Highest division of league competition for Spanish women's football
This article is about the top division in women's Spanish football. For the top division in men's Spanish football, see La Liga. For other uses, see Liga (disambiguation).
The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, currently known as the Liga F[a] (finetwork Liga F for sponsorship reasons), is the highest level of league competition for women's football in Spain. It is the women's equivalent of the men's La Liga, and it is organized by the Liga Profesional Femenina de Fútbol (LPFF). As one league of the top six national leagues ranked by Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) coefficient, it is considered one league of the most important women's leagues in Europe. Starting with the 2021–22 edition, as determined by the UEFA women's coefficient, the top three teams will qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League.
The league was founded in 1988, and has operated every year since, although it has undergone several changes in format and names including; Primera Iberdrola (formerly Liga Femenina Iberdrola for sponsorship reasons), Superliga Femenina, División de Honor, and Liga Nacional. A total of 12 different clubs have been champions; Barcelona have won the most championships, with nine.
Starting in the 1996–97 season the league was divided into 4 groups. The group winners played a semi-final and final to decide the champion.
Superliga
Old logo of the league.
By 2000, women's teams were displeased that their competitions and calendars were being created by men's teams so, in June 2000, Levante submitted a proposal to the Spanish Federation for a new league, the Superliga. Levante's proposed Superliga was to be organised by women's teams, under the Spanish Federation, and had the support of a majority of women's teams in the country. At the time it was proposed, with the intention to replace the league for the next (2001–02) season, the clubs also threatened to boycott Federation competitions if it was not accepted.[2]
For the 2001–02 season the league was renamed the Superliga and the competition system was changed from the group format to a double round-robin, with each team playing the other teams twice, once away and once at home. The league in this period consisted of 14 teams. The 2008–09 season kept the double round-robin format as the league increased from 14 to 16 teams.
In the 2009–10 season the Superliga increased from 16 to 24 teams, causing criticism by teams and players who feared a decline in the quality of competition. The Superliga was divided into 3 groups of 7 to 8 teams each, with geographically nearby teams placed into each group to minimize travel.[3] In the first stage of the season, each team played each other team in its group twice. In the second stage, the best two of each group as well as the two best third-place finishers went into group A and the other teams were divided into groups B and C based on a predefined key. Again a double round-robin was played within each group. All Group A teams and the three best finishers of Group B and C qualified for the Copa de la Reina, and the two best teams in Group A played 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 Españyol. In the 2009–10 season, two teams had to withdraw from the league for financial reasons.
Primera División
Starting in the 2011–12 season, the league was renamed to Primera División and the group-based system was eliminated; 18 teams played double round-robin to decide the champion. The size was reduced to 16 teams for the 2012–13 season. Before the 2016–17 season, the RFEF agreed to a sponsorship by Iberdrola, renaming the league Liga Iberdrola.[4] This was slightly changed to Primera Iberdrola in 2019.
On 22 October 2019, following a breakdown of negotiations with the RFEF for a year over salaries and working conditions,[5][6] the players went on a strike and a number of league games had to be cancelled due to the strike.[7] On 18 November, the players announced that they would be lifting the strike, after reaching an agreement with the ACFF to resume negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.[8]
The following list shows all champions of the Spanish women's football league.[13]
Before creation of the league, from 1983 to 1988 the Copa de la Reina de Fútbol winners were the Spanish Champions.
^Played with teams divided into groups, the title was decided in a final group played by the four group winners in a double legged round-robin tournament.
^Played with teams divided into groups, the title was decided in a single-game final where Atlético Málaga beat Sant Vicènt by 2–0.
^Played with teams divided into groups, the title was decided in a single-game final where Oroquieta Villaverde beat Irex Puebla.
^Played with teams divided into groups, the title was decided in a single-game final where Irex Puebla beat Torrejón in the penalty shootout after a draw by 0–0.
^Played with teams divided into groups, the title was decided in a single-game final where Levante beat Eibartarrak by 4–0.
This table includes all games played since the 2001–02 season to 2010–11 season, when the Superliga recovered its format of a single group after several years with four groups and the group winners playing a Final Four. For a timeline of each team's league record, see List of women's football clubs in Spain.
