The Sasol Women's League is the second-tier South African women's association football league, sponsored by Sasol since 2013.[1] It is semi-professional,[2] and operates as a provincial league, with two "streams" of 8-10 teams in each of South Africa's nine provinces (in some cases, multiple streams per province), and each province's champion then competing in a single-location National Championship tournament.[3]

Sasol Women's League
Organising bodySAFA
Sasol
Founded18 September 2009
Country South Africa
Divisions18
Number of teams144
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toSAFA Women's League
Relegation toSAFA Women's Regional League
Current championsEzemvelo
(2024)
Most championshipsPalace Super Falcons (3 titles)
TV partnersSABC
Websitehttps://sasolinsport.co.za/sasol-league/
Current: 2024 Sasol Women's League

The championship's two finalists are then promoted to the (professional, first-tier) SAFA Women's League, while the bottom two teams in each province's standings are relegated to the SAFA Women's Regional League of their respective province.[4]

History

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The Sasol Women's League was originally launched in 2009 as the Absa Women's League, in partnership with Absa Bank,[5][6] in order to improve the South African women's national team's international performances.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

At the inaugural national championship. Detroit Ladies from Mpumalanga defeated Palace Super Falcons from Gauteng via penalties after the match ended in a 3-3 draw.

At the 2010 Absa League National Championship, Palace Super Falcons from Gauteng defeated Detroit Ladies from Mpumalanga 4-2 via penalties after the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

At the 2011 Absa League National Championship, Palace Super Falcons from Gauteng defeated Brazilian Ladies from Limpopo 6-0 in the final.

At the 2012 Absa League National Championship, Palace Super Falcons from Gauteng defeated Cape Town Roses from the Western Cape 5-2 in the final.

At the 2013 Sasol League National Championship, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies from Gauteng defeated Ma-Indies Ladies from Limpopo 2-0 in the final.[14]

At the 2014 Sasol League National Championship, Cape Town Roses from the Western Cape defeated Palace Super Falcons from Gauteng 2-1 in the final.[15]

At the 2015 Sasol League National Championship, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies from Gauteng defeated Cape Town Roses from the Western Cape 5-0 in the final.[16]

At the 2016 Sasol League National Championship, Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies from the Free State defeated JVW from Gauteng 1-0 in the final.[17]

At the 2017 Sasol League National Championship, Bloemfontein Celtic Ladies from the Free State defeated Cape Town Roses from the Western Cape 2-0 in the final.[18]

At the 2018 Sasol League National Championship, Tshwane University of Technology from Gauteng defeated Durban Ladies from KwaZulu-Natal 4-0 in the final.[19]

At the 2019 Sasol League National Championship, JVW from Gauteng defeated Ma-Indies Ladies from Limpopo 2-0 in the final.[20]

At the 2021 Sasol League National Championship, Vasco da Gama from the Western Cape defeated City Lads from the Eastern Cape 4-3 in the final.[21]

At the 2022 Sasol League National Championship, Copperbelt Ladies from Limpopo defeated the University of Pretoria from Gauteng 3-2 via penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw.[22]

At the 2023 Sasol League National Championship, the University of Fort Hare from the Eastern Cape defeated Lindelani Ladies from KwaZulu-Natal 4-3 via penalties after the match ended in a goalless draw.[23]

At the 2024 Sasol League National Championship, Ezemvelo from KwaZulu-Natal defeated the University of Cape Town from the Western Cape 2-0 in the final.[24]

Annual Champions

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As recorded by the league sponsor,[25] since its founding 11 different teams from 7 provinces have won the Sasol Women's League:

Season Winner Province
2009 Detroit Ladies Mpumalanga
2010 Palace Super Falcons Gauteng
2011
2012
2013 Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies
2014 Cape Town Roses Western Cape
2015 Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies Gauteng
2016 Bloemfontein Celtics Ladies Free State
2017
2018 Tshwane University of Technology Gauteng
2019 JVW
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19

pandemic in South Africa

2021 Vasco da Gama Western Cape
2022 Copperbelt Ladies Limpopo
2023 University of Fort Hare Eastern Cape
2024 Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal

Performance by province

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Province Winners Runners-up Winner Runners-up
Gauteng 7 4
Western Cape 2 4
Free State 2 0
Limpopo 1 3
KwaZulu-Natal 1 2
Eastern Cape 1 1
Mpumalanga 1 1
  • Detroit Ladies
  • Detroit Ladies


References

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  1. ^ "SAFA Sasol Women's League - SAFA.net". South African Football Association. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. ^ "ABOUT THE SASOL LEAGUE". Sasol in Sport. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Sasol and SAFA launch the 2023 Sasol League National Championship". South African Football Association. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Sasol League Regulations" (PDF). South African Football Association. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Absa Women's League launched". SuperSport official website. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Women's football league kicks off - Brand South Africa". Brandsouthafrica.com. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Absa launch Women's League". Kickoff.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Competition and Player Development : A comparison between South America and Germany" (PDF). Cies.ch. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  9. ^ Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak. "Women and gender in South African soccer: a brief history" (PDF). History.msu.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  10. ^ Shehu, Jimoh (18 November 2017). Gender, Sport and Development in Africa: Cross-cultural Perspectives on Patterns of Representations and Marginalization. African Books Collective. ISBN 9782869783065. Retrieved 18 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Cornelissen, Scarlett; Grundlingh, Albert (13 September 2013). Sport Past and Present in South Africa: (Trans)forming the Nation. Routledge. ISBN 9781317988588. Retrieved 18 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ Alegi, Peter (14 February 2010). African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game. Ohio University Press. ISBN 9780896804722. Retrieved 18 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ "Safa planning to launch a national women's league". Goal.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  14. ^ DailyNews, Taung (1 December 2013). "Sundowns wins Sasol League Championship title". TaungDailyNews. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  15. ^ Content, Print (18 December 2014). "Cape Town Roses crowned 2014 Sasol League National champions". Southern Courier. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  16. ^ Phiri, Eric (15 December 2015). "Mamelodi Sundowns ladies crowned 2015 Sasol league National championship winners". STOKVEL TALK. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Bloemfontein Celtic crowned 2016 Sasol League National Champs - SAFA.net". 11 December 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Celtic defend their Sasol League National Championship title - SAFA.net". 9 December 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  19. ^ AltronDev (10 December 2018). "Debutants TUT Ladies crowned 2018 Sasol League National Champions". Sasol In Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  20. ^ Ndumela, Mntungwa (8 December 2019). "JVW Crowned 2019 Sasol League National Champions". Sasol In Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  21. ^ "Vasco Da Gama crowned 2021 Sasol League National Champions - SAFA.net". 13 February 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  22. ^ Kganakga, Tlamelo (24 October 2022). "Copperbelt Ladies Crowned Sasol League National Champs Winners". gsport4girls. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  23. ^ "University of Fort Hare crowned 2023 Sasol League National Champions - SAFA.net". 22 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Ezemvelo WFC crowned 2024 Sasol League National Champions - SAFA.net". 20 October 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  25. ^ "About the Sasol League". Sasol in Sport. Retrieved 11 October 2023.