The 2021–22 Liga 3 was first season of Portuguese football's third-tier league, following the reorganization which saw the Campeonato de Portugal moving one level down in 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 ...

. First season, a total of 24 teams competed in this division.

Format

This competition consists of a first stage with all the teams then proceed to a promotion or relegation series depending on their performance. First Stage In the first stage, the 24 clubs are divided in two series (Serie A and B) of 12 teams, according to geographic criteria. In each series, teams play against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. The four best-placed teams of the two series will advance to the promotion series and bottom 8 teams will proceed to the relegation series. Promotion Stage The eight qualified teams are divided in two series of 4 teams, playing against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. The winners of each series will be automatically promoted to

Liga Portugal 2 The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super 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 Pr ...

and will face each other in a neutral venue to determine the champion. The second best placed teams will face each other in a playoff, whose winner will face the 16th placed of Liga Portugal 2 for the last spot in Liga Portugal 2. On this stage teams will be divided as follows. Relegation Stage The bottom 8 teams are divided in four series of 4 teams, playing against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. To account for their performance in the first stage, teams will start with bonification points, with 5th placed teams starting with 8 points and 12th placed teams starting with 1. The bottom teams of each series will be relegated to Campeonato de Portugal.

Teams

A total of 24 teams contested the league, including 2 teams relegated from the 2020–21 Liga Portugal 2, 6 teams that failed the promotion to

2021–22 Liga Portugal 2 The 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2, also known as Liga Portugal SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd season of Portuguese football's second-tier league, and the second season under the current Liga Portugal 2 title. A total of 18 teams were com ...

and 16 teams qualified from the

2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal The 2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal was the eighth season of Portuguese football's renovated third-tier league, since the merging of the Segunda Divisão and Terceira Divisão in 2013, and the sixth season under the current Campeonato de Portug ...

. Cova da Piedade failed to produce valid licensing documentation to compete in the 2021–22 season of the

, so they had been relegated by the Portuguese Football Professional League to Liga 3. Leça failed to produce valid licensing documentation to compete in the 2021–22 season of the Liga 3, so they had their promotion denied by the

Portuguese Football Federation The Portuguese Football Federation ( , FPF) is the governing body of Association football, football in Portugal. The federation was formed in 1914 as Portuguese Football Union (, UPF) by the three existing regional associations of Lisbon Footbal ...

. As a result, Sanjoanense ( 3rd place in Promotion Serie 3) were invited to play in the third tier for the 2021–22 season.

Stadium and locations

First stage

In the first stage, the 24 clubs were divided in two series (Serie A and B) of 12 teams, according to geographic criteria.

Serie North

Serie South

Second stage

In the second stage, the 24 clubs were divided in 2 promotion series (Serie 1 and 2) of 4 teams and 4 relegation series (Serie 1, 2, 3 and 4) of 4 teams.

Promotion series

Serie 1

Serie 2

Relegation series

Serie 3

Serie 4

Serie 5

Serie 6

Third stage

Third place playoff

First leg

Second leg

''Alverca advances to

Promotion play-offs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

.''

Championship final

Number of teams by district

References

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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