Portuguese Handball Second Division


Campeonato Nacional de Seniores Masculinos, Segunda Divisão, just Segunda Divisão, is the second-tier handball league in Portugal. The best teams get promoted to Andebol 1, and the worst are relegated to the Portuguese Handball Third Division.
Almada AC is the most successful club, having won the competition four times.
The competition is played over two phases by 30 teams, initially geographically grouped into three zone groups.
The current champions are Arsenal [de Devesa(handball)|Arsenal de Devesa], from Braga.

History

The second tier was established in 1966 as a result of the need for the expansion of national handball competitions due to the increase in the number of participating teams in regional championships. The competition was created under its current name for the 1966–67 season and ran for only four consecutive seasons, as in 1970–71 it was abolished. However, the competition returned the following year.
In 1982, a new top-division league was created, and the Segunda Divisão became the 3rd tier of Portuguese handball. Nevertheless, with the creation of the new single round-robin league in 1985, the Second Division returned to be the 2nd-tier competition.
In 2001, another rebranding of the top division led to the Segunda Divisão becoming once again the 3rd tier of Portuguese handball. Moreover, due to the League-Federation dispute, the competition took an even lower standard between 2002 and 2007. During that period, the Segunda Divisão was de facto the 4th tier of the league system, although considered de jure the 3rd tier by the Portuguese Handball Federation.
As the dispute ended, the Segunda Divisão became de facto the 3rd tier of Portuguese handball in 2007.
As the Liga Portuguesa de Clubes de Andebol folded in 2008, the Segunda Divisão has been the level 2 league of Portuguese handball since the 2009–2010 season.

Champions

Portuguese handball second division

Note:

TN: Titles Number