Kick Off, South Africa's Most Famous Football Magazine, Publishes Final Physical Edition

• A glorious end in South African sports media has come to an end as change continues to sweep through the industry
• Kick Off magazine, the leading authority in football news in the country, published its final physical edition on Sunday
• Having struggled to remain afloat due to market realities, it will now go fully digital in future

Kick Off magazine has published its final physical copy.

Regarded as something of a footballing bible on the South African footballing landscape, the publication is going fully digital after 28 years of existence in hard copy format.

TimesLIVE reported that Kick Off had been dealing with financial difficulties for some time, as most print media in the country contended with shrinking numbers as economics and digitisation ruled the roost.

Renowned scribe, commentator and founding editor of Kick Off Mark Gleeson said:

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“It's very sad. It lasted a quarter of a century and spanned almost from SA's readmission into African and world football through the highs of Bafana Bafana winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 and going to successive World Cups in 1998 and 2002, to reflect the glory days of SA football."

“The magazine's demise comes at a time when the game is at a low ebb, which is sad. I feel, personally, having started it, quite bereft actually.”

Another respected sports journalist Marc Strydom lamented:

A sad day for SA football and SA football journalism... after 28 years iconic Kick Off magazine is shutting down.

The publication will continue on kickoff.com.

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As reported by Sports Brief, a three-goal victory, or a two-goal win in which they netted at least five times, would have enabled the Soweto Buccaneers to replace AmaZulu as leaders.

Given the poor start to the season by SuperSport, with just one point from a possible nine, it was a realistic target on a chilly late winter night.