2001–02 National First Division

National First Division

Season	2001–02
Champions	African Wanderers (Coastal) Dynamos (Inland)
Promoted	African Wanderers, Dynamos
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

The 2001–02 National First Division was the 6th season of the second tier of South African soccer since the reorganisation in 1996.

It consisted of two streams, an Inland stream of 16 teams, and a Coastal stream of 14 teams.

The Coastal stream was won by African Wanderers^[1] and the Inland stream by Dynamos, with both earning promotion to the 2002–03 Premier Soccer League.

Two seasons after setting a number of records for worst performing team in the Premier Division, Mother City were relegated from the Coastal Stream, finishing bottom.^[2]

Bribery allegations

The manager of promotion-chasing Avendale Athletico, Trevor Heinrich, along with the coach, David Byrne, claimed to have been approached shortly before the club's game against William Pescod by a man offering that he could arrange for the game to go their way, for R6,000. The man claimed that another club, also in the promotion race, had offered the referee R4,500. Avendale refused the offer, and the game was drawn 1-1, with Avendale having a goal disallowed in the last minute.^[3]

League winners Wanderers defeated Avendale Athletico 1–0 in another key game, with a goal controversially disallowed amongst allegations of bribery and corruption.^[4]

Coastal stream

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	African Wanderers (C, P)	26	16	7	3	45	21	+24	55	Promoted to 2002–03 Premier Soccer League
2	Avendale Athletico	26	13	9	4	48	23	+25	48
3	Maritzburg City	25	13	6	6	37	18	+19	45
4	Park United	26	11	9	6	32	28	+4	42
5	Saxon Rovers	26	10	11	5	41	35	+6	41
6	Rainbow Stars	26	10	8	8	37	38	−1	38
7	Basotho Tigers	26	10	6	10	39	38	+1	36
8	William Pescod	26	8	8	10	34	39	−5	32
9	PE Technikon	26	8	8	10	24	32	−8	32
10	Premier United	26	7	8	11	33	38	−5	29
11	Royal Tigers	26	6	10	10	27	41	−14	28
12	FC Fortune	26	6	9	11	30	43	−13	27
13	Newtons (R)	25	5	5	15	25	37	−12	20	Relegation to 2002–03 SAFA Second Division
14	Mother City (R)	26	1	10	15	20	41	−21	13

Source: ^[5]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Inland stream

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Dynamos (C, P)	30	19	8	3	51	22	+29	65	Promoted to 2002–03 Premier Soccer League
2	Silver Stars	30	18	7	5	52	32	+20	61
3	Pietersburg Pillars	30	19	3	8	53	29	+24	60
4	Bloemfontein Celtic	30	17	8	5	48	29	+19	59
5	Bloemfontein Young Tigers	30	14	7	9	44	29	+15	49
6	Welkom Stars	30	14	5	11	53	48	+5	47
7	Mabopane Young Masters	30	14	4	12	37	30	+7	46
8	Spartak	30	12	5	13	48	41	+7	41
9	City Sharks	30	11	8	11	37	41	−4	41
10	Ledwaba Power Stars	30	10	7	13	49	48	+1	37
11	Alexandra United	30	8	9	13	37	45	−8	33
12	Dobsonville All Nations	30	9	5	16	43	55	−12	32
13	Sporting	30	8	6	16	35	53	−18	30
14	Witbank Black Aces	30	7	6	17	38	56	−18	27
15	Katlehong City (R)	30	5	8	17	28	56	−28	23	Relegation to 2002–03 SAFA Second Division
16	Mamelodi Juventus (R)	30	4	6	20	29	68	−39	18

Source: ^[5]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

References

1. "PSL clubs since 1994". Kick Off. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2023 – via PressReader.
2. "HISTORY: The PSL from 1996 to 2002 – FARPost". 22 October 2021. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
3. "New soccer bribe claim". IOL. 21 March 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
4. "About the NFD". www.psl.co.za. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
5. "South Africa 2001/02".