There were just 483 goals scored in 240 games last season, an average of 2.02 per match, which is almost exactly in line with the figures from the previous few years. Teams have been nothing if not consistent.
There were 2.01 goals per game in 2024/25 and 2.03 in 2023/24, so the average has hovered around almost exactly the same mark for the past three campaigns.
Only the 2021/22 campaign, with 1.99 goals per game, offered less entertainment for fans. It remains the record low and the only season in which the average dipped below two goals per match.
The only other seasons in which the total slipped below 500 goals were 2009/10, with 499 at 2.08 per game, and 2017/18, with 490 at 2.04.
In the 2022/23 campaign, the teams crept above that number with 503 goals scored, at an average of 2.10 per game.
Shockingly, 10 of the 16 clubs in the top flight last season averaged one goal per game or fewer, with only Mamelodi Sundowns (1.93), Orlando Pirates (1.90), Lamontville Golden Arrows (1.13), Kaizer Chiefs (1.10), AmaZulu (1.07) and Sekhukhune United (also 1.07) averaging above that threshold.
Were it not for Sundowns and Pirates, the numbers would look a lot worse. They accounted for 115 of the league’s goals between them last season, or 24% of the overall total.
The worst offenders are Siwelele, with only nine goals scored in 16 games, an average of 0.58, followed closely by Chippa United with 10 goals in 17 matches, or 0.59 per game.
There was also a trio of clubs among the worst offenders, with seventh-placed Polokwane City, Marumo Gallants and relegated Orbit College all scoring 21 goals in 30 games, or 0.70 per match.
Compared with the leading leagues in the world, South Africa ranks well behind.
The Bundesliga averaged 3.24 goals per game last season, while Ligue 1 in France, at 2.82, and the English Premier League, at 2.75, were second and third. Spain’s LaLiga averaged 2.69 goals per game and Italy’s Serie A 2.43.
The lifeblood of football is goals. They are what make the sport attractive to fans and, if you take them away, supporters will, in time, switch off.
It does not help in the South African context that clubs are frequently sold and disappear into nothing, eroding sentiment and loyalty at the same time.
Of the 18 teams that played in the first Premiership season in 1996/97, only four still exist as professional clubs – Sundowns, Chiefs, Pirates and AmaZulu.
Gone are established brands such as Moroka Swallows, SuperSport United, Bloemfontein Celtic, Wits University and Jomo Cosmos, most consigned to the dustbin of history or campaigning in the amateur ranks.
Mamelodi Sundowns set a 30-game record – or 28-game record in this case – for the most goals in a campaign with 65 in 2024/25, which accounted for 15% of the league’s entire total. They managed a healthy 2.32 goals per game on their own, which also shows how far they fell off this past season.
The most goals scored in a 30-game Betway Premiership season came after the 2010 World Cup, when 602 goals were scored at an average of 2.51 per game.
The best overall season for scoring was the 1999/00 campaign, when 823 goals were scored in 306 games – it was a 34-game season – at an average of 2.69.
GOALS PER GAME IN THE PSL SINCE 1996/97
34-GAME SEASON
1996/97: 692 at 2.26 per game
1997/98: 736 at 2.41 per game
1998/99: 782 at 2.56 per game
1999/00: 823 at 2.69 per game
2000/01: 725 at 2.37 per game
2001/02: 754 at 2.46 per game
30-GAME SEASON
2002/03: 581 at 2.42 per game
2003/04: 566 at 2.36 per game
2004/05: 574 at 2.39 per game
2005/06: 549 at 2.29 per game
2006/07: 524 at 2.18 per game
2007/08: 532 at 2.22 per game
2008/09: 569 at 2.37 per game
2009/10: 499 at 2.08 per game
2010/11: 602 at 2.51 per game
2011/12: 582 at 2.43 per game
2012/13: 546 at 2.28 per game
2013/14: 528 at 2.20 per game
2014/15: 555 at 2.31 per game
2015/16: 562 at 2.34 per game
2016/17: 538 at 2.24 per game
2017/18: 490 at 2.04 per game
2018/19: 543 at 2.26 per game
2019/20: 508 at 2.12 per game
2020/21: 507 at 2.11 per game
2021/22: 479 at 1.99 per game
2022/23: 503 at 2.10 per game
2023/24: 488 at 2.03 per game
28-GAME SEASON
2024/25: 423 at 2.01 per game
30-GAME SEASON
2025/26: 485 at 2.02 per game