Primera Federación

Primera Federación
Organising body	RFEF
Founded	2020; 4 years ago
First season	2021–22
Country	Spain
Divisions	2
Number of clubs	2 groups of 20 teams each (40)
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Segunda División
Relegation to	Segunda Federación
Domestic cup(s)	Copa del Rey; Copa Federación
International cup(s)	UEFA Europa League; (via winning Copa del Rey)
Current champions	SD Amorebieta (1st title) ; (2022–23)
Most championships	Racing Santander ; Amorebieta (1 title)
TV partners	Footters, Fuchs Sport, ETB 1, TVG, TV3
	Current: 2023–24 Primera Federación

The Primera Federación, formerly known as Primera 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 Segunda División (also known as La Liga Hypermotion), above the Segunda Federación and Tercera Federación. It is the highest level of semi-professional football in Spain.

History

In 2020, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced the creation of three new divisions, two semi-professional and one amateur:^[1] the Primera División RFEF as the new third tier of the Spanish system;^[2] 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.^[3]

League format

The Primera Federación is made up of a total of 40 clubs divided into two groups of 20 teams distributed by geographical proximity, initially with a north-west/south-east split. 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.^[4]

Like the other Spanish divisions, it takes 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 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 are promoted to the second tier with the champions in each group achieve automatic promotion to Segunda División. The second to fifth place teams will play promotion play-offs to the second division, where two of eight teams win the play-offs and are promoted to Segunda División. The bottom five in each division are relegated to the fourth tier.

Reserve teams eligibility

Reserve teams can participate in the Primera Federación 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.

Clubs

Location of teams in 2023–24 Primera Federación

Red: Group 1;

Green: Group 2

The member clubs of the Primera Federación for the 2023–24 season are listed below.

Group 1	Group 2
Arenteiro Barcelona Atlètic Celta B Cornellà Cultural Leonesa Deportivo La Coruña Fuenlabrada Gimnàstic Lugo Osasuna B Ponferradina Rayo Majadahonda Real Sociedad B Real Unión Sabadell Sestao River Tarazona Teruel SD Logroñés Unionistas	Alcoyano Algeciras Antequera Atlético Baleares Atlético Madrid B Atlético Sanluqueño Castellón Ceuta Córdoba Ibiza Linares Intercity Málaga Melilla Mérida Murcia Real Madrid Castilla Recreativo Granada Recreativo Huelva San Fernando

Seasons

Season	Group 1 winner	Group 2 winner	Other promoted teams
2021–22	Racing Santander	Andorra	Albacete and Villarreal B
2022–23	Racing Ferrol	Amorebieta	Alcorcón and Eldense

Bold: overall champion

Champions and promotions

Club	Group winners	Overall champions	Promotions	Winning years (group)
Racing Santander	1	1	1	2021–22 (1)
Amorebieta	1	1	1	2022–23 (2)
FC Andorra	1	0	1	2021–22 (2)
Racing Ferrol	1	0	1	2022–23 (1)
Albacete	0	0	1	-
Alcorcón	0	0	1	-
Eldense	0	0	1	-
Villarreal B	0	0	1	-

Bold: overall titles

Top scorers

Goals in playoffs are not counted.

Season	Top scorer	Club	Goals
2021–22	Ferran Jutglà	Barcelona B	19
2022–23	Rodri	AD Ceuta	20

References

^ "Así sería la nueva Segunda B Pro del fútbol español" [This would be the new Segunda B Pro of Spanish football]. Apuestas de Murcia (in Spanish). 16 September 2020.
^ Abizanda, Jorge (15 September 2020). "La Federación desvela el misterio: La nueva Segunda B se denominará Primera División RFEF" [The Federation reveals the mystery: The new Second B will be called First Division RFEF]. ABC (Spain) (in Spanish).
^ "La Primera RFEF pasa a llamarse Primera Federación" [Primera RFEF is now called Primera Federación] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
^ "Así es la nueva y liosa Segunda B explicada a la perfección: grupos ascensos, descensos..." [This is the new and messy Second B explained to perfection: groups ascents, descents ...]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 6 October 2020.

External links

Official website RFEF (in Spanish)

[1] "Así sería la nueva Segunda B Pro del fútbol español" [This would be the new Segunda B Pro of Spanish football]. Apuestas de Murcia (in Spanish). 16 September 2020.

[feder-2] Abizanda, Jorge (15 September 2020). "La Federación desvela el misterio: La nueva Segunda B se denominará Primera División RFEF" [The Federation reveals the mystery: The new Second B will be called First Division RFEF]. ABC (Spain) (in Spanish).

[3] "La Primera RFEF pasa a llamarse Primera Federación" [Primera RFEF is now called Primera Federación] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

[nueva-4] "Así es la nueva y liosa Segunda B explicada a la perfección: grupos ascensos, descensos..." [This is the new and messy Second B explained to perfection: groups ascents, descents ...]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 6 October 2020.

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v t e Third level Spanish football league seasons
2ª División Group B	1929
Tercera División	1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1940–41 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77
Segunda B	1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
Primera Federación	2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Play-offs	1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024