Pioneer Football League ( ban, পাইওনিয়ার ফুটবল লীগ ), also known as the Bangladesh Pioneer Football League, is an age-level league and also the sixth-tier of

Bangladeshi football Football is the second-most popular sport in Bangladesh, after cricket, and is governed by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). An interest in cricket resulting from the nation's success in Test cricket and participation in the Cricket World ...

organised by

Bangladesh Football Federation Bangladesh Football Federation (, ''Bānlādēśa phuṭabala phēḍārēśana'') is the governing body that administrates the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national tea ...

. The semi-finalsits of the competition are promoted to the

Dhaka Third Division Football League Dhaka Third Division Football League is the fifth-tier association football, football league in Bangladesh, as well as the third and lowest league division in Dhaka. It was established in 1948 as the third-tier of the Dhaka League, while Banglad ...

. As the tournament is considered to be the lowest level of Bangladeshi football, so the number of participants is unlimited as well as any club is able to send an application to participate in the tournament.

History

The league unofficially started on 29 April 1980. A total of 160 teams participated in the qualifiers, from which 80 teams got a chance in the final stage. But the tournament was not registered as the

did not determine a champion and runner-up team. The Pioneer League officially started in 1981. In its first edition the league was inaugurated by the Speaker of the National Assembly (MNA),

Shamsul Huda Chaudhury Shamsul Huda Chaudhury (1 May 1920 – 15 February 2000) was a Bangladeshi politician, mass-media administrator, minister and two time Speaker of the Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad. Early life Chaudhury was born on 1 May 1920 in Sufi, Birbhum, West ...

. A year later, on September 24, 1983, the then

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

President

João Havelange Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, athlete and centenarian who served as the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the ...

inaugurated the league at the

Dhaka Stadium Bangabandhu National Stadium ( bn, বঙ্গবন্ধু জাতীয় স্টেডিয়াম, ''romanised: Bongobondhu jateeyo stediyaam''), also known as Dhaka Stadium, and formerly known as Dacca Stadium, is the national s ...

. The next few editions saw the league being inaugurated by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...

and

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister ...

Format

* A total of 46 teams were split into five zones - Central, East, West, North and South. * The matches will be held at the five different venues- Paltan Outer Stadium, Gopibagh Brother Union ground, Mirpur Golartek ground, Uttara Sector 14 ground and Fatullah Aliganj ground. Each venue will host 2 groups. * A total of 20 teams will play in the Super League, two from each zone. In the Super League, 20 teams will play in four groups. * The four group champions will play the semi-finals. These four semi-finalists will advance to the

Structure

Champions

Individual awards

Top-scorer

Player of the tournament

Player of the final

References

{{Reflist 3 Sport in Dhaka 1983 establishments in Bangladesh Youth football leagues Sixth level football leagues in Asia Sports leagues established in 1983