1978 NPSL First Division

National Professional Soccer League
Season	1978
Champions	Lusitano
Top goalscorer	Thomas ‘Junior’ Ngobe, 40 goals (Witbank Aces)
	← 1977 NPSL ; 1977 NFL 1979 →

Last updated November 28, 2024

The 1978 National Professional Soccer League was the first season of the newly-formed multi-racial South African National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). The league was a merger of the previous NPSL, which due to the country's apartheid policies were for black teams only, and the National Football League, for white teams only. It was won by Lusitano.^[1]^[2]

The third professional league, the Federation Professional League, for Indian and coloured South Africans, continued to function independently.

Lusitano's 13-0 victory over Mangaung United is the largest margin of victory in a top-flight league game in South Africa.^[3]

The top scorer was Witbank Ace's Thomas ‘Junior’ Ngobe, with 40 goals.^[4]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Lusitano	34	29	1	4	119	26	+93	59
2	Wits University	34	26	2	6	80	21	+59	54
3	Arcadia Shepherds	34	22	9	3	89	22	+67	53
4	Kaizer Chiefs	34	21	10	3	63	18	+45	52
5	Highlands Park	34	24	4	6	87	29	+58	52
6	Witbank Black Aces	34	23	6	5	88	41	+47	52
7	Pretoria Callies	34	19	11	4	49	27	+22	49
8	Benoni United	34	23	3	8	72	41	+31	49
9	Moroka Swallows	34	17	8	9	65	44	+21	42
10	Orlando Pirates	34	13	13	8	42	28	+14	39
11	Imperial Callies	34	13	10	11	48	43	+5	36
12	Vaal Professionals	34	9	12	13	46	53	−7	30
13	Colchester United	34	11	8	15	49	61	−12	30
14	Leicester City	34	10	8	16	37	52	−15	28
15	Bloemfontein Celtic	34	10	8	16	53	80	−27	28
16	AmaZulu	34	11	5	18	42	51	−9	27
17	Welkom Real Hearts	34	8	8	18	34	43	−9	24
18	Pilkington United Bros	34	8	7	19	40	63	−23	23
19	Moroka Lions	34	9	3	22	50	79	−29	21
20	African Wanderers	34	6	8	20	31	73	−42	20
21	Sobantu Manchester United	34	5	9	20	31	69	−38	19
22	Lamontville Golden Arrows	34	5	5	24	25	75	−50	15
23	Bush Bucks	34	4	6	24	26	83	−57	14
24	Mangaung United	34	2	5	27	17	124	−107	9

Source: https://www.rsssf.org/tablesz/zaf78.html

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References

↑ "HISTORY". Benoni United FC. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
↑ "South Africa 1978". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
↑ "Pirates close to matching PSL winning-margin record". SuperSport. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
↑ Goldswain, Zita (20 November 2022). "Local legend soccer player honoured". Witbank News. Retrieved 27 November 2024.

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[1] "HISTORY". Benoni United FC. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

[2] "South Africa 1978". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

[3] "Pirates close to matching PSL winning-margin record". SuperSport. Retrieved 21 November 2024.

[4] Goldswain, Zita (20 November 2022). "Local legend soccer player honoured". Witbank News. Retrieved 27 November 2024.

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v t e Seasons in South African soccer
Premiership teams (2024–25)	AmaZulu Cape Town City Chippa United Golden Arrows Kaizer Chiefs Magesi Marumo Gallants Mamelodi Sundowns Pirates Polokwane City Richards Bay Royal AM Sekhukhune United Stellenbosch SuperSport United TS Galaxy
First Division teams (2024–25)	Baroka Black Leopards Cape Town Spurs Casric Stars Durban City Highbury Hungry Lions JDR Stars Kruger United Leruma United Milford Orbit College Pretoria Callies University of Pretoria Upington City Venda
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Nedbank Cup	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
MTN 8	1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
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Federation Professional League	1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
NPSL (1971-1977)	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NPSL (1978-1984)	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
NPSL (1985-1995)	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1984 1992 1983 1994 1995
National Soccer League (NSL)	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
SASF Cup	1961 1962 1963 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
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