| Country | Trinidad and Tobago |
|---|---|
| Sport | Association football |
| Promotion and relegation | Yes |
| National system | |
| Federation | Trinidad and Tobago Football Association |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Top division | Premier Football League |
| Second division | Premier Football League 2 |
| Cup competition | |
| Association football in Trinidad and Tobago | |
TheTrinidad and Tobago football league system, also known as thefootball pyramid, is a series ofinterconnected leagues for men'sassociation football clubs inTrinidad and Tobago. The system has a hierarchical format withpromotion and relegation between leagues at different levels and is governed by theTrinidad and Tobago Football Association at the national level. There are over eight individual leagues, containing more than ten 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 more than 100 clubs are members of a league in the Trinidad and Tobago football league system.
At the top is the single division of theTT Pro League (which is often referred to as the "top flight"), containing ten clubs. Below the Pro League is theNational Super League (Level 2), which contains 13 clubs. All the teams in the Pro League are full-timeprofessional teams, but the Super League issemi-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 the six regionalfootball association leagues. Each regional association operates its own respective top division (Level 3): Premier Division (Central Football Association), Premier Division (Eastern Football Association), Football Union (Eastern Counties), Premier Division (Northern Football Association), Premier Division (Southern Football Association), and Premier Division (Tobago Football Association).these clubs are amateur, The amateur leagues that operate a second-tier division (Level 4) are the Northern FA, Southern FA, and Tobago FA.
Being members of a league at a particular level also affects eligibility for Cup, or single-elimination, competitions.
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 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 Premier Football League | |||||
2 | TT Premier Football League 2 | |||||
3 | Central FA Premier Division | Eastern FA Premier Division | Eastern Counties Football Union | Northern FA Premier Division | Southern FA Premier Division | Tobago FA Premier Division |
4 | None | Eastern FA First Division | None | Northern FA First Division | Southern FA First Division | Tobago FA First Division |
5 | None | None | None | None | None | Tobago FA Second Division |
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