The Primera Federación, officially the Primera Federación Versus e-Learning for sponsorship reasons (formerly known as Primera RFEF). is the third tier of the

Spanish football league system The Spanish football league system consists of several professional, semi-professional, amateur and non-professional leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation. The top two tiers of the male league pyramid — Primera Di ...

beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administered by the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the natio ...

. It is below the top two professional leagues, the ''Primera División'' (also known as

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

) and ''Segunda División'' (also known as La Liga Hypermotion), above the ''

Segunda Federación Segunda Federación, previously called Segunda RFEF, also officially known as Segunda B, is the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system containing 90 teams divided into five groups. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Fede ...

'' and ''

Tercera Federación Tercera Federación, previously known as Tercera RFEF, is the fifth tier of the Spanish football league system. It is below the ''La Liga'', ''Segunda División'', and its fellow semi-professional divisions '' Primera Federación'' and ''Segunda F ...

''. It is the highest level of

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

football in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

History

In 2020, the

announced the creation of three new divisions, two semi-professional and one amateur: the Primera División RFEF as the new third tier of the Spanish system; the Segunda División RFEF as the new fourth tier, broadly using the same format as the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

created in 1977; and the Tercera División RFEF as the fifth tier, along the same lines as the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

from 1977 whereby groups are limited to teams from each of the nation's

autonomous communities The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Spa ...

and is administered by a local body. On 30 June 2022, after just one season of existence, Primera División RFEF was renamed to Primera Federación.

League format

As of 2024–25 season, the Primera Federación is made up of 40 clubs divided into two groups of 20 teams distributed by geographical proximity, initially with a north-west/south-east split. The competition is divided in two phases, the first of which corresponds to the regular phase and the second to the two-legged First Federation play-off. The regular phase is made up of a total of 38 matchdays in which the participating clubs play each other over two legs. The clubs that qualify in first place in each of the two groups will be promoted directly to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. The clubs that qualify in the second to fifth places in each of the two groups will participate in the First Federation play-off through the direct elimination system. The two winning clubs in each of the finals will be promoted, along with the top finishers in each group, to the Segunda División. On the other hand, the teams that occupy the sixteenth to twentieth places in each of the groups will be relegated to the

Champion

The two group winners play the final of the tournament. The winner obtains direct qualification to the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

second round, as well as receiving the Primera Federación champion trophy.

Reserve teams eligibility

Reserve teams can participate in the Primera Federación if their first teams compete in a higher division, but cannot compete in the same division. If a team is relegated or promoted to the same division, the reserve team will be denied promotion or automatically relegated to ensure they remain one division separate.

Clubs

The member clubs of the Primera Federación for the 2024–25 season are listed below.

Seasons

Bold: overall champion

Champions and promotions

Bold: overall titles

Top scorers

Goals in playoffs are not counted.

References

External links

Official website RFEF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Primera Federacion 3

Semi-professional sports leagues Sports leagues established in 2021 2021 establishments in Spain