Trinidad and Tobago football pyramid Information & Trinidad and Tobago football pyramid Links at HealthHaven.com

The Trinidad and Tobago football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Trinidad and Tobago. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels and is governed by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation at the national level. There are over 8 leagues, containing over 10 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 11 clubs per division implies that over 100 clubs are members of a league in the Trinidad and Tobago football league system.

[edit] Structure

At the top is the single division of the TT Pro League (which is sometimes referred to as Level 1 of the league 'pyramid'), containing 11 teams. Below the Pro League is the National Super League (Level 2), which contains 13 teams. All the teams in the Pro League are full-time professional teams. On the other hand, the Super League is semi-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 six regional football association leagues. Each regional association operates its own respective top division (Level 3): Super Six League (Central FA), Premier Division (Eastern FA), Eastern Counties Football Union, Premier Division (Northern FA), Championship Division (Southern FA), and Premier Division (Tobago FA). Some of these teams are semi-professional, but most teams are amateur. Only the Northern FA, Southern FA, and Tobago FA operate a second-tier division (Level 4), which contain only amateur teams.

[edit] Promotion and relegation

For example, here are the promotion and relegation rules for the top few levels of the Trinidad and Tobago football league system:

TT Pro League (level 1, 11 teams): Top team becomes Champions of Trinidad and Tobago, (no promotion). No automatic relegation.
National Super League (level 2, 13 teams): No automatic promotion, but teams may apply for admission into level 1. Bottom three relegated, to each club's appropriate regional football association league.
Regional FA Leagues (level 3, 60 teams in 6 regional leagues): Top team in each football association's regional league compete in the promotion playoffs, with the top three teams gaining promotion. Each league has their own promotion and relegation rules.

[edit] Cup eligibility

Being members of a league at a particular level also affects eligibility for Cup, or single-elimination, competitions.

FA Trophy: Levels 1–3
Toyota Classic: Levels 1–2
First Citizens Cup: Level 1
Digicel Pro Bowl: Level 1
Lucozade Sport Goal Shield: Level 1
Super League Cup: Level 2

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.

[edit] The system

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 Pro League (Digicel Pro League) 11 clubs
2	National Super League (bmobile National Super League) 13 clubs
3	Central FA Super Six League 5 clubs	Eastern FA Premier Division 26 clubs	Eastern Counties Football Union Unknown	Northern FA Premier Division 8 clubs	Southern FA Championship Division 9 clubs	Tobago FA Premier Division 12 clubs
4				Northern FA First Division 10 clubs	Southern FA Premier Division 8 clubs	Tobago FA Second Level 14 clubs

[edit] See also

Football in Trinidad and Tobago
League system, for a list of similar systems in other countries.

[edit] References

^ "Trinidad and Tobago - List of Champions". Radek Jelínekm, Hans Schöggl and RSSSF. 2009-04-03. http://www.rsssf.com/tablest/trinchamp.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31.

[edit] External links

[champions-0] "Trinidad and Tobago - List of Champions". Radek Jelínekm, Hans Schöggl and RSSSF. 2009-04-03. http://www.rsssf.com/tablest/trinchamp.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31.

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