Tercera División
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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 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 ...
), 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 ...
'', and the semi-professional ''
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 ...
''. For the 2021–22 season, Tercera División was replaced by Tercera División RFEF, which became the fifth tier due to the creation of a new, semi-professional third division by the Spanish federation (RFEF) called the
Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...
.


Format

Tercera División featured 360 teams divided into 18 regional groups, corresponding to the
autonomous communities of Spain The autonomous communities () are the first-level political divisions of Spain, administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Constitution of Spain, Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonom ...
(due to its size,
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is divided into two groups, East and West;
Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...
is allocated to West Andalusia, while
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is allocated to the East). Each group was administered by a regional football federation. At the end of the season the first four teams in each group qualified for promotion play-offs to decide which teams were promoted to
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 ...
. At least the three teams finishing bottom of each group were relegated to the Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol. However the number of relegated teams often varied. The eighteen group champions also qualified for the following season's
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 ...
, of which reserve teams were ineligible. Along with teams from
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 ...
, the remaining teams from the division competed in the Copa Federación. Until the 2018–19 season, the 18 group winners had the opportunity of direct promotion to 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 ...
. The group winners are drawn into a two-legged series, after which the nine winners are promoted to the Segunda División B. The nine losing clubs enter the play-off round for the last nine promotion spots. The 18 runners-up were drawn against one of the 17 fourth-placed clubs outside their group and the 18 third-placed clubs were drawn against one another in a two-legged series. The 27 winners advanced with the nine losing clubs from the champions' series to determine the 18 teams that entered the final two-legged series for the last nine promotion spots. In all the play-off series, the lower-ranked club played at home first. Whenever there was a tie in position (like the group winners in the champions' series or the third-placed teams in the first round), a draw determined the club to play at home first. In the 2019–20 season, the promotion play-off rules were altered by an RFEF resolution after that season was suspended and later curtailed due to the coronavirus disease pandemic in Spain. Thus, the top four teams in each group at the time of suspension were deemed to qualify for the play-offs, which will be contested on a regional basis at neutral venues. The 18 group winners were drawn against the fourth-place clubs while the 18 runners-up were drawn against the third-place clubs within their groups, all in two-legged series. The 36 first-round winners played single knock-out games in each of their regions, from which 18 were promoted to the Segunda División B. The 18 losing clubs will be able to play additional play-off rounds if possible for the remaining two spots in the third-tier division, which initially expanded to 100 teams divided into five groups of 20 and subdivided into 10 subgroups of 10 teams each, only for 2020–21. However, two more clubs were promoted after the RFEF cancelled the Tercera División repechages without replaying them, thus there are now four groups of 20 and one group of 22, subdivided into eight subgroups of 10 and two subgroups of 11.


History

During the inaugural
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 ...
season of 1928–29 a third level of teams known as ''Segunda División B'' was also organised. This division featured 10 teams and at the end of the season Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa were crowned champions. However the 1929–30 season saw the first of many reorganisations of the Spanish football league system and the ''Tercera Division'' was born. During its first season the division featured 33 teams divided into eight groups. The eight group winners qualified for a play-off and
CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Nou E ...
eventually beat
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3-2 to be declared champions. The most significant reorganisation came at the start of the 1977–78 season with the revival of
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 ...
which replaced the Tercera División as the third level. On 6 May 2020, the RFEF announced the creation of a new, two-group, 40-team third division called
Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...
, which made the former third and fourth divisions,
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 ...
and Tercera División, respectively, drop down a level and change into Segunda División RFEF and Tercera División RFEF; the changes were made effective for the 2021–22 campaign.


Evolution of the Tercera División


Historical classification


Latest group champions and promoted teams

In bold, group champions are promoted to Segunda División B. Administrative promotions not included in this table.


Records

;Most seasons: *68 – Murcia Imperial *61 – Arenas Getxo *59 – Constància ;Most points: *2,955 – Constància ''(1.43 per game)'' *2,876 – Murcia Imperial ''(1.28 per game)'' *2,747 – Don Benito ''(1.48 per game)'' ;Most games played: *2,205 – Murcia Imperial ''(32.42 per season)'' *2,110 – Arenas Getxo ''(34.60 per season)'' *2,093 – Europa ''(36.72 per season)'' ;Most wins: *1080 – Cacereño ''(57.53%)'' *1035 – Constància ''(50.07%)'' *947 – Don Benito ''(51.00%)'' ;Most draws: *591 – Arenas Getxo ''(28.01%)'' *514 – Murcia Imperial ''(23.31%)'' *509 – Baskonia ''(26.24%)'' ;Most losses: *756 – Lemos ''(44.31%)'' *707 – Arenas Getxo ''(33.51%)'' *705 – Murcia Imperial ''(31.97%)'' ;Most goals scored: *3,894 – Cacereño ''(2.06 per game)'' *3,796 – Murcia Imperial ''(1.72 per game)'' *3,682 – Rayo Cantabria, formerly Racing Santander B ''(1.85 per game)'' ;Most goals received: *2,838 – Murcia Imperial ''(1.34 per game)'' *2,759 – Atlético Monzón ''(1.45 per game)'' *2,674 – Europa ''(1.31 per game)'' ;Most group titles: *16 – Caudal ;Most promotion play-offs played: *21 – Peña Sport ;Highest attendance: *27,214 –
Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...
1–0 Mallorca B, at Estadio Carlos Tartiere on 24 May 2009


References


External links


Official RFEFGroup for Spanish Football Statistics Compilation
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tercera Division 4 Sports leagues established in 1929 Sports leagues disestablished in 2021 1929 establishments in Spain 2021 disestablishments in Spain