Trinidad and Tobago football league system
The Trinidad and Tobago football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Trinidad and Tobago. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels and is governed by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association at the national level. There are over 8 leagues, containing over 10 divisions.[1] The exact number of clubs varies from year to year as clubs join and leave leagues or fold altogether, but an estimated average of 10 clubs per division implies that over 100 clubs are members of a league in the Trinidad and Tobago football league system.
Contents
Structure
At the top is the single division of the TT Pro League (which is sometimes referred to as Level 1 of the league 'pyramid'), containing nine teams. Below the Pro League is the National Super League (Level 2), which contains 13 teams. All the teams in the Pro League are full-time professional teams. On the other hand, the Super League is semi-professional containing a few clubs that have close affiliations with Pro League clubs.
Outside the top two levels of the pyramid, at Levels 3 and 4, are six regional football association leagues. Each regional association operates its own respective top division (Level 3): Premier Division (Central FA), Premier Division (Eastern FA), Football Union (Eastern Counties), Premier Division (Northern FA), Premier Division (Southern FA), and Premier Division (Tobago FA). Some of these teams are semi-professional, but most teams are amateur. Only the Northern FA, Southern FA, and Tobago FA operate a second-tier division (Level 4), which contain only amateur teams.
Promotion and relegation
For example, here are the promotion and relegation rules for the top few levels of the Trinidad and Tobago football league system:
- TT Pro League (level 1, 9 teams): Top team becomes Champions of Trinidad and Tobago, (no promotion). No automatic relegation.
- National Super League (level 2, 16 teams): No automatic promotion, but teams may apply for admission into level 1. Bottom two relegated, to each club's appropriate regional football association league.
- Regional FA Leagues (level 3, 60 teams in 6 regional leagues): Top team in each football association's regional league compete in the promotion playoffs, with the top two teams gaining promotion. Each league has their own promotion and relegation rules.
Cup eligibility
Being members of a league at a particular level also affects eligibility for Cup, or single-elimination, competitions.
- FA Trophy: Levels 1–3
- TOYOTA Classic: Levels 1–2
- First Citizens Cup: Level 1
- Digicel Pro Bowl: Level 1
- Lucozade Sport Goal Shield: Level 1
- Super League Cup: Level 2
Beyond Level 2 the pyramid becomes regional and the cups become accordingly regional. Further down the pyramid is split on a football association basis, with each association having their own cups accordingly.
The system
The table below shows the current structure of the system. For each division, its official name, sponsorship name, and number of clubs is given. At levels 1–4, each division promotes to the division(s) that lie directly above it and relegates to the division(s) that lie directly below it.
Level |
League(s)/Division(s) |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
TT Pro League |
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2 |
National Super League |
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3 |
Central FA |
Eastern FA |
Eastern Counties |
Northern FA |
Southern FA |
Tobago FA |
4 |
Eastern FA |
Northern FA |
Southern FA |
Tobago FA |
See also
- Association football in Trinidad and Tobago
- League system, for a list of similar systems in other countries.
References
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