División de Honor Femenina de Balonmano
| Founded | 1953 |
|---|---|
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country | Spain |
| Confederation | EHF |
| Most recent champion(s) | BM Bera Bera |
| Most titles | Parc Sagunto (27 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | Teledeporte |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | División de Plata |
| International cup(s) | Champions League Cup Winners' Cup Women's EHF Cup |
| Official website | http://www.rfebm.net |
 2015–16 season | |
División de Honor Femenina de Balonmano is the premier women's professional handball league in Spain.
History
The championship was founded in 1953, though it was cancelled in 1955 before it was resumed in 1961. Balonmano Sagunto, formerly known as Medina/Íber/Mar Valencia is the championship's most successful club with 27 titles, having dominated the competition throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s, while SD Itxako has become its major team in recent years, ending the hegemony of Valencian clubs for the past three decades.[1]
The Spanish leading teams have been fairly successful in international competitions since the 1990s. Mar Valencia won the 1997 Champions League and the 2000 Cup Winners' Cup, while CB Amadeo Tortajada and SD Itxako have won the EHF Cup. In 2011 Itxako and CB Mar Alicante reached the final of the Champions League and the Cup Winners' Cup respectively.[2]
It changed its official name before 2011–12 season to División de Honor Femenina de Balonmano.[3] It was called Liga ABF between 2003 and 2011.
Championship rules
Each team of every division has to play with all the other teams of its division twice, once at home and the other at the opponent's stadium. This means that as its counterparts of Liga ASOBAL, each División de Honor season ends after every team plays 26 matches.
Like many other leagues in continental Europe, the División de Honor takes a winter break once each team has played half its schedule. One unusual feature of the league is that the two halves of the season are played in the same order—that is, the order of each team's first-half fixtures is repeated in the second half of the season, with the only difference being the stadiums used.
Each victory adds 2 points to the team in the league ranking. Each drawn adds 1 point.head-to-head. At the end of the league, the winner is:
- The team that has most points in the ranking.
- If two or more teams are level on points, the winner is the team that has the best results
- If there is no winner after applying the second rule, then the team with the best overall goal difference wins.
2015–16 season teams
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bera Bera | San Sebastián | Bidebieta | 1,000 |
| Rocasa G.C. ACE | Telde | Antonio Moreno | 800 |
| Mecalia Atl. Guardés | A Guarda | A Sangriña | 1,500 |
| Helvetia Alcobendas | Alcobendas | Los Sueños | 1,000 |
| Elche Mustang | Elche | Poliesportiu de Carrús | 800 |
| Aula Valladolid | Valladolid | Huerta del Rey | 3,500 |
| Porriño | O Porriño | Polideportivo Municipal | 1,600 |
| Prosetecnisa Zuazo | Barakaldo | Lasesarre | 2,576 |
| Canyamelar Valencia | Valencia | El Cabanyal | 1,200 |
| Clínicas Rincón Málaga | Málaga | Carranque | 1,500 |
| Carobels ULE-Cleba | León | Palacio de los Deportes | 6,500 |
| KH-7 Granollers | Granollers | Palau d'Esports | 5,685 |
| Jofemesa Oviedo | Oviedo | Florida Arena | 900 |
| Aiala Zarautz | Zarautz | Polideportivo Municipal | 3,000 |
2014–15 final standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bera Bera | 26 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 749 | 544 | +205 | 48 | Champions and Qualified to EHF Cup |
| 2 | Rocasa G.C. ACE | 26 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 821 | 612 | +209 | 45 | Qualified to EHF Challenge Cup |
| 3 | Mecalia Atl. Guardés | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 742 | 604 | +138 | 42 | Qualified to EHF Cup Winners' Cup |
| 4 | Helvetia Alcobendas | 26 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 737 | 656 | +81 | 37 | |
| 5 | Elche Mustang | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 690 | 647 | +43 | 34 | |
| 6 | Aula Cultural | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 792 | 751 | +41 | 31 | |
| 7 | Porriño | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 706 | 715 | −9 | 22 | |
| 8 | Prosetecnisa Zuazo | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 735 | 785 | −50 | 21 | |
| 9 | Canyamelar Valencia | 26 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 671 | 699 | −28 | 21 | |
| 10 | Clínicas Rincón Málaga Costa del Sol | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 666 | 766 | −100 | 20 | |
| 11 | Carobels Cleba | 26 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 654 | 725 | −71 | 15 | |
| 12 | KH-7 Granollers | 26 | 7 | 1 | 18 | 626 | 753 | −127 | 15 | |
| 13 | Vivelafruta.com Castelldefels | 26 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 620 | 775 | −155 | 7 | Relegation to Primera División |
| 14 | Adesal Córdoba | 26 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 569 | 746 | −177 | 6 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored
List of champions
Performance by club
| Club | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Sagunto | 1967–68, 1968–69, 1973–74, 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, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2004–05 | |
| Picadero | 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1969–70 | |
| Atlético Madrid | 1970–71, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78 | |
| Bera Bera | 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 | |
| Elda | 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2007–08 | |
| Itxako | 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 | |
| S.F. de Madrid | 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55 | |
| S.F./Medina Barcelona | 1960–61, 1962–63 | |
| Medina Guipúzcoa | 1972–73, 1974–75 | |
| Amadeo Tortajada | 2005–06, 2006–07 | |
| Hípica A Coruña | 1961–62 |
See also
References
- ^ List of champions in RFEBM's website
- ^ List of finals of EHF competitions in the-sports.org
- ^ RFEBM's general meeting, 08/06/2011