South African clubs reflect the diverse cultural and ethnic background of the country's rainbow nation, although the stark racial divide that once characterised professional football in South Africa is no longer evident.

When the game went professional in South Africa in 1959, there were 12 clubs who broke from the amateur ranks. But in the strict days of Apartheid, the pioneering professional clubs were white-only and today are, all but one, defunct. The lone survivor is Arcadia from Pretoria, a club that today competes in the amateur ranks and concentrates on junior football rather than the senior ranks.

The landscape and profile of the clubs have changed drastically as the country has metamorphosised from a pariah state into a fully fledged member of the world footballing family. Today, the majority of high profile and best supported teams come originally from the ranks of the previously black National Professional Soccer League, which set up its rival structure in 1971.

Of the clubs to compete in the first season of black professional soccer more than three and a half decades ago, six still play in the top flight. Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows have perennially dominated the domestic football scene since and the likes of Bloemfontein Celtic, Mamelodi Sundowns and Lamontville Golden Arrows also played their part. Wits University are the only side who remain from the days of whites-only football, while the Cape Town club Santos were regular champions in the semi-professional Federation League, which formed part of a rival soccer body in the dark days of racial discrimination.

Unity in the running of South African soccer was realised in 1991 but at professional level, black and white clubs amalgamated their disparate league back in 1978, the first sport after boxing to cross the colour barrier. The white clubs were seduced by the massive crowds which their black counterparts attracted, and were quick to hitch their wagon to where the people were. But over the years the formerly whites-only teams faded away or sold their franchise, giving birth to several new identities, who remain part of the current Premier Soccer League structures.

Jomo Cosmos, for example, is a club created by Jomo Somo, one of the superstars of the South African game. When Sono returned home from playing for New York Cosmos and Toronto Blizzard in the early 1980s, he had enough money to buy the biggest white club of the day - Highlands Park of Johannesburg. It was a highly symbolic purchase in an era when blacks were subjugated by the Apartheid system and Sono has been a folk hero ever since, destroying a massive white institution with the flick of a cheque book.

Jomo Cosmos have competed in the top flight ever since, save for one season they were relegated but quickly bounced back. New clubs have also emerged like Ajax Cape Town, who are half owned by their namesakes in the Netherlands. Ajax Amsterdam bought the franchise of two Cape Town clubs and merged them together as a potential source of talent for their own cause. It was the first franchising of a club name of its kind in world football history.

Orlando Pirates, who turned 70 in 2007, are the old surviving club, followed by Moroka Swallows, who are ten years younger. Kaizer Chiefs are the country's most popular team but have won just two titles in the last 15 years, and are no longer the dominant force they one were. Their owner is Kaizer Motaung, who named the club after himself and Atlanta Chiefs, where he played in the old North American Soccer League.

Mamelodi Sundowns are the new glamour side of South African football, owned by mining magnate Patrick Motsepe. They won the last two Premier Soccer League titles and have high hopes of translating their domestic success into wins on the continental stage in the CAF Champions League.

Clubs from the Gauteng province, which takes in Johannesburg, Pretoria and their satellite cities around the economic heartland of the country, are well represented in the top flight. Chiefs, Pirates, Swallows, Sundowns, Cosmos and Wits University all come from the region as do Benoni Premier United, Silver Stars and SuperSport United.

From the other provinces, AmaZulu and Lamontville Golden Arrows are both based in Durban and Ajax Cape Town and Santos come from the 'Mother City'. The Free State province provides Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Stars, who have been promoted back to the Premier League ahead of the 2007/2008 season.

Demoted down from the top tier were Maritzburg United, who come from the KwaZulu-Natal provincial capital. Black Leopards are the only side from the Northern Province, where they command massive crowds at their home round in Thohoyandou. Leopards are the rallying team for the Venda people, who are based near the Zimbabwe border.