Liga F


The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, currently known as the Liga F, 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 . As one league of the top six national leagues ranked by Union of European Football Associations coefficient, it is considered one 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, Superliga Femenina, División de Honor, and Liga Nacional. A total of 12 different clubs have been champions; Barcelona have won the most championships, with ten.

History

Liga Nacional

The league was founded in 1988 as Liga Nacional, formed by Olímpico Fortuna, Puente Castro, Parque Alcobendas, Santa María Atlético, Vallès Occidental, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona, CE Sabadell and Peña Barcelonista Barcilona.

División de Honor

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

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 season, the clubs also threatened to boycott Federation competitions if it was not accepted.
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. 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 Espanyol. 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. 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, the players went on a strike and a number of league games had to be cancelled due to the strike. 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.
In 2020 the Primera División was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 10 June 2020 the Primera División was granted professionalised league status.
Starting with the 2021-2022 season, the league became fully professional, and reduced from 18 teams to 16.
The opening fixture of the 2023−24 season, set for 8 September 2023, was cancelled in the wake of strike called by five players unions.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

TeamHome cityStadiumCapacity
Athletic ClubBilbaoLezama 23,200
Atlético MadridMadridCentro Deportivo Wanda2,700
BarcelonaBarcelonaJohan Cruyff Stadium6,000
EibarEibarUnbe1,000
GranadaGranadaCiudad Deportiva del Granada CF600
LevanteValenciaCiudad Deportiva de Buñol3,000
Levante BadalonaBadalona4,170
Madrid CFFSan Sebastián de los ReyesEstadio Fernando Torres6,000
Real BetisSevilleEstadio Luis del Sol1,300
Real MadridMadridAlfredo Di Stéfano Stadium6,000
Real SociedadSan SebastiánCampo José Luis Orbegozo2,500
Sevilla Fútbol Club FemeninoSevilleEstadio Jesús Navas8,000
Sporting de HuelvaHuelvaCampo del C.D. Lamiya1,500
UDG TenerifeGranadilla de AbonaEstadio Francisco Suárez2,700
Valencia CF FemeninoValenciaCiudad Deportiva de Paterna3,000
VillarrealVillarrealCiudad Deportiva Pamesa Cerámica3,500

List of champions

The following list shows all champions of the Spanish women's football league.
Before creation of the league, from 1983 to 1988 the Copa de la Reina de Fútbol winners were the Spanish Champions.

Performance by club

Since the inception of the Superliga

Overall

Teams in bold currently compete in Liga F as of the 2024–25 season. Seasons marked in italic are those when the team won a double with the Copa de la Reina.
TeamsWinnersRunners-upWinning years
Barcelona1052012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Athletic Club532003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2016
Levante441997, 2001, 2002, 2008
Atlético de Madrid431990, 2017, 2018, 2019
Añorga331992, 1995, 1996
Oroquieta Villaverde321993, 1994, 1999
Rayo Vallecano312009, 2010, 2011
Espanyol132006
Puebla122000
Peña Barcilona111989
Oiartzun101991
Atlético Málaga101998
Real Madrid04
Parque Alcobendas01
Torrejón01
Eibartarrak01
Sabadell01
Híspalis01
Real Sociedad01

All-time Liga F table

Liga Nacional (1988–1996)

RankClubSPWDLGFGAGDPtsWin %
1Añorga KKE69273415348102+246150%
2CD Oroquieta Villaverde7112661630304182+122148%
3FC Barcelona8129582645261226+35142%
4RCD Español588471823223139+84112%
5CE Sabadell71144718512492490112%
6Atletico Villa de Madrid35032810190100+9072%
7Peña Barcelonista Barcilona3503361113464+7072%
8CD Sondika35223821152107+4554%
9FFP Parque Alcobendas587191652136316-18054%
10Olímpico Fortuna35319826102123-2146%
11Oiartzun KE22817388341+4237%
12Puente Castro FC46914847122267-14536%
13CFF Tradehi559977370200-13025%
14CF PubliSport1218494153-1220%
15CFF Vallès Occidental1168263524+1418%
16CF Llers22874174282+4018%
17CD Anaitasuna1186393732+515%
18EFAV La Chimenea12161144470-2613%
19Atlético Málaga1164482227-512%
20CFF Athenas230192020113-9310%
21Universidad Complutense12113172479-555%
22Atlético Santa María del Camí11612131354-354%