Portuguese football Association football ( pt, futebol), the most popular sport in Portugal, has a long and storied history in the country, following its introduction in 1875 in cities such as Funchal, Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra by English merchants and Portugu ...

is divided into divisions (''divisões'', singular — ''divisão''). The major teams play in the

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 ...

. The other professional teams play against each other in the

LigaPro 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 Pri ...

. The other major competitions are the

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 ** Port ...

Portuguese League 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 ** P ...

and Portuguese Super Cup.

Early years

Before 1922, the Portuguese teams played only local games with neighbouring clubs and later in the local championships as the Lisbon District Championship (''Campeonato Distrital de Lisboa'') or the Porto District Championship (''Campeonato Distrital do Porto'').

Championship of Portugal

The nation was urging for a nationwide competition and the clubs organized the Championship of Portugal for the most important District Associations ( Lisbon,

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its ...

, and

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (i ...

Setúbal Football Association The Setúbal Football Association (''Associação de Futebol de Setúbal'', abrv. ''AF Setúbal'') is the district governing body for all football competitions in the Portuguese district of Setúbal. It is also the regulator of the clubs registered ...

teams also participated instead of Lisbon clubs if they won the

Campeonato de Lisboa The Campeonato de Lisboa (English: Championship of Lisbon) was a regional football league in Portugal, situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division started in 1906, even before Lisbon Football Association was c ...

. In the first championship, only Lisbon, Porto, Madeira, and Algarve were invited and only Lisbon and Porto accepted. Later, all of them participated. This championship was played on a knock-out basis and was very similar to today's

. First held in 1922, it determined the Portuguese national champion and awarded the winning team with the same trophy that is currently awarded to the Portuguese Cup winners (although the Championship of Portugal titles don't count as Portuguese Cup titles and the winners of the Championship of Portugal no longer count as Portuguese football champions). But after the formation of the first Portuguese Football Union (''União Portuguesa de Futebol''), and later (1926)

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 ...

(''Federação Portuguesa de Futebol''), the organization dissolved the former competitions and reformed Portuguese football.

New names, new formats

The Championship of Portugal was turned into the Portuguese Cup, this time with all clubs in the nation (except for those in the

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

). The

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

(a round-basis experimental league) was transformed into the National Championship of the First Division (''Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Divisão''), or just First Division (''Primeira Divisão'') with the major clubs. The also experimental

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

was given the name of National Championship of the Second Division, or just Second Division divided into two zones (North and South) and later into three zones (North, Center and South). The

Terceira Divisão The Terceira Divisão Portuguesa (in English: ''Portuguese Third Division'') was a football league in Portugal, situated at the fourth level of the Portuguese football league system. The Third Division was initially the third level of the Portug ...

was also created with several geographical series. The irregular local championships were assigned to the 22

Portuguese District Football Associations 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 1 ...

, and, therefore, the District Championships were created.

End of dictatorship

With the end of the dictatorship in Portugal with the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lis ...

of 1974, the old 1938 format of the competitions needed some changes. Firstly, 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 ...

(''Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional'') was created. This organization inside the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) ruled the only professional league (First Division). The other competitions continued with the FPF. A SuperCup was then introduced. The name chosen,

SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the ' curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the pr ...

, was in honour of the Portuguese former football enthusiast and national coach in the early days. This competition was played on a yearly-basis between the First Division champion and the Portuguese Cup winner. Since 1938, the First Division grew from 8 teams to 20 teams in 1989. The professional football was growing and a new professional competition was needed.

The 1990s reform to nowadays

With the beginning of the 1990s, the Portuguese Football Federation and the Portuguese League for Professional Football agreed to create a new professional competition between the First Division and the Second Division. It would be called Division of Honour or Second Division of Honour (''Segunda Divisão de Honra'') and relegated the former zone-divided Second Division to third place. This competition continued to exist as "Second Division" but with B added to the name until 2005. From 1999 to 2005 it was divided in 3 zones (North, Center and South). From 2005 to 2012 it was renamed "Second Division" again. In 2007, the

was created. It is only open to clubs that compete in the top two tiers of Portuguese football. In 2013, the Second and Third Divisions merged to form the

Campeonato Nacional de Seniores The Campeonato de Portugal (Portuguese for 'Championship of Portugal') is the fourth level of the Portuguese football league system. Together with the third-tier Liga 3, it is organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The Campeonato ...

, the new third-tier football league, and in 2015 the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores was renamed "Campeonato de Portugal". In 2020, the FPF announced the creation of Liga 3 which begins in 2021–22, supplanting the Campeonato de Portugal, which becomes the new fourth tier.

Current league system

*;Professional :

(Portuguese League for Professional Football as the governing body) :

Liga Portugal 2 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 Pr ...

(Portuguese League for Professional Football as the governing body) *;Non-Professional :''National'' :: Liga 3 in 2021 (Portuguese Football Federation as the governing body) :: Campeonato de Portugal (FPF as the governing body) :''Regional'' ::From one to four League Levels for each

National cups

The Portuguese League for Professional Football also rules the Portuguese League Cup. The Portuguese Football Federation, the Portuguese Cup and the Super Cup.

Other competitions

The Portuguese Football Federation also rules the national youth championships, the women's football, the indoor-football (or Futsal) and the

Beach Soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various comp ...

, being also responsible for all national teams.

References

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