Wikipedia - SAFA Second Division

The SAFA Second Division (known as the ABC Motsepe League for sponsorship reasons, and previously the Vodacom League between 1998 and 2012, was founded in 1998 as the overall third tier of South African football. The competition is regulated by SAFA, and until 2012 had been sponsored by mobile telecommunications company Vodacom.

It features 144 teams in total, divided into 9 divisions, borders decided by the 9 geo-political provinces of South Africa: Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu Natal, Northern Cape, Western Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West. Each provincial division contains 16 teams. The winner of each provincial division qualifies for the annual promotional playoffs, where the winners of two streams are promoted to the National First Division. In each province, the two lowest-ranked teams by the end of the season, are relegated to the fourth tier U21 SAB Regional League, which in return will promote two playoff winners from the Regional Championships.

All clubs in South Africa also are allowed to compete with youth teams (U19/U21) and/or a reserve team in a lower SAFA league. If a club opt to field such teams, the U19 teams will start out at the fifth level in the U19 National League, while U21 teams or reserve teams will start out at the fourth level in the U21 SAB Regional League. If any U19 team win promotion for U21 SAB Regional League or SAFA Second Division, this promotion is fully accepted. No club are entitled to field two teams at the same level, and rule 4.6.4 of the SAFA regulations states that if the mother club play in the National First Division or Premier Soccer League, then the highest level these additional Youth/Reserve teams are allowed to compete will be the SAFA Second Division. In such cases, where a non-promotable team manage to win their regional division, the ticket for the promotional playoffs will instead be handed over to the second-best team in the division.

In March 2014, the Motsepe Foundation signed a five-year deal for the naming rights of the competition worth 40 million ZAR. Patrice Motsepe named the competition in honour of his late father, Augustine Butana Chaane Motsepe. The sponsorship was renewed for five years in 2018.

南非国家乙级联赛(South African National First Division)是南非足球联赛系统中的第二级别联赛,仅次于南非超级联赛。该联赛的前身是南非足球联赛,成立于1972年,2005年改名为现在的名称。该联赛的冠军可以直接升入南非超级联赛,而联赛亚军和季军则需要参加升级附加赛来确定最后一个升级名额。

南非国家乙级联赛的参赛球队数量在不同赛季有所变化,但通常在16支至20支之间。球队主要来自南非全国各地,其中一些球队拥有多年的历史和传统,而一些则相对较新。联赛的赛制也较为复杂,采用主客场双循环赛制,每支球队需要与其他球队比赛两次。赛季结束后,排名前两位的球队将直接升入南非超级联赛,排名第三到第五名的球队将进行升级附加赛,争夺最后一个升级名额。

南非国家乙级联赛是南非足球发展水平最高的二级联赛之一,拥有着较为成熟的足球文化和球迷基础。许多南非国家乙级联赛的球队都在南非超级联赛中表现出色,并赢得了多个南非足球顶级赛事的冠军。此外,南非国家乙级联赛还是一些知名球星的发源地,如现任国际米兰主教练孔蒂和曼联名宿韦斯·布朗等。