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Primera División (women)

Primera División
Liga futbol femenino.png
Country  Spain
Confederation UEFA
Founded 1988
Number of teams 16
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to Segunda División
Domestic cup(s) Copa de la Reina
International cup(s) UEFA Champions League
Current champions Athletic Bilbao (5th title)
(2015–16)
Most championships Athletic Bilbao (5 titles)
TV partners BeIN Sports (Spain)
Esport3
ETB 1
Website Website
2016–17 season

The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, formerly Superliga Femenina, is the highest level of league competition for Spanish women's football. It is the female equivalent of the men's Primera División and is run by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol.

The league was founded in 1988 as Liga Nacional , formed by Olímpico Fortuna, Puente Castro, Parque Alcobendas, Santa María Atlético, Vallès Occcidental, RCD Español, FC Barcelona, CE Sabadell y Peña Barcelonista. From the season 1996-97 the league was divided in 4 groups. In that time, all group winners played a semi-final and a final to decide the champion.

For the 2001–02 season the league was renamed to Superliga and the competition system was changed to from the groups format to a double rounnd-robin, thus each team playing the other teams twice, one time away, one time at home. The league consisted of 14 teams in those years. The 2008–09 season kept the double round-robin format but the league was increased from 14 to 16 teams.

In the 2009–10 season the Superliga was increased from 16 to 24 teams, which caused criticism by teams and players, fearing a decline in competivity. The Superliga again is divided in 3 groups of 7 to 8 teams each. Those groups are divided based on local aspects. In the first stage of the season, in all groups each team plays each other twice. After that, the second stage starts. The best two of each group as well as the two best third-place finishers go into group A, the other teams are divided into group B and C based oin a predefined key. Again a double round-robin is played in the groups. All Group A teams and the three best finishers of Group B and C qualify for the Copa de la Reina, and the two best teams in Group A play each other in a two legged final for the season's championship. Rayo Vallecano won the 2009-10 and 2010-11 finals, both times against RCD Espanyol. In the 2009–10 season, two teams had to withdraw from the league for financial reasons.

For the 2011–12 season, in addition to the rename of the league to Primera División, the group based system was eliminated and 18 teams played double round-robin to decide the champion. In the 2012–13 season it was again shortened to 16 teams. Before the 2016–17, the Royal Spanish Football Federation agreed a sponsorship with Iberdrola, renaming the league as Liga Iberdrola for commercial issues.


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