The Lesotho Premier League, also known as the Vodacom Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top soccer division in Lesotho, and was created in 1970. Econet Telecom Lesotho was the league sponsor from 2017 to 2020. Vodacom Lesotho are again the league sponsor and were also the sponsor of the now cancelled Vodacom Soccer Spectacular knockout competition, which was the Lesotho's annual national cup tournament.
Format The Lesotho Premier League is currently contested by 16 clubs. The league uses a double round robin format meaning one team plays the other twice. Therefore, a team will play a total of 30 games per season. The team with the most points wins the league title.
The Lesotho Premier League is still played on an amateur status.
Sponsorship Since 2002, Lesotho's Premier League has been sponsored by telecommunications companies. Econet Telecom Lesotho, through its prepaid product Buddie, sponsored the Premier League and Lesotho's lower leagues (the A-Division, B-Division and C-Division) from 2002 until 2009. In 2009, the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) ended its seven-year association with Econet Telecom Lesotho and signed a three-year partnership with Vodacom Lesotho. As part of the deal, Vodacom Lesotho agreed to sponsor the Premier League and all lower leagues for a combined M1 million per season for three years. However, in 2017, LeFA ended its sponsorship with Vodacom Lesotho to pen a new three-year multi-million maloti sponsorship with the previous sponsor Econet Telecom Lesotho in which the champions will pocket M500 000; a 150% increase from the previous M200 000 received by 2016–2017 champions Bantu.
The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they have called the Lesotho Premier League: 2002–09: Econet Telecom Lesotho (Buddie Premier League) 2009–2017: Vodacom Lesotho (Vodacom Premier League) 2017–2020: Econet Telecom Lesotho (Econet Premier League) 2021–present: Vodacom Lesotho (Vodacom Premier League)
Premier League domestic cups Lesotho Independence Cup (Top 4) MGC Supa 8 (Top 8) MGC Soccer Spectacular People's Cup
Champions Years Champions1970Maseru United (1)1971Majantja FC (1)1972Police FC (1)1973Linare FC (1)1974Matlama FC (1)1975Maseru FC (1)1976Maseru United (2)1977Matlama FC (2)1978Matlama FC (3)1979Linare FC (2)1980Linare FC (3)1981Maseru Brothers (1)1982Matlama FC (4)1983Lesotho Defence Force FC (1)1984Lesotho Defence Force FC (2)1985Lioli FC (1)1986Matlama FC (5)1987Lesotho Defence Force FC (3)1988Matlama FC (6)1989Arsenal FC (1)1990Lesotho Defence Force FC (4)1991Arsenal FC (2)1992Matlama FC (7)1993Arsenal FC (3)1994Lesotho Defence Force FC (5)1995Majantja FC (2)1996Roma Rovers FC (1)1997Lesotho Defence Force FC (6)1998Lesotho Defence Force FC (7)1999Lesotho Defence Force FC (8)2000Lesotho Correctional Service (1) 2001Lesotho Defence Force FC (9)2002Lesotho Correctional Service (2) 2003Matlama FC (8)2004Lesotho Defence Force FC (10)2005Likhopo FC (1)2006Likhopo FC (2)2007Lesotho Correctional Services (3)2008Lesotho Correctional Services (4)2009 Lioli FC (2)2010Matlama FC (9)2011Lesotho Correctional Services (5)2012Lesotho Correctional Services (6)2013 Lioli FC (3)2014 Bantu FC (1)2015 Lioli FC (4)2016 Lioli FC (5)2017 Bantu FC (2) 2018 Bantu FC (3)2019 Matlama FC (10)2020 Bantu FC (4)2020–21Matlama FC (11)2022–23 Bantu FC (5)2023–24Lioli FC (6)2024–25Lioli FC (7)2025–26Lijabatho FC (1)
Performance by club Club City Titles Last title Matlama Maseru 11 2022 Lesotho Defence Force (includes Royal Lesotho Defence Force) Maseru 8 2004 Lioli Teyateyaneng 7 2024–25 Lesotho Correctional Services (includes Lesotho Prisons Service) Maseru 6 2012 Bantu Mafeteng 5 2023 Arsenal Maseru 3 1993 Linare Leribe 3 1980 Maseru Brothers (includes Maseru United) Maseru 3 1981 Lesotho Paramilitary Forces Maseru 2 1984 Likhopo FC Maseru 2 2006 Majantja Mohale's Hoek 2 1995 Lijabatho FC Morija 1 2025–26 Maseru Maseru 1 1975 Police Maseru 1 1972 Roma Rovers Roma 1 1996
Top goalscorers YearCountry Best scorersTeamGoals2000–01 Lire Phiri Lesotho Defence Force 302005–06 Masupha Majara Lesotho Defence Force 92014–15 Litsepe Marabe Bantu 222018–19 Sera MotebangMatlama182021–22 Katleho MakatengLesotho Defence Force202022–23 Hlomelang LebinaLesotho Correctional Services15Jane ThabantsoMatlama2023–24 Lemohang LintsaLimkwokwing University FC192024–25Makara NtaitsaneLesotho Correctional Services FC202025-26 Thumalo KhutlangLijabatho18
References