# 2022–23 National First Division

The 2022–23 National First Division (called the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the season from September 2022 to June 2023 of South Africa's second tier of professional soccer, the National First Division.
Previous sponsors GladAfrica pulled out after three years of their five-year deal, and were replaced by Patrice Motsepe, with the competition being renamed the Motsepe Foundation Championship.

## Teams
### Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2021–22 season.
Promoted to 2022–23 South African Premier Division
* Richards Bay
Relegated from 2021–22 South African Premier Division
* Baroka
Promoted from 2021–22 SAFA Second Division
* MM Platinum
* Magesi
Relegated from 2021–22 National First Division
* TS Sporting
* Jomo Cosmos
Renaming
* Cape Town All Stars relocated from Cape Town to Johannesburg at the start of the season, and were renamed All Stars

#### Purchased statuses

* Free State Stars sold their status to Casric Stars

### Stadiums and locations

16 teams are competing in the season.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| All Stars | Brakpan | Tsakane Stadium | |
| Baroka | Polokwane | Old Peter Mokaba Stadium | 15,000 |
| Black Leopards | Polokwane | Pietersburg Stadium | 15,000 |
| Cape Town Spurs | Cape Town | Athlone Stadium | 34,000 |
| Casric Stars | KwaMhlanga | Solomon Mahlangu Stadium | |
| Hungry Lions | Kathu | Sivos Training Centre Stadium | 1,500 |
| JDR Stars | Pretoria (Soshanguve) | Giant Stadium | 18,000 |
| Magesi | Moletši | TT Cholo Sports Ground | 15,000 |
| MM Platinum (La Masia) | Johannesburg | Bidvest Stadium | 5,000 |
| Platinum City | Potchefstroom | Olën Park | 22,000 |
| Polokwane City | Polokwane | Pietersburg Stadium | 15,000 |
| Pretoria Callies | Pretoria | Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium | 28,900 |
| Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila | Thohoyandou | Thohoyandou Stadium | 20,000 |
| University of Pretoria | Pretoria | Tuks Stadium | 8,000 |
| Uthongathi | Durban (KwaMashu) | Princess Magogo Stadium | 12,000 |
| Venda Football Academy | Thohoyandou | Thohoyandou Stadium | 20,000 |

## Table

    As of 9 June 2023
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Polokwane City | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 44 | 24 | +20 | 57 | Promotion to 2023-24 Premiership |
| 2 | Cape Town Spurs | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 57 | Promotion Play-offs |
| 3 | Casric Stars | 30 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 56 | Promotion Play-offs |
| 4 | All Stars | 30 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 48 | |
| 5 | Hungry Lions | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 30 | 28 | +2 | 47 | |
| 6 | JDR Stars | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 45 | |
| 7 | Uthongathi | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 33 | 30 | +3 | 41 | |
| 8 | TUKS | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 32 | 31 | +1 | 40 | |
| 9 | Baroka | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 39 | |
| 10 | Pretoria Callies | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 39 | |
| 11 | Venda FA | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 38 | |
| 12 | Magesi | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 32 | −10 | 37 | |
| 13 | La Masia | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 32 | |
| 14 | Platinum City Rovers | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 21 | 37 | −16 | 30 | |
| 15 | Tshakhuma | 30 | 6 | 5 | 19 | 25 | 46 | −21 | 23 | Relegation to 2023-24 SAFA Second Division |
| 16 | Black Leopards | 30 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 21 | 39 | −18 | 22 | Relegation to 2023-24 SAFA Second Division |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALS | BAR | BLP | CTS | CAS | HUL | JDR | LAM | MAG | PLK | PCR | PCL | TTM | TUKS | UTH | VFA |
| All Stars | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 4–0 |
| Baroka | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| Black Leopards | 1–3 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Cape Town Spurs | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Casric Stars | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Hungry Lions | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| JDR Stars | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 6–0 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 |
| La Masia | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Magesi | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Polokwane City | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Platinum CR | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Pretoria Callies | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Tshakhuma | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–5 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| TUKS | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Uthongathi | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 |
| Venda FA | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — |

## Statistics

    As of 15 June 2023
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ashley Cupido | Cape Town Spurs | 15 |
| 2 | Kgomotso Mosadi | Casric Stars | 12 |
| 2 | Ishmael Wadi | JDR Stars | 12 |

## Play-offs

| Pos | Lge | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | NFD | Cape Town Spurs (P) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 10 | Promoted to the 2023-24 South African Premier Division |
| 2 | PRE | Maritzburg United | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7 | |
| 3 | NFD | Casric Stars | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 | |