Primera Federación

Primera Federación
Country	Spain
Founded	2021
Divisions	2
Number of teams	2 groups of 20 teams each (40)
Promotion to	Segunda División
Relegation to	Segunda Federación
Levels on pyramid	3
Domestic cup(s)	Copa del Rey Copa Federación
International cup(s)	UEFA Europa League (via winning Copa del Rey)
TV	Footters, Fuchs Sport, ETB 1, TVG, TV3
Website	Official website
2023–24

The Primera Federación, formerly known as Primera División RFEF, is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. It is below the top two professional leagues, the Primera División (also known as La Liga) and the Segunda División, and above the Segunda División RFEF and Tercera División RFEF.

History

In 2020, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced the creation of three new divisions, two semi-professional and one amateur: the Primera División RFEF as the new third tier of the Spanish system; the Segunda División RFEF as the new fourth tier, broadly using the same format as the Segunda División B created in 1977; and the Tercera División RFEF as the fifth tier, along the same lines as the Tercera División from 1977 whereby groups are limited to teams from each of the nation's autonomous communities and is administered by a local body.

On 30 June 2022, after just one season of existence, Primera División RFEF was renamed to Primera Federación.

League format

The RFEF First Division will be made up of a total of 40 clubs divided into two groups of 20 teams distributed by geographical proximity. In its first season, 4 teams will be relegated from the Segunda División (La Liga 2) and the remaining will come from the Segunda División B.

Like the other Spanish divisions, it will take place annually, beginning at the end of August or early September, and ending in May or June of the following year. The twenty teams in each group will play each other twice, home and away, for a total of thirty-eight matches. At the end of the season, the seven teams that accumulate the most points in each group, excluding reserve teams, qualify for the next edition of the Copa del Rey. At the end of the season, a total of four teams will be promoted to the second tier through promotion playoffs, while the bottom five in each division will be relegated to the fourth tier.

Reserve teams eligibility

Reserve teams can participate in the RFEF First Division if their first teams compete in a higher division, but cannot compete in the same division. If a team is relegated or promoted to the same division, the reserve team will be denied promotion or automatically relegated to ensure they remain one division separate.

External links

• Official website RFEF