# 2021–22 National First Division

The 2021–22 National First Division (called the GladAfrica Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the season from 21 August 2021 to 15 May 2022 of South Africa's second tier of professional soccer, the National First Division.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

16 teams are competing in the season.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Black Leopards | Polokwane | Pietersburg Stadium | 15,000 |
| Cape Town All Stars F.C. | Stellenbosch | Idas Valley Stadium | 2,500 |
| Cape Town Spurs | Cape Town | Athlone Stadium | 34,000 |
| Free State Stars | Bethlehem | Goble Park | 5,000 |
| Hungry Lions | Kathu | Sivos Training Centre Stadium | 1,500 |
| JDR Stars | Pretoria (Soshanguve) | Giant Stadium | 18,000 |
| Jomo Cosmos | Tsakane | Tsakane Stadium | 25,000 |
| Platinum City | Potchefstroom | Olën Park | 22,000 |
| Polokwane City | Polokwane | Pietersburg Stadium | 15,000 |
| Pretoria Callies | Pretoria | Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium | 28,900 |
| Richards Bay | Richards Bay | Richards Bay Stadium | 8,000 |
| Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila | Thohoyandou | Thohoyandou Stadium | 20,000 |
| TS Sporting | Kabokweni | Kabokweni Stadium | 8,000 |
| 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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Richards Bay | 30 | 14 | 12 | 4 | 39 | 22 | +17 | 54 | Promotion to 2022-23 Premiership |
| 2 | TUKS | 30 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 52 | Qualification to Promotion Play-offs |
| 3 | Cape Town All Stars | 30 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 48 | Qualification to Promotion Play-offs |
| 4 | JDR Stars | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 32 | 28 | +4 | 45 | |
| 5 | Venda | 30 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 44 | |
| 6 | Polokwane City | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 41 | |
| 7 | Free State Stars | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 41 | |
| 8 | Uthongathi | 30 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 27 | 25 | +2 | 39 | |
| 9 | Black Leopards | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 30 | 29 | +1 | 39 | |
| 10 | Platinum City | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 30 | 46 | −16 | 38 | |
| 11 | Hungry Lions | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 36 | |
| 12 | Pretoria Callies | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 35 | |
| 13 | Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 26 | 45 | −19 | 34 | |
| 14 | Cape Town Spurs | 30 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 33 | |
| 15 | Jomo Cosmos | 30 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 28 | Relegation to 2022-23 SAFA Second Division |
| 16 | TS Sporting | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 22 | 34 | −12 | 28 | Relegation to 2022-23 SAFA Second Division |

## Results

| Home \ Away | BLA | CTA | CTS | FFS | HUL | JDR | JOM | PLA | PLK | PCL | RB | TSS | TTM | UNP | UTH | VEN |
| Black Leopards | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–9 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Cape Town All Stars F.C. | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Cape Town Spurs | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Free State Stars | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Hungry Lions | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| JDR Stars | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Jomo Cosmos | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 |
| Platinum City | 0–5 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Polokwane City | 3–4 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Pretoria Callies | 2–0 | 1–2 | 6–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Richards Bay | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| TS Sporting | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| TUKS | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Uthongathi | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–0 |
| Venda | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — |

## Play-offs

| Pos | Lge | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | PRE | Swallows (P) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 7 | Retain their place in the 2022-23 South African Premier Division |
| 2 | NFD | University of Pretoria F.C. | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | NFD | Cape Town All Stars | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 4 | |