LigaPro

The LigaPro (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈliɣɐˈpɾɔ]; English: ProLeague) is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system, after the Primeira Liga. At the end of each season, the top-finishing teams are promoted to the Primeira Liga, and the lowest-ranked teams are relegated to the third-tier Campeonato de Portugal until 2020 and the new Terceira Liga (English: Third League) starting in 2021.

LigaPro

Founded	1990 (as Segunda Divisão de Honra)
Country	Portugal
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	Primeira Liga
Relegation to	Campeonato de Portugal (until 2020) Terceira Liga (from 2021)
Domestic cup(s)	Taça de Portugal
League cup(s)	Taça da Liga
Current champions	Paços de Ferreira (4th title) (2020–21)
Most championships	Paços de Ferreira (4 titles)
TV partners	Sport TV Benfica TV Porto Canal
Website	http://www.ligaportugal.pt/
2020–21 LigaPro

The LigaPro was founded in 1990 as the Segunda Divisão de Honra (Second Division of Honour), superseding the now-folded Segunda Divisão (Second Division) as the second tier of Portuguese football. When the division came under the auspices of the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) in 1999, it was renamed Segunda Liga (Second League), a designation that was kept until 2016, with the exception of a period between 2005 and 2012, when it was known as Liga de Honra (League of Honour). The current branding and sponsorship were introduced during the 2015–16 season.[1]

As of the 2018–19 season, it is contested nationwide by 18 teams, including the reserve sides (B teams) of several top-flight clubs.

Twenty different teams have won the division title; the most successful is Paços de Ferreira, with four wins, including the inaugural season and the most recently concluded 2018–19 season.

History

Before 1990, there was only one professional nationwide football league in Portugal, the Primeira Divisão (First Division). Lower placed teams were relegated to the Segunda Divisão (Second Division), a regional league, while the top teams from that league would be promoted to the First Division. Starting with the 1990–91 season, a new second-tier professional league was created, taking the name Segunda Divisão de Honra, while the previous Segunda Divisão became the third-tier league and was renamed Segunda Divisão B.

In 1999, the Portuguese League for Professional Football (LPFP) took control of the two nationwide levels and renamed the league Segunda Liga (Second League), while in 2005 it was renamed Liga de Honra and the Segunda Divisão B reverted to its original name. In 2012, the second tier of Portuguese football was renamed again Segunda Liga and in 2016 it was renamed LigaPro.

Format

In the 2016–17 season, there are 22 clubs in the Segunda Liga (24 in the seasons before). For the 2017–18 season it was foreseen to reduce the number of teams from 22 to 20.[2] During the course of a season, each club plays all teams twice — once at their home stadium and once at their opponent's — for a total of 42 games. At the end of each season, the two top teams are promoted to Primeira Liga and the four lowest ranked teams will be relegated to the 2017–18 Campeonato de Portugal. There will be also a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off involving the 17th- and 18th-placed teams of 2016–17 LigaPro and both second-placed teams of the Campeonato de Portugal promotion groups (North and South).[3] The B teams cannot be promoted to Primeira Liga but can be demoted to the Campeonato de Portugal if they end the season in one of the relegation positions or if the main team is also relegated. After the 2020–21 season, two clubs are to be relegated to the new Terceira Liga.[4]

Broadcasting

Since 2018-19, all the matches are broadcast by Sport TV, though some of them are only broadcast through online streaming. The exceptions are Benfica B and Porto B home games, broadcast by Benfica TV and Porto Canal.[5]

Clubs

Stadia and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity [6]	2018–19 finish
Académica	Coimbra	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra	29,750	5th
Académico de Viseu	Viseu	Estádio do Fontelo	4,090	11th
Benfica B	Seixal	Caixa Futebol Campus	2,720	4th
Casa Pia	Lisbon	Estádio Pina Manique	1,500	1st (CP)
Chaves	Chaves	Estádio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira	8,400	16th (PL)
Cova da Piedade	Cova da Piedade	Estádio Municipal José Martins Vieira	2,230	13th
Estoril	Estoril	Estádio António Coimbra da Mota	7,400	3rd
Farense	Faro	Estádio de São Luís	6,650	10th
Feirense	Santa Maria da Feira	Estádio Marcolino de Castro	5,450	18th (PL)
Leixões	Matosinhos	Estádio do Mar	6,610	7th
Mafra	Mafra	Estádio Municipal de Mafra	1,250	14th
Nacional	Funchal	Estádio da Madeira	5,580	17th (PL)
Oliveirense	Oliveira de Azeméis	Estádio Municipal de Aveiro	30,130	12th
Penafiel	Penafiel	Estádio Municipal 25 de Abril	5,330	8th
Porto B	Vila Nova de Gaia	Estádio Municipal Jorge Sampaio	8,280	9th
Sp. Covilhã	Covilhã	Estádio Municipal José dos Santos Pinto	3,500	6th
Varzim	Póvoa de Varzim	Estádio do Varzim SC	6,015	15th
Vilafranquense	Vila Franca de Xira	Estádio Municipal de Rio Maior	7,300	2nd (CP)

Champions

For champions at this level before 1991, see Portuguese Second Division.

Season	Champion	Points	Runner-up	Points	Third place	Points	Teams	Top scorer	Club	Goals
1990–91	Paços de Ferreira	51	Estoril	46	Torreense	45	20	Eduard Eranosyan	Leixões	22
1991–92	Sporting de Espinho	50	Belenenses	48	Tirsense	45	18	Rashidi Yekini	Vitória de Setúbal	22
1992–93	Estrela da Amadora	48	União da Madeira	47	Vitória de Setúbal	47	18	Rashidi Yekini	Vitória de Setúbal	34
1993–94	Tirsense	46	União de Leiria	45	Chaves	45	18	Edinho	Portimonense	16
1994–95	Leça	46	Campomaiorense	46	Felgueiras	44	18	Tihomir Rudež	Campomaiorense	20
1995–96	Rio Ave	68	Vitória de Setúbal	62	Sporting de Espinho	62	18	Paulo Vida	Desportivo das Aves	22
1996–97	Campomaiorense	62	Varzim	59	Académica	58	18	Carlos Freitas	Desportivo de Beja	17
1997–98	União de Leiria	70	Beira-Mar	64	Alverca	62	18	Armando Santos	Moreirense	21
1998–99	Gil Vicente	68	Belenenses	61	Santa Clara	55	18	Marcão	Varzim	23
1999–2000	Paços de Ferreira (2)	65	Beira-Mar	65	Desportivo das Aves	61	18	Marcão	Varzim	27
2000–01	Santa Clara	67	Varzim	64	Vitória de Setúbal	64	18	Brandão	Santa Clara	24
2001–02	Moreirense	64	Académica	62	Nacional	62	18	Ibón Pérez Paulo Vida Rômulo Serginho	Chaves Paços de Ferreira Nacional Nacional	18
2002–03	Rio Ave (2)	63	Alverca	60	Estrela da Amadora	57	18	Igor	Maia	20
2003–04	Estoril	67	Vitória de Setúbal	64	Penafiel	61	18	Fábio Hempel	Salgueiros	25
2004–05	Paços de Ferreira (3)	69	Naval 1º de Maio	62	Estrela da Amadora	60	18	Rincón	Paços de Ferreira	18
2005–06	Beira-Mar	68	Desportivo das Aves	64	Leixões	62	18	Cássio Nuno Sousa	Maia/Chaves Gondomar	20
2006–07	Leixões	60	Vitória de Guimarães	55	Rio Ave	53	16	Roberto Alcântara	Leixões	17
2007–08	Trofense	52	Rio Ave	51	Vizela	50	16	Júlio César	Santa Clara	13
2008–09	Olhanense	58	União de Leiria	53	Santa Clara	52	16	Djalmir	Olhanense	20
2009–10	Beira-Mar (2)	54	Portimonense	54	Feirense	52	16	Reguila	Trofense	15
2010–11	Gil Vicente (2)	55	Feirense	55	Trofense	54	16	Bock	Freamunde	15
2011–12	Estoril (2)	57	Moreirense	52	Desportivo das Aves	50	16	Joeano	Arouca	19
2012–13	Belenenses	94	Arouca	73	Leixões	68	22	Joeano	Arouca	24
2013–14	Moreirense (2)	79	Porto B	77	Penafiel	73	22	Pires	Moreirense	22
2014–15	Tondela	81	União da Madeira	80	Chaves	80	24	Tozé Marreco Erivelto	Tondela Sporting da Covilhã	23
2015–16	Porto B	86	Chaves	81	Feirense	78	24	Simy	Gil Vicente	20
2016–17	Portimonense	83	Desportivo das Aves	81	União da Madeira	64	22	Pires	Portimonense	23
2017–18	Nacional	71	Santa Clara	66	Académico de Viseu	64	20	Ricardo Gomes	Nacional	21
2018–19	Paços de Ferreira (4)	74	Famalicão	69	Estoril	54	18	Pires	Penafiel	16
2019–20	Abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic (Nacional and Farense promoted in first and second place with 10 rounds left to play)[7]						18	Agdon Menezes	Oliveirense	13

Statistics

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons	Runner-up seasons
Paços de Ferreira	4	0	1990–91, 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2018–19	–
Beira-Mar	2	2	2005–06, 2009–10	1997–98, 1999–2000
Rio Ave	2	1	1995–96, 2002–03	2007–08
Moreirense	2	1	2001–02, 2013–14	2011–12
Estoril	2	1	2003–04, 2011–12	1990–91
Gil Vicente	2	0	1998–99, 2010–11	–
União de Leiria	1	2	1997–98	1993–94, 2008–09
Belenenses	1	2	2012–13	1991–92, 1998–99
Campomaiorense	1	1	1996–97	1994–95
Santa Clara	1	1	2000–01	2017–18
Porto B	1	1	2015–16	2013–14
Portimonense	1	1	2016–17	2009–10
Espinho	1	0	1991–92	–
Estrela da Amadora	1	0	1992–93	–
Tirsense	1	0	1993–94	–
Leça	1	0	1994–95	–
Leixões	1	0	2006–07	–
Trofense	1	0	2007–08	–
Olhanense	1	0	2008–09	–
Tondela	1	0	2014–15	–
Nacional	1	0	2017–18	–
Varzim	0	2	–	1996–97, 2000–01
Vitória de Setúbal	0	2	–	1995–96, 2003–04
União da Madeira	0	2	–	1992–93, 2014–15
Desportivo das Aves	0	2	–	2005–06, 2016–17
Académica	0	1	–	2001–02
Alverca	0	1	–	2002–03
Naval 1º de Maio	0	1	–	2004–05
Vitória de Guimarães	0	1	–	2006–07
Feirense	0	1	–	2010–11
Arouca	0	1	–	2012–13
Chaves	0	1	–	2015–16
Famalicão	0	1	–	2018–19

All-time LigaPro table

The all-time LigaPro table is an overall record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in LigaPro since its inception in 1990. The table is accurate as of the end of the 2019–20 season. 2019–20 league standings are not attributed due to the competition being abandoned. For comparison, older seasons have been calculated according to the three-points-per-win rule.

Pos	Team	S	Pts	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	T	Debut	Since/ Last App	Best	Notes
1	Desportivo das Aves	25	1275	882	344	243	295	1093	1026	67	–	2	1	3	2	1	9	1990–91	2016–17	2
2	Penafiel	24	1167	826	309	240	277	1020	951	69	–	–	2	–	5	2	8	1992–93	2015–16	3
3	Feirense	21	1013	728	267	212	249	878	853	25	–	1	2	–	1	2	6	1990–91	2019–20	2
4	Portimonense	19	935	678	244	203	231	838	816	22	1	1	–	1	1	2	6	1990–91	2016–17	1
5	Leixões	18	876	646	227	194	225	718	694	28	1	–	2	–	–	2	5	1990–91	2010–11	1
6	Varzim	17	864	610	229	177	204	725	710	15	–	2	–	3	–	–	5	1990–91	2015–16	2
7	Santa Clara	17	857	606	228	173	205	722	679	43	1	1	2	2	–	1	7	1998–99	2017–18	1
8	Académica	14	755	482	215	110	157	628	506	122	–	1	1	2	3	3	10	1990–91	2016–17	2
9	Estoril	16	742	514	199	145	167	638	555	83	2	1	1	1	1	–	6	1990–91	2018–19	1
10	Sporting da Covilhã	17	727	614	181	184	239	645	729	-84	–	–	–	1	–	1	2	1996–97	2008–09	4
11	Chaves	14	687	490	178	149	163	581	564	17	–	1	2	–	1	–	4	1993–94	2019–20	2
12	União da Madeira	13	633	478	163	144	171	580	572	8	–	2	1	–	–	–	3	1992–93	2017–18	2
13	Académico de Viseu	13	617	480	161	134	185	502	564	-62	–	–	1	1	–	–	2	1990–91	2013–14	3
14	Rio Ave	10	551	332	156	83	93	476	348	128	2	1	1	2	2	–	8	1991–92	2007–08	1
15	Felgueiras	12	547	408	141	124	143	482	482	0	–	–	1	1	–	1	3	1992–93	2004–05	3	^[A]
16	Beira-Mar	10	538	348	143	109	96	418	333	85	2	2	–	–	–	1	5	1995–96	2014–15	1
17	Paços de Ferreira	9	527	310	145	92	73	419	310	109	4	–	–	1	1	–	6	1990–91	2018–19	1
18	Freamunde	12	514	432	128	130	174	499	578	-79	–	–	–	–	1	1	2	1990–91	2016–17	5
19	Sporting de Espinho	11	511	378	134	109	135	471	437	34	1	–	1	–	–	–	2	1990–91	2004–05	1
20	Gil Vicente	9	508	344	130	118	96	433	356	77	2	–	–	2	–	–	4	1997–98	2017–18	1
21	Oliveirense	12	508	426	131	115	180	507	609	-102	–	–	–	1	1	1	3	2001–02	2017–18	4
22	Moreirense	10	476	340	127	95	118	440	413	27	2	1	–	–	–	–	3	1995–96	2013–14	1
23	Porto B	8	469	314	131	76	107	436	389	47	1	1	–	–	–	–	2	2012–13	2012–13	1
24	Maia	10	457	344	126	79	139	477	496	-19	–	–	–	–	1	1	2	1990–91	2005–06	4	^[B]
25	Benfica B	8	456	314	126	78	110	476	429	47	–	–	–	2	1	1	4	2012–13	2012–13	4
26	Nacional	10	455	334	119	98	117	430	412	18	1	–	1	–	–	–	2	1991–92	2019–20	1
27	Naval 1º de Maio	10	436	310	111	103	96	420	384	36	–	1	–	2	–	–	3	1998–99	2013–14	2	^[C]
28	Ovarense	11	431	374	110	101	163	446	582	-136	–	–	–	–	–	1	1	1991–92	2005–06	6
29	Olhanense	9	419	326	109	92	125	345	379	-34	1	–	–	–	1	–	2	1991–92	2016–17	1
30	Sporting B	6	376	256	103	67	86	360	339	21	–	–	–	1	1	1	3	2012–13	2017–18	4
31	União de Lamas	9	362	306	98	68	140	310	433	-123	–	–	–	–	–	2	2	1994–95	2002–03	6
32	Trofense	8	349	280	90	79	111	292	367	-75	1	–	1	–	–	–	2	2006–07	2014–15	1
33	Braga B	7	344	290	88	80	122	328	370	-42	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2012–13	2018–19	7
34	União de Leiria	6	338	204	94	56	54	280	184	104	1	2	–	–	–	–	3	1990–91	2008–09	1
35	Leça	7	331	238	92	55	91	290	317	-27	1	–	–	–	–	1	2	1993–94	2002–03	1
36	Famalicão	6	315	228	87	54	87	273	274	-1	–	1	–	–	–	1	2	1994–95	2018–19	2
37	Vitória de Setúbal	5	310	170	89	43	38	302	169	133	–	2	2	–	1	–	5	1991–92	2003–04	2
38	Farense	6	310	226	83	61	82	261	243	18	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2002–03	2020–21	10
39	Vitória de Guimarães B	6	302	248	80	62	106	300	336	-36	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2012–13	2018–19	9
40	Belenenses	5	300	170	84	48	38	252	161	91	1	2	–	–	1	–	4	1991–92	2012–13	1
41	Estrela da Amadora	5	282	170	75	57	38	222	163	59	1	–	2	1	–	–	4	1991–92	2004–05	1
42	Campomaiorense	5	253	170	73	34	63	240	208	32	1	1	–	–	–	–	2	1992–93	2001–02	1	^[D]
43	Arouca	5	249	174	65	54	55	246	207	39	–	1	–	–	1	1	3	2010–11	2020–21	2
44	Alverca	5	245	170	67	44	59	198	167	31	–	1	1	–	–	–	2	1995–96	2004–05	2
45	Atlético CP	5	219	206	53	60	93	211	279	-68	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2011–12	2015–16	11
46	Vizela	5	211	166	49	64	53	178	184	-6	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2005–06	2020–21	3
47	Gondomar	5	200	158	53	41	64	193	188	5	–	–	–	–	1	–	1	2004–05	2008–09	5
48	Marco	5	200	170	52	44	74	210	272	-62	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	2000–01	2005–06	4	^[E]
49	Tondela	3	199	130	53	40	37	163	149	14	1	–	–	–	–	–	1	2012–13	2014–15	1
50	Torreense	5	192	174	48	48	78	188	255	-67	–	–	1	–	–	–	1	1990–91	1997–98	3
51	Louletano	4	179	140	49	32	59	164	180	-16	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1990–91	1993–94	10
52	Cova da Piedade	4	163	138	43	34	61	132	189	-57	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2016–17	2016–17	9
53	Tirsense	3	154	102	41	31	30	98	88	10	1	–	1	–	–	–	2	1991–92	1996–97	1
54	Mafra	3	134	104	32	38	34	110	108	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2015–16	2018–19	14
55	Marítimo B	3	132	130	35	27	68	115	172	-57	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2012–13	2014–15	16
56	Benfica Castelo Branco	3	118	106	29	31	46	90	140	-50	–	–	–	–	1	–	1	1990–91	1992–93	5
57	Oriental	2	99	92	24	27	41	94	126	-32	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2014–15	2015–16	15
58	Salgueiros	2	93	68	25	18	25	86	93	-7	–	–	–	–	–	1	1	2002–03	2003–04	6
59	Fátima	3	86	90	18	32	40	85	121	-36	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2007–08	2010–11	8
60	Esposende	2	66	68	16	18	34	55	99	-44	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1998–99	1999–2000	14
61	Imortal	2	66	68	15	21	32	76	108	-32	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1999–2000	2000–01	15
62	Amora	2	65	68	14	23	31	57	95	-38	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1992–93	1994–95	17
63	Barreirense	2	60	72	12	24	36	57	117	-60	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1990–91	2005–06	15
64	Vitória de Guimarães	1	55	30	16	7	7	44	20	24	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	2006–07	2006–07	2
65	O Elvas	1	52	38	14	10	14	45	45	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1990–91	1990–91	14
66	Fafe	1	45	42	11	12	19	52	65	-13	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2016–17	2016–17	20
67	Desportivo de Beja	1	37	34	9	10	15	44	55	-11	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1996–97	1996–97	17
68	Águeda	1	35	38	10	5	23	41	73	-32	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1990–91	1990–91	18
69	Boavista	1	32	30	9	5	16	28	44	-16	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2008–09	2008–09	15
70	Real	1	32	38	8	8	22	47	61	-14	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2017–18	2017–18	20
71	Olivais e Moscavide	1	27	30	7	6	17	26	42	-16	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2006–07	2006–07	15
72	Lusitano VRSA	1	25	38	4	13	21	16	45	-29	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1990–91	1990–91	19
73	Carregado	1	24	30	6	6	18	26	47	-21	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2009–10	2009–10	16
74	Vilafranquense	1	24	24	6	6	12	27	45	-18	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2019–20	2019–20	TBD
75	Casa Pia	1	11	24	2	5	17	19	47	-28	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2019–20	2019–20	TBD

A. ^ Club folded in 2005. Successor club Felgueiras 1932 was founded in 2006.

B. ^ Club folded in 2011.

C. ^ Club folded in 2017. Successor club Naval 1893 was founded in 2017.

D. ^ Club ended football team in 2013.

E. ^ Club ended football team in 2007.

Last updated: 27 July 2020

	Primeira Liga
	LigaPro
	Campeonato de Portugal
	Portuguese District Championships
	Clubs no longer in competition

References

1. "Aí está a Liga Pro!" [Here is LigaPro!] (in Portuguese). LPFP. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
2. "Segunda Liga will have less teams in 2016/2017 season". Sapo Desporto (in Portuguese). Sapo Desporto. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
3. "Aprovadas todas as propostas da Direção" [Board's proposals all approved] (in Portuguese). LPFP. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
4. "FPF avança com 3.ª Liga em 2021/22 e cria megaplano para o Campeonato de Portugal" [FPF advances with 3rd League in 2021–22 and creates megaplan for the Championship of Portugal]. Record.pt (in Portuguese). 6 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
5. "Veja os jogos da LEDMAN LigaPro em live streaming". Liga Portugal. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
6. "Segunda Liga stats". LPFP. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
7. Flood, George (6 May 2020). "Primeira Liga promotion confirmed for C.D. Nacional and Farense after second-tier season ended in Portugal". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 June 2020.

External links

• Official webpage (in Portuguese)