The Winter League got underway with an eventful opening round across all three divisions.

In Division 1, newly crowned double champions Global United suffered a 2-0 defeat to Highlands Park B in a repeat of the Cup Final from two weeks ago. This time, however, it was Highlands Park B who came out on top.

Elsewhere in the division, Olympia and Old Parks shared the points in a 1-1 draw, while Sundowners made a strong start with a 3-1 win over Barcelona.

In Division 2, Leeds opened their campaign with a 3-0 default victory over Flying Eagles. Lenasia also began with a win, beating Florida 4-2, while Rietvlei matched Leeds’ scoreline with a 3-0 victory over Amigos FC.

The strangest story of the round came from Division 3, where all three matches finished with the exact same scoreline: 4-3. Old Parks 2, Randburg 2 and Rush FC all edged thrilling seven-goal contests to start their Winter League campaigns with narrow wins.

Leeds, initially placed in Division 1, will swap places with Old Parks, currently in Division 2.

Updated calendars will be published soon.

After a long Summer League campaign, the season came to an end with two exciting cup finals.

In Division 1, Global United confirmed their dominance with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Highlands Park B. It was their fourth cup triumph, and third in a row, completing a season double after also winning the league.

In Division 2, Leeds beat Old Parks to lift the cup for the second successive year.

Some pictures from the night:

The cup finals will take place at Panorama on the 17th of June.

Global United will face Highlands Park B in the Division 1 Cup final, while Leeds will take on Old Parks in the Division 2 Cup final.

The Winter League will also kick off during the same week, but only in Division 1, with Joburg City hosting Barcelona. The other two fixtures scheduled for the same date, Global United vs Sundowners and Highlands Park B vs Leeds, have been postponed due to the teams’ involvement in the cup finals.

This is because Division 1 has seven teams and will be played over 14 rounds, while Divisions 2 and 3 each have six teams and will be played over 10 rounds.

Division 1 will have one catch-up week on 5 August, with an additional date available at the end of the calendar if needed to decide the league winner.

Division 2 will have catch-up weeks on 15 July, 19 August and 23 September.

The Summer League is scheduled to start in early October.

The current calendars are available here:

In Division 1, Global United beat Olympia 3-0 to reach the cup final once again, while Highlands Park B defeated Joburg City 5-3 in a high-scoring semifinal.

In Division 2, Leeds and Old Parks will meet again after dominating the summer division. Both teams won away from home: Leeds claimed a 6-0 victory at Panorama, while Old Parks won the derby 2-1 against Old Parks 2.

The semifinal fixtures have been confirmed.

Division 1

Global United vs Olympia 1
Global United will play at home.

Highlands Park B vs Joburg City
Highlands Park B will play at home.

Division 2

Panorama vs Leeds
Panorama will play at home.

Old Parks 2 vs Old Parks 1
Old Parks 2 will play at home.

Should any match be level at the end of normal time, it will go straight to a penalty shootout.

All group-stage decisions have now been made. Following last night’s results, the semifinal line-ups are confirmed.

In Division 1, Global United secured top spot in Group A after beating Rietvlei 5-1. Highlands Park B finished top of Group B with a convincing 4-0 victory over Joburg City, while Olympia 1 had already secured qualification from Group C.

The final qualifying place went to Joburg City, who finished level with Rietvlei on nine points but progressed thanks to a superior goal difference.

In Division 2, Old Parks 2 defeated Leeds, who had already qualified, to finish their group on seven points. This secured their place in the semifinals as the best runner-up, ahead of the other second-placed teams who finished on six points.

Old Parks claimed top spot in their group after defeating Florida in a double-header, while Panorama had already confirmed their place in the semifinals.

Semifinalists

Division 1

• Global United
• Joburg City
• Highlands Park B
• Olympia 1

Division 2

• Old Parks
• Old Parks 2
• Panorama
• Leeds

The semifinal draw will take place later tonight. It will be a completely open draw, meaning any team can face any other team, with the home team also determined by the draw.

The first postponed round, played before the final round, took place last night and provided some important answers in the race for the semifinals.

In Division 1, Group A, Global United lost 2-1 to Rietvlei, making next week’s fixture decisive, with both teams now level on 9 points. Both sides also remain in contention to qualify as the best second-placed team.

In Group B, Joburg City made a decisive move towards finishing top of the group. Highlands Park, three points behind, still have a chance to overtake them in the final round.

In Group C, Olympia completed a perfect group campaign with four wins from four matches. Lenasia finished second, but did not collect enough points to remain in contention for a semifinal place as one of the best runners-up.

In Division 2, Group A, Leeds qualified for the semifinals after beating Old Parks 2 2-1. Old Parks 2, however, still have a chance to progress as the best second-placed team.

In Group B, Panorama also booked their place in the semifinals after Rush lost 7-4 to Olympia. Olympia remain in the running for a possible best second-place qualification spot.

In Group C, the Florida Albion vs Old Parks fixture was postponed to next week. That match will now become a decisive double-header to determine who wins the group and qualifies for the semifinals.

The sixth round saw all fixtures played across both Cups. Rounds 1 and 4 will be played over the next two weeks to catch up on the outstanding fixtures.

In Division 1, Global United beat Flying Eagles and will go into the final two rounds battling Rietvlei for top spot. The same situation is developing in Group B, where Joburg City and Highlands Park B, who beat Barcelona 1-0, both remain in contention to advance. In Group C, Olympia became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals after moving to nine points, while Lenasia’s 0-0 draw with Randburg ended their hopes of catching them.

In Division 2, Group A, the fight for first place remains open between Old Parks 2, who moved to four points after beating Warriors 3-1, and Leeds, who currently lead with six points. In Group B, Panorama’s draw with Rush FC kept them top of the group, leaving Rush needing two big wins against Olympia to have any chance of advancing. In Group C, the battle is now between Florida Albion and Old Parks, after Florida claimed a double-header win against Randburg with a convincing 7-0 result.

Due to the weather patterns that completely disrupted the original schedule at the end of April and beginning of May, a few changes have had to be made.

Next week, 20 May, Round 6, the return leg, will go ahead as planned.

On 27 May, the original Round 1, which was cancelled due to rain, will be played. However, it will no longer be a double header. Instead, Round 4 (Round 1 return leg), which was also cancelled due to rain, will now be played on 3 June.

The semi-finals will be played on 10 June, with home teams to be drawn once the qualified teams are confirmed.

The finals will be played on 17 June, with the location still to be confirmed.

The Winter League may also start on 17 June, although this is still to be confirmed. This year’s Winter League will feature three leagues of six teams each, with each team playing a total of 10 rounds.