |
| Richmond United | Northern Cape |
| Golden Ladies | North West |
| UWC Ladies | Western Cape |
*invited teams
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies won the inaugural season undefeated with 21 wins and 1 draw.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies (C) | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 83 | 13 | +70 | 64 | Champions League |
| 2 | TUT Ladies | 22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 83 | 26 | +57 | 55 | |
| 3 | Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 55 | 25 | +30 | 44 | |
| 4 | First Touch | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 54 | 44 | +10 | 36 | |
| 5 | Coal City Wizards | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 32 | |
| 6 | UWC Ladies | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 46 | 27 | +19 | 30 | |
| 7 | Durban Ladies | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 32 | 52 | −20 | 26 | |
| 8 | UJ Ladies | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 35 | 57 | −22 | 26 | |
| 9 | Golden Ladies | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 25 | 45 | −20 | 17 | |
| 10 | Thunderbirds Ladies | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 29 | 63 | −34 | 16 | |
| 11 | Richmond United | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 24 | 69 | −45 | 14 | |
| 12 | Tsunami Queens | 22 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 21 | 66 | −45 | 10 |
(C) Champion
A copy of the match results of the inaugural season.[8]
| Home \ Away | BCL | CCW | DBN | FT | GDL | MSD | RMU | TBL | TUT | TQ | UJ | UWC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloemfontein Celtics Ladies | 5–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 6–1 | 0–0 | |
| Coal City Wizards | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | |
| Durban Ladies | 0–6 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 1–6 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–5 | |
| First Touch | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 6–1 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 2–1 | |
| Golden Ladies | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 1–8 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | |
| Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 11–1 | 3–1 | 7–0 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 8–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | |
| Richmond United | 2–5 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–8 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–8 | |
| Thunderbirds Ladies | 0–4 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–6 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | |
| TUT Ladies | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 7–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | |
| Tsunami Queens | 0–3 | 0–5 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 1–6 | 3–3 | 0–5 | |
| UJ Ladies | 3–4 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–10 | 2–1 | 0–2 | |
| UWC Ladies | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 6–1 |
SAFA announced its provincial members would be setting up girls youth leagues around the country in order to improve girls soccer in the country as the youth national teams were struggling. By 2024, Basetsana had not qualified for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and Bantwana had last qualified in 2018. The U/15 Girls Inter-LFA League was launched in 2023 in the Limpopo province.[9] In the Gauteng province, the Gauteng Women's Development League was launched with the inaugural season being an U/15 league only. In 2024, the league had switched to two divisions for U/16 and U/14 girls.[10]
South Africa women's national football team, nicknamed "Banyana Banyana" has been participating in international soccer since 1993, when they beat Swaziland 14–0 on 30 May of that year. This is their biggest win to date.[11]
South Africa women's national under-20 team, is nicknamed "Basetsana".
South Africa women's national under-17 soccer team, nicknamed "Bantwana".
The teams are controlled by the South African Football Association.
They have been competing in the CAF Women's Championship since 1995. They qualified for the Olympic Games for the first time at the 2012 Olympic Games.[12] Banyana Banyana won their first Women's Africa Cup of Nations, where they defeated hosts Morocco 2-1 in the final.[13][14]
Banyana Banyana made their FIFA Women's World Cup debut in 2019. At the 2023 edition, they became the first South African team to qualify for the knockout stages at a world cup by reaching the round of 16.[15]
Bantwana made their FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup debut in 2010. Bantwana made their second appearance at the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. They have not made it past the group stages on the tournament.
Bantwana hold the African record for most goals in an international match. They scored 28 goals (won 28-0) against Seychelles in the opening match of group B at the 2019 COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship.[16]
- "Competition and Player Development : A comparison between South America and Germany" (PDF). Cies.ch. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak. "Women and gender in South African soccer: a brief history" (PDF). History.msu.edu. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- "Football in South Africa Timeline 1862–2012". www.sahistory.org. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
- "Women's soccer gets fired up". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- "About Sasol League". Sasol In Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- "SA needs professional women's soccer league – Mbalula". www.citypress.co.za. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
- "Safa launches Women's National League | Goal.com South Africa". www.goal.com. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- Inqaku. "League - SAFA Women's National League Group 1A | Inqaku". inqaku.com. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- Munyai, Ofhani (21 November 2023). "SAFA opens doors for young talent with U/15 Girls Inter-LFA League". FARPost. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- Pongco, Siya (13 February 2024). "SuperSport Schools Plus | Gauteng Women's football entering a new phase of success". SuperSport Schools Plus. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- "Senior National Women's Team". South African Football Association. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- "Banyana qualify for London Olympics". mg.co.za. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
- "South Africa beat Morocco to win first Wafcon title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
- Howorth, Alasdair; CNN, for (27 July 2023). "Banyana Banyana: How South Africa emerged from apartheid to shine on the world stage". CNN.
{{cite web}}:|last2=has generic name (help) - "South Africa to face Netherlands in Round of 16". CAF. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- "South Africa U-17 women thrash Seychelles 28-0". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 April 2024.