Country Spain Relegation to Segunda División Founded 1988 Current champion Athletic Club (women) Confederation UEFA | Level on pyramid 1 International cup(s) UEFA Champions League Number of teams 16 Promotion to OK Liga Femenina | |
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Current champions Athletic Bilbao (5th title)
(2015–16) Most championships Athletic Bilbao (5 titles) Domestic cup Copa de la Reina de Fútbol Teams Sporting de Huelva, Atlético Madrid Féminas, Oiartzun KE, FC Barcelona, Zaragoza CFF | ||
The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, formerly Superliga Femenina, and known for reasons of sponsorship as LaLiga Iberdrola 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. It began to be disputed in the season 1988-89 and since then it has been celebrated without interruptions although it has undergone several changes of format and denomination.
Contents
- Liga Nacional
- Superliga
- Primera Divisin
- Teams
- List of champions
- Performance by club
- All time Primera Divisin table
- References
It is considered one of the most important leagues at European level according to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the top soccer manager at continental level, being the sixth competition with the best coefficient.
Throughout its history twelve clubs have been champions, being the Athletic Club the most awarded team with five championships. Levante Unión Deportiva, Football Club Barcelona, Cultural and Sports Society Añorga, Club Deportivo Oroquieta Villaverde, Rayo Vallecano Women, Real Club Deportivo Español, Atletico Madrid Women, Extremadura Women's Football Club, Peña Barcelonista Barcilona, Oiartzun Kirol Elkartea and Atletico Club Málaga Complete the rest of championships of the twenty-nine seasons of the championship.
Liga Nacional
The league was founded in 1988 as Liga Nacional , formed by Olímpico Fortuna, Puente Castro, Parque Alcobendas, Santa María Atlético, Vallès Occidental, 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.
Superliga
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 round-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 the quality of competition. 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.
Primera División
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.
Teams
A total of 16 teams contest the league in the current season, including 14 sides from the 2015–16 season and two promoted from the 2015–16 Segunda División.
List of champions
The following list shows all champions of the Spanish women's football league. Before creation of the league, from 1983 to 1988 the Copa de la Reina de Fútbol winners were the Spanish Champions.
Performance by club
1Title won as Sant Vicent València CFF. 2Title won as Atlético Villa de Madrid.
All-time Primera División table
This table includes all games played since the 2001–02 season, when the Superliga was created.