Tercera Federación

Tercera Federación
Founded	1928–29
Country	Spain
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	361
Level on pyramid	4
Promotion to	Segunda División B
Relegation to	Divisiones Regionales
Domestic cup(s)	Copa del Rey; Copa Federación
International cup(s)	UEFA Europa League; (via winning Copa del Rey)
Website	Official website
	Current: 2016–17 season

Tercera División (Template:Lang-en) is the fourth level of the Spanish football league system. The top three are the Primera División, often referred to as "La Liga" in English, the Segunda División, and Segunda División B.

Current format

The Tercera División currently features 360 teams divided into 18 regional groups, corresponding to the Autonomous communities of Spain (due to its huge size, Andalucia is divided into two different groups, East and West; Ceuta is allocated to West Andalusia, while Melilla is allocated to the East). Each Group is administered by a regional football federation. At the end of the season the first four teams in each group qualify for promotion play-offs to decide which teams are promoted to Segunda División B. The three teams finishing bottom of each group may be relegated to the Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol. However the number of teams relegated can vary. The eighteen group champions also qualify for the following season's Copa del Rey. However reserve teams are ineligible. Along with teams from Segunda División B, the remaining teams from the division compete in the Copa Federación.

Since the 2008-09 season, the eighteen group winners have the opportunity to promote directly to the Segunda División B. The 18 group winners are drawn into a two-legged series where the nine winners promote to the Segunda División B. The nine losing clubs enter the playoff round for the last nine promotion spots.

The 18 runners-up are drawn against one of the seventeen fourth-place clubs outside their group and the 18 third-placed clubs are drawn against one another in a two-legged series. The twenty-seven winners advance with the nine losing clubs from the champions' series to determine the 18 teams that enter the last two-legged series for the last nine promotion spots. In all the playoff series, the lower-ranked club plays at home first. Whenever there is a tie in position (like the group winners in the champions' series or the third-placed teams in the first round), a draw determines the club to play at home first.

Group	Region	Area (km²)	Winners (2015–16)	Relegation
1.	Galicia	29,574	Boiro	Preferente de Galicia
2.	Asturias	10,604	Caudal	Preferente de Asturias
3.	Cantabria	5,321	Laredo	Preferente de Cantabria
4.	Basque Country	7,234	Zamudio	Basque lower levels
5.	Catalonia	32,114	Prat	Primera Catalana
6.	Valencian Community	23,255	Atlético Saguntino	Preferente Comunidad Valenciana
7.	Madrid	8,028	San Sebastián de los Reyes	Preferente de Madrid
8.	Castile and León	94,223	Zamora	Preferente de Castilla y León
9.	Eastern Andalusia and Melilla	42,114	Atlético Mancha Real	Primera Andaluza
10.	Western Andalusia and Ceuta	45,194	Córdoba B	Primera Andaluza
11.	Balearic Islands	4,992	Mallorca B	Preferente
12.	Canary Islands	7,447	Villa de Santa Brígida	Interinsular Preferente
13.	Murcia	11,313	Lorca	Preferente de Murcia
14.	Extremadura	41,634	Extremadura	Preferente de Extremadura
15.	Navarre	10,391	Osasuna B	Preferente de Navarra
16.	La Rioja	5,045	Calahorra	Preferente de La Rioja
17.	Aragon	47,719	Deportivo Aragón	Preferente de Aragón
18.	Castile-La Mancha	79,463	Conquense	Preferente de Castilla-La Mancha

History

During the inaugural La Liga season of 1928/29 a third level of teams known as Segunda División B was also organised. This division featured 10 teams and at the end of the season Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa were crowned champions. However the 1929/30 season saw the first of many reorganisations of the Spanish football league system and the Tercera Division was born. During its first season the division featured 33 teams divided into eight groups. The eight group winners qualified for a play-off and CD Castellón eventually beat Barakaldo CF 3-2 to be declared champions. The most significant reorganisation came at the start of the 1977/78 season with the revival of Segunda División B which replaced the Tercera División as the third level.

Evolution of the Tercera División

Tier\Years	1928–50	1950–55	1955–68	1968–70	1970–77	1977–79	1979–80	1980–83	1983–86	1986–87	1987–89	1989–92	1992–04	2004–06	2006–current
3	4 to 10 groups	6 groups	14 groups	8 groups	4 groups	Segunda División B
4	Regional divisions					6 groups	8 groups	13 groups	14 groups	16 groups	17 groups	17 groups +2 subgroups	17 groups	17 groups +2 subgroups	18 groups

Historical classification

The classification will be updated at the end of each season.

Correct as end of 2015–16 season.
Bold indicates playing in this level at 2016–17 season.
(†) indicates defunct teams.

Pos	Team	Seasons	Winners
1.	Murcia Imperial	63	1
2.	Arenas Getxo	61	3
3.	Eldense	55	12
3.	Tudelano	55	5
5.	Constancia	54	8
6.	Atlético Baleares	53	11
7.	Racing Santander B	52	5
7.	Manacor	52	4
7.	Europa	52	2
10.	Cacereño	51	10
10.	Lemos	51	0
10.	Gimnástica Segoviana	51	2
13.	Caudal	50	15
13.	Don Benito	50	7
13.	Mirandés	50	4

Pos	Team	Seasons	Winners
13.	Baskonia	50	4
17.	Poblense	49	2
17.	Arosa	49	1
19.	Calahorra	48	7
19.	Linense	48	5
19.	Reus	48	2
19.	Monzón	48	1
19.	Coria	48	0
24.	Deportivo Coruña B	47	3
24.	Salamanca B (†)	47	1
24.	Alaior	47	0
24.	Turón	47	0
28.	Gimnástica Torrelavega	46	10
28.	Ponferradina	46	3
28.	Siero	46	2

Pos	Team	Seasons	Winners
28.	Getxo	46	1
28.	Júpiter	46	0
28.	Guadalajara	46	0
34.	Alicante (†)	45	3
34.	Chantrea	45	0
34.	Oberena	45	0
37.	Laredo	44	4
37.	Girona	44	4
37.	Acero	44	2
37.	Tortosa	44	0
37.	Santoña	44	0
42.	Gandía	43	3
43.	Andorra	42	7
43.	Valladolid B	42	7
43.	Ejea	42	3

Records

Most seasons: 63, Real Murcia Imperial
Most games: 2,076, Arenas de Getxo (34,03 per season)
Most points: 2,641, Costància (1,42 per game)
Most won games: 939, Cacereño (55.69%)
Most drawn games: 583, Arenas de Getxo (28.08%)
Most lost games: 750, Lemos (44.32%)
Most goals for: 3,486, Cacereño (2,06 per game)
Most goals against: 2,605, Real Murcia Imperial (1,29 per game)

External links

Official RFEF
Group for Spanish Football Statistics Compilation (in Spanish)
Map of Regions used in 2000-01