Country Honduras Number of teams 32 | Level on pyramid 2 | |
Founded 17 December 1979; 37 years ago (1979-12-17) | ||
Liga de Ascenso (Promotion League) is the second division of Honduran football; it was founded on 17 December 1979 as Segunda División (Second Division) and renamed Liga de Ascenso (Promotion League) on 21 July 2002. The league is divided into 4 groups: Zona Norte y Atlántica (North and Atlantic Zone), Zona Norte y Occidente (North and West Zone), Zona Centro y Sur (Central and South Zone), Zona Sur y Oriente (South and East Zone). The top 2 teams of each group qualifies for the liguilla (play-offs). Each season is divided into two tournaments, apertura (opening) and clausura (closing). The champion of the opening and closing tournament, compete for the promotion to Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras in a two-legged match.
Contents
- History
- Clubs from Zona Litoral Atlntica
- Clubs from Zona Occidental
- Teams from Zona Norte y Valle de Sula
- Teams from Zona Centro Sur y Oriente
- Champions
- Promotion
- Relegation
- References
Two teams are relegated to Liga Mayor de Futbol de Honduras. The last team of each group face off in a playoff (North vs North and South vs South).
History
From 1965 to 1979 the system of promotion to the Liga Nacional was ruled by the Extra-scholastic Sporting Federation of Honduras(Federación Deportiva Extraescolar de Honduras). It was played in amateur form and the champion of the Central, Southern, and Oriental zone would play against the champion of the North Western zone. The Winner was promoted to the Liga Nacional. In the first tournament of the Liga Nacional there wasn't any promoted or relegated since it was a draft tournament.
It was until 1980 when the second division was founded which nowadays it's called Liga Nacional de Ascenso de Honduras (National Promotion League of Honduras).
In that season, the league didn't have any relegated team since the players of the Honduras national football team needed to be in training at full-time. From the year on, the rules have been applied and there have been many promoted and relegated teams.
From 2004 on the league was split into two seasons, apertura (opening) and clausura (closing). Promotion is decided by a two-legged match between apertura and clausura champion. In the case of the same team being champion in both tournaments, promotion is automatic.
In 2006 Hispano was relegated from first division but they bought Valencia's category in the league; this situation has occurred with other teams. In 2002 Victoria were relegated but acquired Honduras Salzburg's spot.
In 2009 Atletico Gualala earned promotion but decided to merge with that year's relegated club, Real Juventud and kept their history. In 2003 Real Maya merged with Patepluma to form Real Patepluma.
Clubs from Zona Litoral Atlántica
Clubs from Zona Occidental
Teams from Zona Norte y Valle de Sula
Teams from Zona Centro, Sur y Oriente
Champions
Up until 2004, champions were awarded automatic promotion.
Promotion
In 2004 the league format was changed into short tournaments splitting the season into two separate tournaments, apertura (opening) and clausura (closing). Promotion was decided by a two-legged final until 2012, and is now contested in a single match between apertura champion and clausura champion. In the case that a same team is crowned champion both apertura and clausura, promotion is awarded automatically to said team.
Relegation
In the current system, the last team of each group of the region play on a playoff.