Bhutan National League

Format

The National League is a standalone football competition, that operates as the highest level of football in Bhutan. It consists of six teams, four of which are based in Thimpu, with the remainder coming from other districts. The four Thimphu-based teams compete in the A-Division, which was previously the top league in the country, but now serves as a qualifying tournament for the national league. Competing teams in the league play each other twice on a home and away basis. Previously, when the A-Division was the country's top league, all matches were played at Changlimithang, the country's national stadium, making "home" and "away" distinctions essentially moot. Whilst the Thimphu-based teams still play their matches at that ground, the regional teams maintain their own stadia and genuine home and away fixtures now take place.

Three points are gained for a win and one for a draw with no points for a loss. The team with the highest number of points is declared the champion. If two teams finish on equal points then goal difference is used to determine the winner, with goals scored being the next criterion considered if goal difference cannot separate the teams.

There is no promotion or relegation from the league. Thimpu-based teams are decided based on their performance in the preceding A-Division competition, and past performance in the National League has no bearing on whether a team will compete the next season. Consequently, it is possible to have a team competing in AFC continental competition that has failed to make the National League. There is no qualification round for regional teams. Some form of football whereby national champions were crowned was played between 1996 and 2000, but it was only in 2001 that the A-Division was created.

History

League competition in Bhutan got off to a slow start. Although a full ten-team league was set up in 1986, there seems to have been little or no organised football for the next ten years. Between 1996 and 2000 there was some form of organised football, but it is not clear the extent to which this involved teams from outside of Thimphu.

In 2001, the A-Division was created as a football competition for teams in Thimphu and was the premier league in the country, supplying the Bhutanese representative to the AFC President's cup. The first season of the A-Division essentially took the form of a national competition, closely mirroring the current format of the National League. A qualifying tournament was held for teams from Thimphu (in which a team from Paro also competed, the top teams from which the progressed to a Super League which also included teams from Samtse and Gomtu and would have included teams from Phuentsholing and Chukha District had they not withdrawn.

However, this was the last time for over a decade that teams from outside of Thimphu would be involved in football at the highest level in Bhutan. In 2011 the A-Division was played only as a single round-robin set of matches in anticipation of the establishment of a true national league.

This did not occur though and it was only in 2012 that the inaugural competition took place, a six team league consisting of the top three teams from that season's A-Division representing Thimphu, namely Druk Pol, Yeedzin and Zimdra, together with Phuentsholing (representing Chukha District), Samtse (representing Samtse District) and Ugyen Academy (representing Punakha District). The inaugural league commenced having signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola worth Nu 3 million in total, along with further sponsorship from Tashi Beverages, Druk Air, Zimdra Food and Samden Group, with the aim ultimately to have a football team playing in the National League from each of the 20 Dzongkhags according to the Bhutan Football Federation. Thimphu dominance of Bhutanese football continued initially, with Yeedzin winning the first National League title. Along with the title, they received Nu 400,000 in prize money, with second-place Druk Pol receiving Nu 200,000 and Ugyen Academy Nu 100,000 for their third-place finish.

However, teams from outside the capital city soon proved that they could compete with those who had considerably more top flight experience the following season, as Ugyen Academy became the first non-Thimphu team to take the title, and with it the Nu 400,000 in prize money, with second and third place teams Yeedzin and Thimphu City taking Nu 200,000 and Nu 100,000 respectively. Unfortunately, the number of teams based outside of Thimphu decreased in 2013 following the withdrawal of Samtse, a situation which continued in 2014 following the withdrawal of Phuentsholing as well, although they were replaced by Bhutan Clearing, competing for the first time in the National League. In an attempt to attract more non-Thimphu teams into the competition, the federation increased the prize money from Nu 400,000 to 700,000 for the winners. First runners up would be given Nu 400,000, up by 200,000 from last year and the second runners up would be awarded Nu 200,000, double from last year’s prize. No place is awarded to the team finishing in first place this season for the AFC President's Cup. This is because 2014 is the final edition of the cup to be held. Instead, the six teams which qualify for the 2014 AFC President's Cup final stage will enter the 2015 AFC Cup play-offs, and from 2015 onwards, centralized qualifiers will determine six teams which enter the AFC Cup play-offs.

Most recent participants (2015 season)

A total of six teams competed in the league: three teams representing Thimphu, who qualified as a result of their final positions in the 2015 A-Division, and three teams representing other districts.