Football league system of Spain

The soccer league system in Spain is made up of divisions whose highest category is the Primera División. At the end of each season and depending on the results obtained, the participating teams can be promoted or descended from division. It began to be played in the 1928-29 season in the First and Second Division and the following year the Third Division was added. The season generally takes place between the months of September and June, although it may vary due to calendar adjustments.

The National Professional Soccer League has organized the First Division and the Second Division since 1984, while the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation organizes the First Federation, the Second Federation and the Third Federation. The regional divisions are the responsibility of the autonomous federations.

Men's League System

Level	Status	Category	Organizer	Male League Diagram
1	Professional	First Division 20 teams		PROFESSIONAL National level 1.a DIVISION 2.a DIVISION SEMIPROFESIONAL National level 1.a FEDERATION 2.a FEDERATION 3.a FEDERATION AMATEUR Regional level --...---------...-...-------------...-...-...--------...-
2	Professional	Second Division 22 teams
3	Semiprofessional	First Federation 40 teams in two groups of 20 teams each
4	Semiprofessional	Second Federation 90 teams in five groups of 18 teams each
5	Semiprofessional	Third Federation 288 teams in 18 groups of 16 teams each
6 - 10	Amateur	Regional categories 19 autonomic divisions, including Ceuta and Melilla, with their various territorial categories	Territorial federations

Women's League System

Note: new restructuring of women's football 2022-23.

Level	Status	Category	Organizer	Women's League Diagram
1	Professional	First Division 16 teams		PROFESSIONAL National level 1.a DIVISION SEMIPROFESIONAL National level 1.a FEDERATION 2.a FEDERATION 1.a NATIONAL AMATEUR Autonomous region ---...-----...-...-----...---------...-----...-...-----...--
2	Semiprofessional	First Federation 16 teams
3	Semiprofessional	Second Federation 32 teams in 2 groups of 16 teams each
4	Semiprofessional	First National 96 teams in 6 groups of 16 teams each
5 - 10	Amateur	Regional categories 19 autonomous divisions with their various territorial categories	Territorial federations

Competition system

Participating teams

In order to participate in the Spanish League, clubs must be federated. In the case of the professional categories (First and Second Division), the clubs must also meet the requirements demanded by the National Professional Soccer League.

Unlike other countries, affiliate teams can participate in the League, although never in a division equal to or higher than the team to which they belong.

Development of the competition

Although the number of teams that make up each division is not the same, all categories follow the same competition system. The tournament takes place between the months of September (or the end of August) and June (or the end of May) of the following year. Each club faces the other teams in the same division twice (once in their own field and once in the opponent's field), following a schedule established by draw at the beginning of the season. Generally, one day is held each week (coinciding with the weekend). The matches end at ninety minutes, without extensions or penalty shootouts in the event of ending in a draw.

Score and Ranking

Based on the result at the end of each match, the teams get a series of points: three for the winner, zero for the loser, and one point for each team in the event of a tie. At the end of the season, a classification is drawn up based on the points accumulated throughout the championship.

If two teams finish on equal points, the first tiebreaker is the result of the direct confrontation between those teams that finish the tournament on equal points. Second criterion: it is the best difference between goals scored and goals conceded. In the event that there have been three or more teams involved in the tie, the number of points obtained in the clashes between the clubs involved is taken into account first, followed by the goal difference in the clashes between said clubs. If equality had not been ended, the goals scored and conceded throughout the league by the clubs tied on points would be taken into account. The system is eliminatory. That is to say, if with the first method of tie-breaking, a team breaks the tie and the tie persists between two others, the entire system will be applied again to the clubs that are still tied, eliminating those already tied. All this helps determine the regular league champion at the end of the last day.

The team that adds the most points at the end of the championship is proclaimed champion of its category and, in the case of the First Division, the first classified is considered the League champion. Since it is a hierarchical system of interconnected leagues, the top ranked in each division have the option of being promoted to the higher category for the following season, replacing the last ranked in that category, who are relegated. The number of teams that are promoted and relegated varies depending on each category.

The first four classified in the First Division agree to participate in the group stage of the highest European competition for the following season: the Champions League. These places are variable and depend on the UEFA coefficient of Spain, referring to their teams, so that the most powerful teams access the Champions League, since the Spanish or English teams are stronger, for example, than the Scottish ones; For this reason, the first two have 4 places and the Scottish only 1. This rule is for all European competitions.

The fifth and sixth classified obtain direct qualification to participate the following season in the Europa League, along with the Copa del Rey champion. If it is classified between the fifth and sixth positions (qualified for the Europa League), the team that obtains the seventh position also plays in the Europa League, which will also happen when the two finalists of the Copa del Rey have qualified for the Champions League. If only the champion qualified for the Champions League, the seventh ranked in the league will participate in the Europa League.

Ascents and descents

Once the season is over, the position in the general classification will determine the promotions and relegations, which have previously been established by the RFEF. In the case of relegation, the last positions result in direct relegation to the lower category, but there may also be phases of permanence as occurs in the current RFEF Second Division or as happened in the old Second Division B. In the case of promotions Normally, the first positions are promoted directly, but some categories may include promotion or promotion phases to establish a sieve of classified teams to achieve promotion. Currently, the promotion and relegation system is established as follows:

Category	Ascense		Rest
	Direct	For elimination	Direct	For elimination
First Division (unique group)	-	-	3 positions (from 18 to 20th classified)	-
Second Division (unique group)	2 positions (2 first classified)	1 square between 4 teams (from 3.o to 6.o classified)	4 positions (from 19th to 22nd classified)	-
First Federation (two groups)	2 positions (camps of each group)	2 positions between 8 teams (from 2.o to 5.o of each group)	10 places, 5 per group (from 16 to 20th classified)	-
Second Federation (five groups)	5 places (camps of each group)	5 positions between 20 teams (from 2.o to 5.o of each group)	25 places, 5 per group (from 14th to 18th classified)	2 positions between 5 teams (the 13th of each group)
Third Federation (eight groups)	18 places (camps of each group)	9 positions between 72 teams (from 2.o to 5.o of each group)	54 places, 3 per group (from 14th to 16th grade)	-

Regulation and sports justice

The sports justice of the competition is managed by the League Competition Committee, the body in charge of imposing sanctions and resolving conflicts between clubs. The referees (all Spanish) are under the supervision of the Technical Committee of Referees chaired by former referee Luis Medina Cantalejo. The designation of the referees both on the field and in the vor room is made through a designation committee made up of three members: Antonio Jesús López Nieto (former international referee from Málaga), Carlos Velasco Carballo (former referee from Madrid in the First Division) and Evaristo Puentes Leira (ex-Galician referee of the First Division). A referee cannot direct a match in which a team from the same regional community in which they are registered participates.

History

After professionalism in Spanish soccer was legalized in 1925, the country's main clubs created a league, inspired by the English format. The president of the Arenas Club de Guecho, José María Acha, was the initial promoter of the project. After multiple discrepancies about the clubs that should be part of the championship, an agreement was finally reached on November 23, 1928, establishing a First Division made up of ten teams and a Second Division with two groups (A and B) of ten teams each (although, in practice, group B was the equivalent of a third category).

The First Division was made up of all the teams that to date had played in a Copa del Rey final. That meant a total of nine teams: six champions (Athletic Club, Real Madrid C.F., Real Sociedad de Fútbol, F.C. Barcelona, Real Unión Club and Arenas Club de Guecho) and three runners-up (Club Atlético de Madrid, R.C.D. Español and C.E. Europa).. The tenth vacant place was occupied by Real Racing Club de Santander after winning access qualifying rounds in which Valencia C.F., R.C. Deportivo de La Coruña, R.C. Celta de Vigo, Real Sporting de Gijón, Real Betis Balompié, Sevilla F.C., Iberia S.C. and Real Oviedo.

On February 10, 1929, the first day of the League championship was played. The first goal of said competition was scored by the Spanish RC D player Pitus Prat against Real Unión Club in minute 5 of the first day.

This competition format, with minor modifications, is still valid. The most significant changes have been in the number of teams that make up the competition, as well as the number of categories. The Third Division was introduced in the 1929-30 season and above this, the 1977-78 season, the Second Division B was created. In the 2021-22 season there was a new restructuring that established the RFEF First Division as the third level, replacing the Second Division "B"; the RFEF Second Division, as the fourth level, replacing the Third Division; and a fifth level prior to the regional divisions, the Tercera División RFEF.

The decade of the 1970s was characterized by the progressive openness experienced by Spanish soccer. After various scandals of corruption and falsifications to formalize signings of foreign soccer players with the label of natives, the signing of two foreigners per team was finally allowed.

In the 1984-85 season, the First and Second Divisions were managed by the National Professional Soccer League, an independent body of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation, although the latter continued to control the League's Competition Committee, in addition to to organize the rest of the national competitions.

In the 1995-96 season, a new scoring system was introduced, in which victory was worth 3 points instead of the traditional 2. The decision was made by FIFA in October 1994, alleging that, in this way, there would be fewer draws as there would be a greater difference in points with victory.

Evolution of the men's categories

Evolution of the female categories