MBABANE – Nsingizini Hotspurs lifted the ‘newly-designed’ MTN Premier League trophy, while Royal Leopard’s long-standing points record survived another season.
Despite Nsingizini Hotspurs’ title-winning heroics, Royal Leopard’s formidable 77-point MTN Premier League record remains untouched.
The police side set the benchmark during the 2020/21 season when they amassed 77 points in a 16-team league campaign, winning 24 matches, drawing five and losing only once. Leopard followed that remarkable season with another strong showing in 2021/22, finishing on 69 points after recording 21 victories and six draws as well as suffering three defeats.
Although ‘Ingwe’ endured a disappointing 2025/26 campaign, finishing eighth on 44 points, their record still stands firm in local football history. The season marked one of Leopard’s poorest returns in recent years, despite the club having won the Ingwenyama Cup sponsored by the Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund (SMVAF) last season to qualify automatically for the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup.
Meanwhile, Manzini Sea Birds denied the newly-crowned champions a fairytale finish after battling from behind to secure a 1-1 draw in the final match of the MTN Premier League season on Sunday.
The result may have slightly delayed the perfect ending to Hotspurs’ coronation, but it did little to spoil the jubilant atmosphere inside Somhlolo National Stadium.
In front of a sizeable crowd, the champions finally lifted the coveted trophy as champagne corks flew, confetti showered the pitch and green smoke engulfed Eswatini’s footballing Mecca.
‘Insingizi Yezulu’ concluded a magnificent campaign on 65 points, sealing a second successive qualification for the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
Royal Leopard maintained their16-team league record this season. (Pic: Leopard FB Page)