1978 NPSL First Division

The 1978 National Professional Soccer League was the first season of the newly-formed multi-racial South African National [Professional Soccer League (South Africa)|National Professional Soccer League]. The league was a merger of the previous NPSL, which due to the country's apartheid policies were for black teams only, and the National [Football League (South Africa)|National Football League], for white teams only. It was won by Lusitano.
The third professional league, the non-racial Federation Professional League, continued to function independently.
Lusitano's 13-0 victory over Mangaung United is the largest margin of victory in a top-flight league game in South Africa.
The top scorer was Mpumalanga [Black Aces F.C.|Witbank Ace's] Thomas ‘Junior’ Ngobe, with 40 goals.
Relegation criteria are unclear. The league was divided into two zones of 12 clubs, playing each team in their zone twice, and teams in the other zone once.