After Hanover Park were officially crowned as champions last week, the attention has now turned to the relegation battle in the 2021-22 season of the Safa Cape Town Men’s Regional Third Division League.

 With just three games to go, it is not yet clear how many clubs will be condemned down to  LFA football when the season ends on 28 May as there are various permutations at play. According to a Safa Cape Town executive, the rules state that two clubs should be relegated at the end of the season and two should be promoted.  

 After Saxon Rovers and Invincible Cravenby won the LFA playoffs late last year, they will be the two sides to join the fourth tier of football next season. But when it comes to the relegation it is a rather complex matter as the outcomes of the top leagues (ABC Motsepe League Western Cape and GladAfrica Championships) have a direct impact.

 Clubs from the Western Cape that get relegated from the GladAfrica must be accommodated in the ABC Motsepe League by dropping more teams to the Third Divisional Leagues, and Cape Town clubs that get relegated in the provincial Motsepe league have to be accommodated in the Third Division League.

 Motsepe League decided to relegate five clubs at the end of the 2021-22 season, three from the 11-team Stream A and two from the 10 team-Stream B. With many of the clubs in the Motsepe League coming from Cape Town, the region, in turn, decided that a maximum of four clubs to be relegated as a worst-case scenario.

 Fortunately for Cape Town, only one of the five clubs (Jomo Powers from Atlantis) come from the Cape Town region. The rest, Black Cats (Southern Cape), Gansbaai City FC and Police FC (both from Overberg), as well as Barcelona FC (Great Karoo) are from outside the Cape Metro. In that case, three clubs should be relegated from the Third Division to accommodate Jomo and two LFA playoffs winners (Rovers and Cravenby).

 However, if ABC Motsepe League Western Cape Champions, Zizwe United, who are from the Cape Town region, win promotion to the GladAfrica Championships (in the national playoffs in June), then Jomo will not be relegated to the Motsepe as they are only third last in Stream A. That would mean the minimum two clubs prescribed in the rules will be relegated.

 But there is more. Should Zizwe go to GladAfrica and Hanover Park win promotion to the ABC Motsepe League, then only one club will be relegated from the Regional Third Division League, a scenario that everyone in Cape Town is hoping

 So as things stand, one, two or three clubs that will kiss  the Third Division league goodbye come next weekend. According to the latest log standing, FC Houtbay, Bayview FC and Bluegum United are in that danger. Time will tell.