This after the league's new business, brand, marketing and communications plan was accepted unanimously by the board of governors on Thursday, July 17.

The PSL's new vision for professional soccer in South Africa is:

To be recognised for providing professional soccer both "in the air" and "on the ground" facilitated by strategic affiliations while providing a gateway integrating the PSL into everyday South African life.

In the past, the PSL Lion has become the icon of the soccer league.

However, this Euro centric symbol is not representative of South African soccer.

The design brief then was to retain the lion but to "Africanise" it, retain the South African colours and emphasise the acronym PSL.

The new logo embodies the aggressive lion head with a flowing mane of the colours of the South African flag. The PSL acronym contains the soccer ball indicating the core business.

The flowing mane and the italicised PSL acronym create an energetic left-to-right movement. The full Premier Soccer League title is retained to identify the new logo.

The league's chief executive officer, Trevor Phillips, said at the unveiling of the new PSL brand: "The new corporate identity of the Premier Soccer League truly reflects the new direction the PSL is going to take. It will provide a constant reminder to insiders and outsiders about the PSL's achievements and aspirations.

"The new PSL brand will be the essential glue that will hold the PSL together and take it from strength to strength. The new logo projects, who we are, what we do and how we do it.

"With the reveal of our new brand and the enthusiasm with which the executive committee and board of governors have embraced it, I feel the PSL and professional soccer in South Africa is now in a higher gear and I am looking forward to the up and coming season with our new brand and image in the forefront."

The elements of the new PSL logo will be used as the basis for the corporate image of the 4 new divisions of the PSL; namely PSL Soccer, PSL Marketing, PSL Properties and PSL Travel.

Each division will have its own colour definition to identify the division.

The new PSL brand is dynamic, innovative and new age in design and is destined to stand out in the South African sports industry.

The new PSL brand will offer the best soccer entertainment as well as deliver a quality product giving soccer fans value for money in a safe and secure environment.

The development and introduction of the new corporate identity has brought about a new strategic direction to be taken by the PSL.

Most importantly it brings with it the clear implications that the corporate reputation of the PSL will no longer look after itself, but will be guarded as a corporate resource and become one of the PSL's most valuable assets.

The PSL's major sponsors, who where consulted in every stage of the logo development are pleased with the final design and logo and wish the PSL every success with its new brand identity and strategic plan.