PSL confirms new season dates

Does the MTN 8 usually start before the league?

In the 25 PSL seasons where the Top8 has been in action, the tournament has now started before the league 17 times, and just 8 times after the league kicks off. So, it means 2025/26 is sticking to the norm. What may be unusual is the narrow gap between the two competitions. The only slimmer turnaround came in the 2008/09 campaign, when just five days separated the first MTN 8 fixture from the league’s opening whistle. By contrast, last season featured a record 42-day gap, as the PSL wrapped up sponsorship of the league, which only kicked off in mid-September.

How early Is the 1st of August for a start?

For the fourth season in a row, the PSL season will start in the first week of August. However, the 1st of August is the earliest start date in over 10 years. In 2014, Gavin Hunt guided Bidvest Wits past Bloemfontein Celtic in the MTN8 quarter-final on the 1st of August. Back in the 18-team PSL era, teams began official matches in July with League Cup preliminary rounds, as the 18 teams had to be cut down to 16 for the Round of 16 stage of the tournament. There were two seasons where the league kicked off in July.

No PSL season in the 16-team era has ever begun competitive football earlier than the 1st of August.

What is the latest ever start to a PSL season?

On the other hand, one may wonder when the latest start to a PSL season was. COVID disruption in 2019/20 pushed the next campaign back dramatically. The 2020/21 MTN 8 quarter-finals only kicked off on 17 October, with the league following a week later. Those remain the latest competitive starts in PSL records. Two other recent seasons crept toward late August: 2010/11 and 2016/17, but neither went into the last week. Compared to those anomalies, early August feels timely.

Off-season downtime:

Because the 2024/25 league ended on 29 May with the completion SuperSport United v Golden Arrows fixture, this year’s off-season spans 64 days. The longest lay-off in days between seasons was 174 days, which came in 2010 when South Africa paused domestic football to stage the FIFA World Cup. The average turnaround time in seasons post-COVID has been 67 days, so there’s some continuity there.

By starting relatively early, the PSL eases mid-season pressure, especially useful in an AFCON year when international windows compress the diary.

MTN8 Quarter-final fixtures:

• Sundowns v Richards Bay
• Orlando Pirates v Polokwane City
• Stellenbosch v AmaZulu
• Sekhukhune v TS Galaxy