Latest Possible PSL Launch Date: Is This Indeed the Commencement of the New PSL Season?
Kickoff Chronicles: A Deep Dive into South Africa's Football Calendar
Football Fans' Excitement Hits High Gear with Announced 2024 MTN Fixtures
As the 2024 MTN fixtures are finally unveiled, football enthusiasts across South Africa are buzzing with anticipation. Historically, the PSL (Premier Soccer League) usually releases fixtures towards the latter half of July. Intriguingly, the dates for the league fixtures are yet to be set in stone, while the MTN8 competition schedule is all but confirmed.
Top 8 Kicking Off Before The League: A Trend, Not an Anomaly
The 2024 season will mark the 17th instance where the MTN8 tournament, the initial knockout trophy of the PSL season, kicks off before the league. Going back to 1996, the Top 8 has started before the league 16 times, and after the league on eight occasions. As for the length between the two competitions' kickoffs this year, it's a bit unusual, but if the final also falls before the league begins, it would be the first time the Top 8 tournament is completed before league action resumes.
Is This the Earliest Season Start in PSL History?
The domestic season has only started ahead of the scheduled August 3, 2024, date one time before – in 2014. The 2014 MTN8 quarter-finals were played on the August 1st, with Gavin Hunt leading Wit's (now Stellenbosch FC). Intriguingly, Hunt will be the coach of SuperSport United when they clash against Pirates on August 3, 2024. Going further back, you'll find that the earliest season start was in July 2000.
Latest Season Start: 2020-21 Season Dominates
Conversely, the 2020-21 season bears the record for the latest season start, with the Top 8 tournament playing out in October 2020 (delayed due to COVID-19). Two seasons ago (2018-19) saw an early August start, while only one other season (2016-17) had the Top 8 kick off in late August.
The Longest Gap Between Seasons: Post-World Cup Recovery
The forthcoming season will see a nearly 4-month gap between the final league game of the previous season and the first league game of the new season – a gap unheard of under normal circumstances. However, it still pales in comparison to the longest gap on record. After South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup, the league ended as early as March, giving the nation ample time to prepare for the global soccer event. Since then, only five seasons have seen a gap of over 100 days between the end of one season and the start of the next.
The shortest gap between seasons, on the other hand, was 47 days when the inaugural PSL season ended, and the 1997-98 season commenced. This season-to-season turnaround was shorter than the one witnessed during the COVID-19-disrupted 2019-20 season and the 2020-21 season.
Sources- PSL Meets FIBA to Discuss Calendar Sharing- PSL Takes A New Approach to Improve Player Development- PSL Table After Matchday 24: Standings, Results, and Fixtures
Football enthusiasts across South Africa are eagerly awaiting the commencement of the 2024 sports season, with the MTN8 competition set to begin before the Premier Soccer League's fixtures. This trend of the MTN8 tournament starting before the league has been consistent since 1996, with only eight instances where it has started after the league.
