Czech National Football League


The Czech National Football League, known as Chance Národní Liga due to sponsorship reasons, is the second level professional association football league in the Czech Republic. Before 2013 it was known as 2. liga or Druhá liga. The top team each season is eligible for promotion to the Czech First League, while the second and third placed teams enter play offs for possible promotion.
The league replaced the I.ČNL, which had been established following the end of the nationwide Czechoslovak Second League in 1977. The league became known as simply II. liga in 1993 following the establishment of the Czech Republic as an independent state.

Structure

There are 16 clubs in the FNL. During the season, which runs from August to May or June, with a winter break between November and February or March, each club plays each of the other clubs twice and is awarded three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the top-ranked team is promoted to the Czech First League, providing they obtain a license and meet league requirements, and is replaced by the team that finished 16th in that league. The two teams positioned 2nd and 3rd play a play-out with two teams from the first league positioned 14th and 15th in a home and away format. The two teams that finished at the bottom of the FNL are relegated to either the Bohemian Football League or the Moravian-Silesian Football League, based on geographical criteria. In turn, the champions of each of these regional divisions are promoted to the FNL.
In the 1993–94 season the league was played with 16 teams, before expanding to 18 teams in the 1994–95 season. Since 1995, the league is usually played with 16 teams, but on two occasions a team did not fulfil its fixtures and the full 30 rounds were not completed. Firstly in the 1997–98 Czech 2. Liga as Ústí nad Labem did not fulfil their fixtures and their results were cancelled, and secondly in the 2004–05 Czech 2. Liga as Bohemians' results were expunged after playing only the first half of the season. In the 2020–21 season, only 14 teams competed because of the suspension of the first league in the previous season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participating teams

The following 16 clubs are competing in the 2024–25 Czech National Football League.
ClubLocationStadiumCapacity2023–24 position
FC ZlínZlínLetná Stadion5,89816th in First League
SK Sigma Olomouc BOlomoucAndrův stadion12,4832nd
FC Silon TáborskoSezimovo ÚstíSportovní areál Soukeník5,0003rd
MFK VyškovVyškovSportovní areál Drnovice6,6164th
MFK ChrudimChrudimZa Vodojemem1,5005th
SFC OpavaOpavaStadion v Městských sadech7,7586th
FC Sellier & Bellot VlašimVlašimStadion Kollárova ulice6,0007th
FK Viktoria ŽižkovPragueeFotbal Arena5,0378th
FC Zbrojovka BrnoBrnoMěstský fotbalový stadion Srbská10,2009th
SK LíšeňBrnoStadion SK Líšeň2,10010th
AC Sparta Prague BPragueeFotbal Arena5,03711th
1. SK ProstějovProstějovStadion Za Místním nádražím4,50012th
FK VarnsdorfVarnsdorfMěstský stadion v Kotlině5,00013th
FC Vysočina JihlavaJihlavaStadion v Jiráskově ulici4,50014th
SK Slavia Prague BPragueStadion Olympia Radotín1,5001st in ČFL
FC Baník Ostrava BOstravaMěstský stadion (Ostrava)15,1231st in MSFL

Teams promoted to the First League since 1993

From 1993 to 2018, the top two teams qualified for promotion. Since the 2018–19 season, only the top team has been directly promoted. Teams finishing second and third play a two-legged playoff with teams from the First League to determine who will play there next season. In the COVID-impacted 2019–20 season, the playoffs were cancelled.

Top scorers

All information in this table can be found at except for the 2003–04 season, which is sourced from the following link.
SeasonTop scorerClubGoals
1993–94