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OK League

NSL Second Division
Country  South Africa
Founded 1985
Folded 1995
Level on pyramid Level 2
Promotion to NSL Castle League
Most championships African Wanderers (2 titles)
Cape Town Spurs (2 titles)

The NSL Second Division (also referred to as the OK League for sponsorship reasons), was a South African association football league. It was the second tier on the South African football league system, and teams who won the division, were promoted to the NSL Castle League.

Already in 1978, there was a merger of the topflight NFL and NPSL, to form the first non-racial division for the First Level of South African football. The new common topflight league, was named NPSL Castle League in 1978-84, and renamed to NSL Castle League in 1985-95. In the early years from 1978-1986, relegation/promotion to and from the topflight non-racial football league, according to official records actually did happen, but apparently it still happened from a Second Level league structure, divided into whites/blacks/coloureds.

The NSL Second Division began in 1985 as a feeder to the then top tier National Soccer League. In March 1987, the naming rights of the division were sold to South African Breweries who also sponsored the NSL's top tier league with their Castle Lager brand (the top tier was known as the Castle League), the competition was titled the OK League after the brewery's bazaar chain "OK Bazaars".

It is claimed by the Premier Soccer League that the division was the first non-racial Second Level of South African football. Teams were promoted to the NSL Castle League from the Second Division, and those relegated from the Castle League would compete in the Second Division the following season.

The competition was originally an individual league table (referred to as a "log" in South Africa) but in 1990, it was felt that the league was becoming too expensive to run and it was decided that the competition should be split into regions. As a result, the number of teams increased from 17 in a single league to 40 divided into two divisions (known as "streams"). These divisions were named "O" and "K" as part of the title sponsor's marketing campaign.


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