Tanzanian Premier League

Tanzanian Premier League

File:TFF Ligi Kuu Premier League Tanzania Logo.jpg
Founded	1965 (1965), as National League
Country	Tanzania
Confederation	Confederation of African Football
Number of teams	16
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Tanzanian First Division League
Domestic cup(s)	Azam Sports Federation Cup
International cup(s)	CAF Champions League CAF Confederation Cup
Current champions	Young Africans S.C. (2021–22)
Most championships	Young Africans S.C. (23 titles)
TV partners	Azam TV (live matches and highlights)
Website	ligikuu.co.tz
Current: 2022–23 Tanzanian Premier League

The Tanzania Mainland Premier League (Swahili: Ligi Kuu Tanzania Bara) is the top-level professional football league in Tanzania and is administered by the Tanzania Football Federation. The league was formed in 1965 as the "National League". Its name was later changed to the "First Division Soccer League", and to the "Premier League" in 1997.

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. Winners of each match earns three points, a draw earns a point for both teams, while a loss earns zero points.

Promotion & Relegation

The bottom two placed teams are automatically relegated to the Championship, and are replaced by the winners and runner's 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.

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 has seen Tanzania rise in the CAF 5-Year Ranking. As a result more teams from the league have the opportunity to compete on the continental stage.

CAF Champions League

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

Starting 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. Prior, the runner-up in the Premier League had qualified for the Confederations Cup.

From the 2021-22 Season, the champions of the FA Cup and the third placed team in the TPL qualify 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
Yanga	28
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:

• 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 Africans	26
2004		Abubakar Ally Mkangwa	Mtibwa Sugar
2005		Abdallah Juma	Mtibwa Sugar	25
2006		n/a	n/a
2007		Mashiku	SC United	17
2007–08		Michael Katende	Kagera Sugar
2008–09		Boniface Ambani	Young Africans	18
2009–10		Musa Hassan Mgosi	Simba	18
2010–11		Mrisho Ngasa	Azam	18
2011–12		John Raphael Bocco	Azam	19
2012–13		Kipre Tchetche	Azam	17
2013–14		Amissi Tambwe	Simba	19
2014–15		Simon Msuva	Young Africans	17
2015–16		Amissi Tambwe	Young Africans	21
2016–17		Simon Msuva	Young Africans	14
2017–18		Emmanuel Okwi	Simba	20
2018–19		Meddie Kagere	Simba	23
2019–20		Meddie Kagere	Simba	22
2020–21		John Bocco	Simba	16
2021-22		George Mpole	Geita Gold	17
2022-23		Reliants Lusajo	Namungo FC	3

External links

• tff.or.tz; League website at association's website
• Page at fifa.com; League standings & results
• RSSSF competition history