Tanzanian Premier League

The Tanzania Mainland Premier League (Swahili: Ligi Kuu Tanzania Bara) is a top-level professional football league in Tanzania, administered by the Tanzania Football Federation.

Tanzanian Premier League
Founded1965 (1965), as National League
Country Tanzania
ConfederationConfederation of African Football
Number of teams16
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toChampionship
Domestic cup(s)
International cup(s)
Current championsYoung Africans S.C.
(2021–22)
Most championshipsYoung Africans S.C. (23 titles)
TV partnersAzam TV
(live matches and highlights)
Websiteligikuu.co.tz
Current: 2022–23 Tanzanian Premier League

History

The league was first organized in 1921 in Dar es Salaam[1]and by 1929, it had six participants. In the 1930s, the league included street teams such as Arab Sports (Kariakoo) and New Strong Team (Kisutu), which were mostly composed of Arabs and Africans. The Sudanese community also had their own team, which joined the league in 1941.

Other teams of this early era in league history included the Khalsas, an exclusively Sikh team, and the Ilala Staff, a team made up of Ilalan residents.

In 1942, clubs from public institutions such as the Government School, Post Office, Railways SC, King's African Rifles SC, Police SC, and Medical Department started to dominate the league. However, most teams were disbanded in the aftermath of World War II, with many European players ceasing their participation in the league, and their clubs, which included Gymkhana Club, Police Club, King's African Rifles, and Railways, eventually withdrawing. They were replaced, from the 1940s on, by African street teams such as Young Africans (Yanga) and Sunderland (known as Old Boys in 1942 and later to become Simba), as well as the Goan's Club manned by Goans, and the Agha Khan Club by Ismaili Khojas.

The Sudanese team broke up in the mid-1940s.

From this period onwards, Yanga and Sunderland gradually became the most popular and strongest clubs in Dar es Salaam. Yanga, founded in 1938, entered the first division of the league soon afterwards and won four major cups in 1942. Sunderland joined the first division soon after Yanga, and won four important trophies in 1946.

By 1955, the Dar es Salaam league had 38 registered clubs. It became the "National League" by 1965, incorporating most of the major teams in Tanzania. The name was later changed to the "First Division Soccer League" and to the "Premier League" in 1997. Tanzania Breweries became the sponsor of the championship, after which the League was called the Tanzania Breweries League (TBL). The contract with Breweries was terminated in 2001 after a conflict with the Tanzania Football Association. In 2002, a contract was signed with the telecommunication company Vodacom, which lasted until 2009, after which they were re-signed the same year.

Competition format
Tanzanian Premier League match between Kagera Sugar and Mbeya City on 17 January 2015

Competition

The Tanzanian Premier League (TPL) follows a typical double round-robin format; each team playing the other twice, home and away. Winning earns three points, a draw earns a point for both teams, and a loss earns zero points.

Promotion & Relegation

The bottom two placed teams are automatically demoted to the Championship, and are replaced by the winners and runners-up from the Championship. The third and fourth worst ranked teams enter a play-off with the 3rd and 4th placed teams from the First Division.[2]

International Competitions

As a member of CAF, teams based in Tanzania compete in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.

Recent positive performances by TPL clubs in continental competitions have seen Tanzania rise in the CAF 5-Year Ranking. As a result, more teams from the league have had the opportunity to compete on the continental stage.

CAF Champions League

The league champion qualifies for the CAF Champions League for the following season.

Starting in the 2021-22 season, the second placed team from the previous season also qualifies for the CAF CL.

CAF Confederation Cup

Since the 2015–16 season, the winner of the Tanzania FA Cup has qualified for the CAF Confederations Cup. This qualification place had previously been awarded only to the runner-up in the Premier League.

From the 2021-22 season onwards, the champions of the FA Cup and the third-placed team in the Premier League have also qualified for the tournament.

Clubs

Starting from the 2018–19 season, the league is composed of 20 teams, which was further lowered to 18 in 2020 and 16 in 2021.

Champions
Club Wins[3]
Yanga 23
Simba (includes Sunderland) 22
Maji Maji 3
Malindi 2
Prisons 1
Pan African 1
Azam 1
Cosmopolitans 1
Mseto Sports 1
Coastal Union 1
Pamba 1
KMKM 1

Wins by year

Previous champions are:[4]

  • 1965: Sunderland (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1966: Sunderland (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1967: Cosmopolitans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1968: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1969: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1970: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1971: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1972: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1973: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1974: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1975: Mseto S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1976: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1977: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1978: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1979: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1980: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1981: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1982: Pan African S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1983: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1984: KMKM (Zanzibar)
  • 1985: Majimaji F.C. (Ruvuma)
  • 1986: Majimaji F.C. (Ruvuma)
  • 1987: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1988: Coastal Union S.C. (Tanga)
  • 1989: Malindi (Zanzibar)
  • 1990: Pamba SC (Mwanza)
  • 1991: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1992: Malindi S.C. (Zanzibar)
  • 1993: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1994: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1995: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1996: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1997: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 1998: Majimaji F.C. (Ruvuma)
  • 1999: Prisons (Mbeya)
  • 2000: Young Africans S.C. (Dar Es Salaam)
  • 2001: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2002: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2003: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2004: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2005: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2006: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2007: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam) [mini-league]
  • 2007–08: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2008–09: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2009–10: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2010–11: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2011–12: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2012–13: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2013–14: Azam F.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2014–15: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2015–16: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2016–17: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2017–18: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2018–19: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2019–20: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2020–21: Simba S.C. (Dar es Salaam)
  • 2021–22: Young Africans S.C. (Dar es Salaam)

Top scorers
Year Best scorers Team Goals
1997 Mohamed Hussein "Mmachinga"Young Africans26
2004 Abubakar Ally MkangwaMtibwa Sugar
2005 Abdallah JumaMtibwa Sugar25
2006 n/an/a
2007 MashikuSC United17
2007–08 Michael KatendeKagera Sugar
2008–09 Boniface AmbaniYoung Africans18
2009–10 Musa Hassan MgosiSimba18
2010–11 Mrisho NgasaAzam18
2011–12 John Raphael BoccoAzam19
2012–13 Kipre TchetcheAzam17
2013–14 Amissi TambweSimba19
2014–15 Simon MsuvaYoung Africans17
2015–16 Amissi TambweYoung Africans21
2016–17 Simon MsuvaYoung Africans14
2017–18 Emmanuel OkwiSimba20
2018–19 Meddie Kagere Simba23
2019–20 Meddie Kagere Simba22
2020–21 John Bocco Simba16
2021-22 George Mpole[5]Geita Gold17
2022-23 Fiston Mayele[6]Young Africans15

Hat-tricks
Player For Against Scorer Date
Alexis Kitenge Stand U Young Africans 4-3 16 September 2018
Emmanuel Okwi Simba Ruvu Shooting 0-5 28 October 2018
Salim Aiyee Mwadui Kagera Sugar 4-0 6 January 2019
Emmanuel Okwi Simba Coastal Unión 8-1 8 May 2019
Meddie Kagere
Ditram Nchimbi Polisi T Young Africans 3-3 3 October 2019
Saliboko Daluwesh Lipuli Singida United 5-1 6 November 2019
Aubrey Chirwa Azam Alliance 0-5 26 November 2019
Kevin Sabato Kagera Sugar Singida United 3-0 1 February 2020
David Richard Alliance Mwadui 4-1 19 February 2020
Meddie Kagere4 Simba Singida United 8-0 11 March 2020
Green Atupele Biashara MU Kinondoni MC 4-0 24 June 2020
Aubrey Chirwa4 Azam Singida United 7-0 5 July 2020
Adam Omar JKT Tanzania Mwadui 1-6 25 October 2020
John Bocco Simba Coastal Unión 0-7 21 November 2020
Modathir Said Coastal Unión Mwadui 5-0 15 July 2021
Juma Luizio Mbeya City Biashara MU 4-0 18 July 2021
Ibrahim Hilika Mtibwa Sugar Transit Camp 1-4 21 July 2021
Jeremiah Juma Tanzania Prison Namungo 3-1 20 November 2021
Shiza Kichuya Namungo Mtibwa Sugar 2-4 26 June 2022
Idris Mbombo Azam Biashara MU 4-1 29 June 2022
John Bocco Simba Ruvu Shooting 0-4 12 November 2022
Fiston Mayele Young Africans Singida BS 4-1 17 November 2022
Saidi Ntibazonkiza Simba Tanzania Prisiones 7-1 30 December 2022
John Bocco
Ibrahim Ali Namungo Kinondoni MC 1-3 24 January 2023
  • 4 Player scored 4 goals
  • 5 Player scored 5 goals

References
  1. Football, in Tanzania (18 November 2008). "POPULAR MUSIC, SPORTS, AND POLITICS: A DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN CULTURAL MOVEMENTS IN DAR ES SALAAM, 1930s-1960s" (PDF). TSURUTA, Tadasu. POPULAR MUSIC, SPORTS, AND POLITICS: A DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN CULTURAL MOVEMENTS IN DAR ES SALAAM, 1930s-1960s. African Study Monographs 2003, 24(3): 195-222. 24 (3): 206. doi:10.14989/68221. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
  2. "About the Premier League". Tanzania Football Federation. 26 February 2010. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  3. "Tanzania - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  4. "Tanzania – List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  5. "Who will win Best Player Award?". The Citizen. 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  6. "Mayele: Kaizer Chiefs to sign DR Congo international? - Motaung and Young Africans respond | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
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