Cypriot football league system

The Cyprus football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Cyprus. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels. The top three leagues are organised by the Cyprus Football Association and the rest by the S.T.O.K. (Greek: Σ.Τ.Ο.Κ. short for Συνομοσπονδία Τοπικών Ομοσπονδιών Κύπρου, "Confederation of local federations of Cyprus").

At the top is the Cypriot First Division (which may be referred to as level 1 of the league "pyramid"), a single-division league of 14 clubs. Below is Cyprus lower leagues, which are divided into two divisions of 14 clubs (Second Division) and 16 clubs (Third Division). Some of these 44 clubs are full-time professional while the rest are all full-time semi-professional. Confusingly all 44 are often referred to as "league" clubs because as there are only three leagues in Cyprus, but no non-leagues. Clubs outside this group are referred to as "non-league" clubs, although they all play most of their football in cup competitions.

Only the Amateur leagues are referred as non-league, which is on the same level (level 4) as the top divisions. The first (top) league of Amateur Divisions is the STOK Elite Division. At the end of each season the top three clubs from the STOK Elite Division are promoted to the Cypriot Third Division and the last four clubs are relegated to the lower amateur divisions.

Beyond STOK Elite Division exists a large group of other Amateur leagues. Each of these leagues has a different divisional set up, but they all have one thing in common: there are yet more leagues below them, each covering smaller and smaller geographical levels. These leagues are collectively known as the National League System and they are controlled by S.T.O.K.

Each league sets its own rules, but all follow the general standard of each club playing everyone else Once with three points being awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The league table is always ordered with whoever has the most points at the top and the least at the bottom (ways of distinguishing between clubs level on points differ from league to league). Promotion to the STOK Elite Division is decided by the STOK (Greek: Σ.Τ.Ο.Κ.) play-offs.

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