The Finnish football league system is a combination of Finnish football leagues and divisions in which professional, semi-professional and amateur football clubs of the country compete. It consists of eight interconnected levels arranged in a hierarchical order. At the same time, the three upper divisions ( Premier League , First Division and Second Division ) are managed by the Football Association of Finland (FAF) , and the five lower ones are managed by the regional divisions of the FAF.
League system
From the diagram below you can see how the whole system of leagues and divisions works. The first and second levels of the system (Premier League and First Division) are national leagues, the third level is a combination of four provincial divisions (Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern), and the levels from the fourth to the eighth (Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh divisions ) - a set of regional divisions. The interconnectedness of the levels implies a rotation between adjacent levels on a sporting basis, when one club or more, which won the top place (winner) according to the results of the tournament in its division, replace one club or more in the superior division, which won the last place in the competition of this division. The diagram also shows the number of football clubs for each division.
Level | Leagues, divisions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
one | Finnish Premier League (Veikkausliiga) | |||
2 | First Division (Ykkönen) | |||
3 | Second Division (Kakkonen) | Second Division (Kakkonen) | Second Division (Kakkonen) | Second Division (Kakkonen) |
four | Third Division (Kolmonen) Helsinki and Uusimaa 1 ( 12 clubs ), Helsinki and Uusimaa 2 ( 12 clubs ), Helsinki and Uusimaa 3 ( 12 clubs ), Itä-Suomi and Keski-Suomi ( 12 clubs ), Kaakkois-Suomi ( 12 clubs ), Pohjois-Suomi ( 8 clubs ), Satakunta ( 10 clubs ), Tampere ( 14 clubs ), Turku and Ahvenanmaa ( 12 clubs ), Vaasa and Keski-Pohjanmaa ( 13 clubs ), | |||
5 | Fourth Division (Nelonen) | |||
6 | Fifth Division (Vitonen) | |||
7 | Sixth Division (Kutonen) | |||
8 | Seventh Division (Seiska) | |||
Cup competitions
All clubs competing in their leagues and divisions are eligible to participate in the annual FA Cup and League Cup competitions held by the FAF .
Links
- Football Association of Finland (Finnish)
- League321.com - Football league tables, statistics and achievements. (eng.)