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 Federación.^[1] It was founded in 1929 as the third tier, and dropped down to the fourth and fifth tiers in 1977 and 2021, respectively.

Tercera Federación

Organising body	RFEF
Founded	6 May 2020; 4 years ago (2020-05-06)
First season	2021–22
Country	Spain
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	324 (since 2023–24)
Level on pyramid	5
Promotion to	Segunda Federación
Relegation to	Divisiones Regionales
Domestic cup(s)	Copa del Rey Copa Federación
International cup(s)	UEFA Europa League (via winning Copa del Rey)
TV partners	tvG2, laOtra, PTV Córdoba
Current: 2024–25 Tercera Federación

Groups of Tercera Federación

History

On 6 May 2020, the RFEF announced the creation of a new, two-group, 40-team third division called Primera División RFEF, which made the former third and fourth divisions, Segunda División B and Tercera División, respectively, to drop down a level and change into Segunda División RFEF and Tercera División RFEF; the changes were made effective for the 2021–22 campaign.^[2][3]

In July 2022, the division was renamed Tercera Federación.^[4]

Current format

The Tercera Federación features 18 regional groups (like the former fourth tier Tercera División), corresponding to the autonomous communities of Spain (due to its size, Andalusia is divided into two groups, East and West; Ceuta is allocated to West Andalusia, while Melilla is allocated to the East), where each group is administered by a regional football federation. At the end of the season the first four teams in each group qualify for promotion play-offs to decide which teams are promoted to Segunda Federación. At least the three teams finishing bottom of each group may be relegated to the Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol. However the number of teams relegated can vary. The eighteen group champions also qualify for the following season's Copa del Rey. However reserve teams are ineligible. Along with teams from Segunda Federación, the remaining teams from the division compete in the Copa Federación.

Group	Region	Relegation
1	Galicia	Preferente de Galicia
2	Asturias	Preferente de Asturias
3	Cantabria	Preferente de Cantabria
4	Basque Country	Basque lower levels
5	Catalonia and Andorra	Lliga Elit
6	Valencian Community	Preferente Comunidad Valenciana
7	Community of Madrid	Preferente de Madrid
8	Castile and León	Primera División Regional
9	Eastern Andalusia [es] and Melilla	División de Honor Andaluza Gp 2
10	Western Andalusia [es] and Ceuta	División de Honor Andaluza Gp 1
11	Balearic Islands	Preferente
12	Canary Islands	Interinsular Preferente
13	Region of Murcia	Preferente de Murcia
14	Extremadura	Primera Extremeña
15	Navarre	Preferente de Navarra
16	La Rioja	Preferente de La Rioja
17	Aragon	Preferente de Aragón
18	Castile-La Mancha	Preferente de Castilla-La Mancha

Teams

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

Group	Teams
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Group 9
Group 10
Group 11
Group 12
Group 13
Group 14
Group 15
Group 16
Group 17
Group 18

Winners and promotions

All group champions are promoted to Segunda Federación. Administrative promotions not included in this table.

Season	I X	II XI	III XII	IV XIII	V XIV	VI XV	VII XVI	VIII XVII	IX XVIII
2021–22	Polvorín	Oviedo Vetusta	Gimnástica Torrelavega	Alavés B	Manresa	Valencia Mestalla	Atlético Madrid B	Guijuelo	Juventud Torremolinos
	Recreativo	Mallorca B	Atlético Paso	Yeclano	Diocesano	Atlético Cirbonero	Arnedo	Deportivo Aragón	Guadalajara
	Other promoted teams: Ourense CF (I), Beasain (IV), Olot (V), Atlético Saguntino (VI), Alcorcón B (VII), Utrera (X), Cartagena B (XIII), Alfaro (XVI), Utebo (XVII)
2022–23	Deportivo Fabril	Covadonga	Cayón	Barakaldo	Europa	Orihuela	Ursaria	Arandina	Marbella
	Atlético Antoniano	Andratx	Mensajero	Águilas	Llerenense	Egüés	Náxara	Robres	Manchego
	Other promoted teams: Racing Villalbés (I), Sant Andreu (V), Torrent (VI), Getafe B (VII), El Palo (IX), Penya Independent (XI), San Fernando (XII), La Unión Atlético (XIII), Illescas (XVIII)
2023–24	Bergantiños	Llanera	Escobedo	Vitoria	Olot	Elche Ilicitano	Real Madrid C	Real Ávila	Juventud Torremolinos
	Xerez	Ibiza Islas Pitiusas	Tenerife B	Minera	Don Benito	Subiza	UD Logroñés B	Ejea	Conquense
	Other promoted teams: Laredo (III), Moscardó (VII), Salamanca (VIII), Almería B (IX), Xerez Deportivo (X), Mallorca B (XI), Unión Sur Yaiza (XII), Coria (XIV), Anguiano (XVI)

References

1. "La R.F.E.F. comunica las novedosas bases de competición para la próxima temporada en Tercera División" [The RFEF communicates the new competition rules for the next season in the Third Division]. VTV (in Spanish). 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
2. "Comunicado de la RFEF en relación con las competiciones no profesionales del fútbol español" (in Spanish). RFEF. 6 May 2020. Archived from the original on 16 August 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
3. "La Federación desvela el misterio: La nueva Segunda B se denominará Primera División RFEF". ABC (in Spanish). 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
4. "Resolución inscripción de equipos en Competiciones oficiales de ámbito estatal y carácter no profesional de la RFEF" (PDF) (in Spanish). RFEF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

External links

• Official RFEF Site
• Group for Spanish Football Statistics Compilation (in Spanish)
• Map of Regions used in 2000-01