Football League (Greece)

Football League, former Beta Ethniki (Β΄ Εθνική, II National Category), is the second highest professional football league in Greece, being a feeder-league to the top-level Superleague Greece.

History
It began in 1954 as regional championship, separated in two groups, North and South. Then, the participating teams were the champions of each Greek football clubs association. Every year the participating teams were different. In 1960, the Division took its name and some teams were permanent. From 1960 to 1984, there existed multiple groups, peaking in 1962 with ten groups. In 1962, the Division was made permanent, something that had as an essential condition the disengagement of the teams from their local championships. This change has led many statisticians to begin statistics from this period (1962–63). For 21 periods, from 1962–63 to 1982–83, championship was carried out in groups. The subordinate system was introduced for first time in 1983–84 season.

On August 3, 2010, the change of division's name to Football League was announced.

Structure
At present, there are eighteen clubs that compete in the Football League, playing each other in a home and away series. At the end of the season, the bottom four teams are relegated to the Football League 2. The top two teams gain automatic promotion. Unlike the Superleague, clubs in the Football League do not get relegated if the club fails to obtain a license. All teams in the Football League take part in the Greek Football Cup.