The Leiria Football Association ( pt, Associação de Futebol de Leiria) is one of the 22 District Football Associations that are affiliated with the

Portuguese Football Federation The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) ( pt, Federação Portuguesa de Futebol; ) is the governing body of football in Portugal. The federation was formed in 1914 as Portuguese Football Union (UPF) by the three existing regional associations ...

. The AF Leiria administers lower-tier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in the

district of Leiria The District of Leiria ( pt, Distrito de Leiria ) is a district located in Centro region of Portugal, divided between the traditional provinces of Beira Litoral and Estremadura. It borders on the north with district of Coimbra, on the east with ...

. On 5 January 2014 Leiria FA won the Portuguese Regions Cup and will represent

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in the 2015 UEFA Regions' Cup, starting in September 2014.

Background

Leiria Football Association headquarters

The association, commonly abbreviated as the AF Leiria, is the governing body for football in the Portuguese district of Leiria. The Football Association is based in Cruz de Areia in Leiria, close to Escola Secundária Francisco Rodrigues Lobo (Francisco Rodrigues Lobo Secondary School) and LeiriaShopping. The Association's President is Júlio Vieira. Established on 9 September 1925, known then as Federação Desportiva do Distrito de Leiria (Leiria District Sports Federation), this Federation however ceased to exist in May 1926, due to the trouble times of the politically unstable and financially chaotic years of the

Portuguese First Republic The First Portuguese Republic ( pt, Primeira República Portuguesa; officially: ''República Portuguesa'', Portuguese Republic) spans a complex 16-year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the period of constitutional monarchy ...

. On 20 May 1929, Leiria Football Association was restarted, in his current name. New statutes and regulations was discussed and approved, and elected his first President, Acácio de Almeida Henriques. The founding clubs were: Sport Club Bombarralense, Caldas Sport Clube, Sporting Club das Caldas, Grupo Desportivo "Os Nazarenos", Sporting Club da Nazaré, Atlético Clube Marinhense, Sport Operário Marinhense, Leiria Gimnasio Club, Gimnasio Sportivo Lis e Associação Académica.

Competitions

Leiria clubs compete in the three national levels of the

Portuguese football league system The Portuguese football league system consists of several leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation. Reserve teams are allowed to compete in the main league system, as is the case with most of Europe. However, they are not ...

in competitions run by the

Portuguese League for Professional Football The Liga Portugal (Portugal League), also known by its acronym LPFP, is a governing body that manages professional football club competitions in Portugal. It was founded in 1978 as Liga Portuguesa dos Clubes de Futebol Profissional and works as an ...

(

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

and

Liga de Honra The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

) and

( Campeonato Nacional de Seniores). Caldas Sport Clube join the First National Division, where remained four seasons from 1955–56 to 1958–59. In 2012

União de Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...

were demoted to the

Segunda Divisão The Segunda Divisão Portuguesa (English language, English: ''Portuguese Second Division'') was a association football, football league situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division had previously been the secon ...

after failing to meet the deadline to sign the team in

, Leiria was automatically relegated to the

third level Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

. Ginásio Clube Alcobaça join the First National Division in 1982-83 for one season. Below the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores (Portuguese Third Division) the competitions are organised at a district level (known in Portuguese as

Distritais There are 22 district Football Associations in Portugal. These organizations are the governing bodies (alongside the Portuguese Football Federation) of football in each Portuguese district. Overview Until the reform of Portuguese football in 194 ...

) with each District Association organising its competitions according to geographical and other factors. The AF Leiria runs to league competitions with the Liga de Honra (1ª division) being at the fourth level of the league system and 1ª Divisão (2ª division) at the fifth level. This second tier is divided into two groups on a geographical basis In more general terms the AF Leiria currently organises District Championships for Soccer and Futsal for men and women for all age groups including Senior, Junior, Youth, Beginners, Infants and Schools.

Notable clubs affiliated to AF Leiria

;

(tier 1) * none ;

(tier 2) * none ; Campeonato Nacional de Seniores (tier 3) *

* Caldas Sport Clube * Atlético Clube Marinhense ;

(tiers 4 & 5) *

Grupo Desportivo de Peniche Grupo Desportivo de Peniche is a Portuguese football club located in Peniche, Portugal. The club was founded on January 30, 1941 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal (''Serie C''), holding home matches at Estádio do G.D. Peniche. ...

* Atlético Clube Marinhense * Beneditense * Ginásio Clube Alcobaça *

Sporting Clube de Pombal Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play * Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *AC Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *Real Sporti ...

* Associação Desportiva Portomosense

District championships

Historic champions

Recent Division Honra winners

List of member clubs

;Footnote: * 1-10 games in

Portuguese Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. * * 11-100 games in

. * * * 101+ games in

. * * *

References

External links

A.F. Leiria
{{Authority control Leiria Leiria Sport in Leiria 1925 establishments in Portugal