Country | Bulgaria |
---|---|
Founded | 1950 |
Number of teams | 63 16 North-West 12 North-East 18 South-East 17 South-West |
Level on pyramid | 3 |
Promotion to | Second League |
Relegation to | Regional Groups |
Domestic cup(s) |
Bulgarian Cup Cup of Bulgarian AFL |
Current champions |
Chernomorets Balchik (North-East) Nesebar (South-East) Etar Veliko Tarnovo (North-West) CSKA Sofia (South-West) |
TV partners | Kanal 3 |
2016–17 season |
The Bulgarian Third Amateur Football League (Bulgarian: Трета аматьорска футболна лига), commonly referred to as "Third League" (Bulgarian: Трета лига) is the third level of the Bulgarian football league system. Third League operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the second and the fourth tier of the Bulgarian football league pyramid – respectively being Second League and the A Oblast Groups. Currently Third League consists of four divisions that are formed by separating the country into four regions: North-West, South-West, North-East and South-East. The divisions run in parallel during the season, but since the number of teams in each division may vary, the number of rounds in each of them may vary. Each team must play at least two times against every other team on a home-away basis.
The Third League was created in 1950, along with the second level. It is administered by the Bulgarian Football Union, and the clubs in it have an amateur status. Nowadays, only the top teams of each division have the right to participate in the Bulgarian Cup tournament, but since 1995 the clubs in the group can participate in the Cup of Bulgarian Amateur Football League competition.
The Third League was created in 1950 as the third level of the Bulgarian football league system, along with the second tier in the same pyramid - Second League. The name then - "V group", is derived from the fact that "V" (Bulgarian: "В") is the third letter of the Cyrillic alphabet so the third level of the football pyramid is named after the third letter of the alphabet (and A Group and B Group are respectively the first and the second).