Geo TV Network and the Pakistan Football Federation came together in 2006 and began work on establishing Pakistan's first national inter-city football league to be televised on GEO Super. It ran based on franchise model, and as a parallel city-based league to the Pakistan Premier League over a span of two months, and was one of the few televised domestic championship held in the country since its inception. The league attracted record crowds at the Peoples Football Stadium in Karachi.[2][3]
However, with a lack of long term support from Pakistan Football Federation, the league was discontinued until summer 2010, when K-Electric stepped in to support the venture with another SFL season and merited a second attempt in 2010.[3] Players for each teams were selected through trials.[4]
However, the league did not continue because the organisers and sponsors reportedly did not want to work with the Pakistan Football Federation again. The reason was largely because Geo Super conducted it purely for commercial reasons, while the Pakistan Football Federation failed to cash in on it for the long term betterment of football in the country.[3]
Teams
The league was made up of five teams, representatives of different cities. Each team was composed of national and international players. For the first time the best players of the nation came together under the umbrella of these five cities for the inter-city football league. The names of the teams were the following:[5][4]
Tribe FC Peshawar
Islamabad United FC
Lahore Lajpaals FC
Quetta Zorawar FC
Karachi Energy (Karachi Bazigar)
2007 season
Format
The 2007 season spanned from July 20 to September 9. All matches were played in the Peoples Football Stadium in Karachi. The SFL was divided into two rounds. The first round was a round-robin league format in which the 5 teams would play a total of 8 league matches each, twice against their opponents. After the commencement of the league round, the top 4 teams out of 5 were drawn for a knock-out stage round involving single-legged semi finals with the winners meeting in a final to determine the inaugural Geo Super League champion of Pakistan.
League round
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification
1
Lahore Lajpaals
8
6
1
1
15
6
+9
19
Advance to semi-finals
2
Quetta Zorawar
8
5
2
1
12
6
+6
17
3
Karachi Bazigar
8
4
2
2
10
5
+5
14
4
Islamabad United
8
1
2
5
7
16
−9
5
5
Tribe FC Peshawar
8
0
2
6
7
18
−11
2
Updated to match(es) played on 14 February 2023. Source: (Official website)
The second season of Geo Super Football League, featuring five regional teams, was held from June 12 to August 8 at the Peoples Football Stadium under floodlights.
