Country Argentina Number of teams 16 Promotion to Primera C | Confederation CONMEBOL Level on pyramid 5 | |
Founded 1950; 67 years ago (1950) | ||
The Primera D is one of two leagues that form the fifth division of the Argentine football league system. Made up of 16 clubs from the city of Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area (Greater Buenos Aires), the league is the only that remains amateur.
Contents
The other league at level five is the Torneo Federal C, where teams from regional leagues take part.
Format
The winners of Primera D gain automatic promotion to Primera C. The club finishing in 2nd to 9th place behind enter a playoff series; the winner of which faces the club finishing second bottom in Primera C in a promotion/relegation playoff.
The team that finishes bottom of Primera D faces relegation. However, because Primera D is the lowest league in the Argentine football system relegation this means that the relegated team will not participate in the league system the following season.
History
As precedents of the current league, there were tournaments disputed by youth divisions of some of the Primera División clubs, which took part from 1905 to 1926.
The first Primera D championship (under the name "Tercera de Ascenso") was held in 1950. The first champion was Liniers. In 1962 the tournament changed its name to "Primera de Aficionados", which lasted to 1974, when it was called "Primera D", which has remained to date.
Since the restructuring of the league system in 1986, the division became the fifth category of Argentine football (lower than Primera División, Primera B Nacional, Primera B Metropolitana and Primera C).