CentreCircle.online has learnt that the 2025 Hollywoodbets Super League season will return to normal scheduling after the international break.
This comes after the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the elite women’s football league sponsors, Hollywoodbets, came to an agreement and signed a contract which will see all clubs participating in the current campaign, doing away with the fragmented start to the season where only televised matches were played.
Details are still sketchy about the terms of the contract, but this publication has it on good authority that all 16 teams will, for the first time this season, play in one weekend, instead of only two games per showing.
The 2025 league season kicked off on the first week of March, but several games were postponed as negotiations between SAFA and Hollywoodbets were on-going, with a special dispensation to allow only matches on television to continue in order to fulfill the mandate SAFA has with the public broadcaster, the SABC.
To date, only 15 matches have been played since the start of the season – a far cry compared to the 43 that had taken place during the same period in 2024.
As matters stand, KwaZulu Natal’s Royal AM and Richmond United Ladies from the Northern Cape are the only teams yet to kickstart their season, a month into the new campaign.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ Ladies) has played more games – four in total – leaving them top of the table on nine points after three wins and a defeat.
The University of Fort Hare, JVW and TUT Matsatsantsa Ladies have completed three fixtures each while there have been only two games apiece for Copperbelt Ladies, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies, TS Galaxy Queens, City Lads Ladies, First Touch Ladies, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Ezemvelo Ladies.
Durban Ladies, the University of Pretoria (Tuks) as well as the University of Cape Town (UCT) have played one match each.
To bring the number of games level for all teams, this publication understands that there will be midweek fixtures added to the schedule.
The league fixture saga has had a negative impact on Banyana Banyana with locally based players getting little game time – in the year of the WAFCON – compared to their overseas counterparts who are in full swing at their various clubs.
Royal AM’s first game of the season will be against TS Galaxy Queens, while Richmond United will kick off their 2025 campaign when they welcome UJ Ladies.
Barring any last-minute changes, all 16 teams in the Hollywoodbets Super League will return to action on the weekend of 12-13 April.
HOLLYWOODBETS FIXTURES:
Saturday, 12 April 2025:
- Copperbelt Ladies vs Ezemvelo Ladies
- TS Galaxy Queens vs Royal AM
- UCT vs Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies
- TUT Matsatsantsa Ladies vs JVW
- Durban Ladies vs City Lads
- Richmond United vs University of Johannesburg
- University of Pretoria vs University of Fort Hare
Sunday, 13 April 2025:
- First Touch Ladies vs UWC
By Matlhomola Morake
