List of association football leagues without promotion and relegation

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The following is a list of association football leagues which do not or did not have a promotion and relegation process.

Leagues within the scope of this list are:

  • Top-tier football leagues with no relegation system
    • In countries without lower-tier leagues
    • In countries with lower-tier leagues not integrated to the top-tier league; closed model
  • Recognized Division II or lower leagues without promotion and relegation.

Excluded are:

  • Any Division II or lower leagues with promotion but without relegation

Leagues[edit]

Current[edit]

Top tier leagues[edit]

League Country Confederation First season Without relegation since
A-League Men[1] Australia, New Zealand AFC / OFC 2005–06 2005
A-League Women Australia, New Zealand AFC / OFC 2008–09 2008
Canadian Premier League Canada CONCACAF 2019 2019
Congo Premier League (The Republic of Congo only has one league so there is no relegation system, but at the end of each season the worst team leaves the league) Republic of the Congo CAF 1961
Gibraltar National League[a] Gibraltar UEFA 2019–20 2019–20
Liga MX[2][b] Mexico CONCACAF 1943 2019-20
New Zealand National League[3] New Zealand OFC 2021 2021
Papua New Guinea National Soccer League Papua New Guinea OFC 2006 2006
Philippine Football League Philippines AFC 2017 2017
PFF Women's League Philippines AFC 2016–17 2016–17
Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio[c] San Marino UEFA 1985–86 1995–96
Sri Lanka Super League[4] Sri Lanka AFC 2021 2021
Major League Soccer[5] United States, Canada CONCACAF 1996 1996
National Women's Soccer League United States CONCACAF 2013 2013

Notes

  1. ^ Gibraltar Second Division was dissolved at the end of 2018–19 season, all teams was introduced in the new Gibraltar National League
  2. ^ Ascenso MX was dissolved at the end of 2019–20 season, introducing the new Liga de Expansión MX.
  3. ^ Serie A2, the second-tier of Sanmarinese football was dissolved at the end of 1994–95 season, all teams was introduced in the new Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio

Lower division leagues[edit]

League Division Country Confederation First season Without
promotion since 		Next highest league Relegation to
National Premier Leagues 2  Australia AFC 2005–06 2005 A-League Various (State-level leagues)
USL Championship[a] 2  United States[b] CONCACAF 2017[c] 2017 Major League Soccer None
Liga de Expansión MX[2][d] 2  Mexico CONCACAF 2020–21 2020–21 Liga MX Serie A
USL League One 3  United States CONCACAF 2019 2019 USL Championship None
  1. ^ Established in 2011 as USL Pro; rebranded as United Soccer League (USL) in 2015 and the USL Championship in 2019.
  2. ^ The USL Championship featured teams from Canada as late as 2019, but all teams that played in the most recent 2021 season are US-based.
  3. ^ First season as second-level league.
  4. ^ Ascenso MX was dissolved at the end of 2019–20 season, introducing the new Liga de Expansión MX.

Defunct or inactive[edit]

Top tier leagues[edit]

League Country Confederation First season Last season Years without
relegation 		Relegation to
National Soccer League  Australia OFC 1977 2003–04 1977–2004 None (underperforming clubs were de facto relegated to the state leagues but there was no set criterion for relegation)
Philippine Premier League  Philippines AFC 2019 2019 2019 None
United Football League  Philippines AFC 2010 2016 2016[6] United Football League Division 2
(2010–2015)
North American Soccer League (1968–84)  United States
 Canada		 CONCACAF 1968 1984 1968–1984 None
Women's Professional Soccer  United States CONCACAF 2009 2011 2009–2011 None
Women's United Soccer Association  United States CONCACAF 2001 2003 2001–2003 None
BeNe League  Belgium
 Netherlands		 UEFA 2012-13 2014-15 2012-2015 None
Chinese Women's Super League (1997-2010)
National Women's Football League (2011-2014)		  China AFC 1997 2014 1997-2013 National Women's Football League (Early years)

Lower division leagues[edit]

League Division Country Confederation First season Last season Years without
promotion 		Next highest league
North American Soccer League 2  United States
 Puerto Rico		 CONCACAF 2011 2017 2011–2017 Major League Soccer
USSF Division 2 Professional League 2  United States
 Canada
 Puerto Rico		 CONCACAF 2010 2010 Major League Soccer
USL Pro / United Soccer League[a] 3  United States
 Canada 		CONCACAF 2011 2016[b] 2011–2016 North American Soccer League
  1. ^ The USL organization dropped "Pro" from the league branding in advance of the 2015 season.
  2. ^ Last season as third-level league. In 2017, the USL was granted second-division status alongside the NASL; it became the sole second-level league in 2018 and was renamed the USL Championship in 2019.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Thomas, Josh (29 March 2018). "Neil Kilkenny calls for promotion and relegation in the A-League". Goal. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b Marshall, Tom (17 April 2020). "Mexico's Liga MX suspends promotion-relegation for next five years". ESPN. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  3. ^ "New Zealand Football National Competitions Review September 2015" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Sri Lanka takes first steps towards establishing professional league". FIFA. 17 February 2022.
  5. ^ Pitt-Brooke, Jack (3 March 2018). "MLS stands alone as a closed shop in the world of football. Meet the two men trying to change that". The Independent. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  6. ^ Guerrero, Bob (13 January 2016). "What to expect in Philippine football in 2016". Rappler. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
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