Portuguese District Football Associations


There are 22 district Football Associations in Portugal. These organizations are the governing bodies of football in each Portuguese district.

Overview

Until the reform of Portuguese football in 1948, all clubs in a given district had to participate in the District Championship, even those in Primeira Liga and Segunda Divisão; after 1948, a Terceira Divisão was established for transition between the District Championship and national leagues and the top level clubs no longer had to play in their District Championship.
With the reform of Portuguese Football League system in 2013, the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores became the Portuguese third-level football league, making the principal District Championship the fourth-level leagues.
While the three districts in which the Azores were divided pre-autonomy were abolished, the district football associations haven't merged, and still exist as separate entities. Nevertheless, beginning in 2013, their clubs will compete in a unified Azores league before joining the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores.

List of district associations

The 22 DFAs are:
  1. Associação de Futebol do Algarve
  2. Associação de Futebol de Angra do Heroísmo
  3. Associação de Futebol de Aveiro
  4. Associação de Futebol de Beja
  5. Associação de Futebol de Braga
  6. Associação de Futebol de Bragança
  7. Associação de Futebol de Castelo Branco
  8. Associação de Futebol de Coimbra
  9. Associação de Futebol de Évora
  10. Associação de Futebol da Guarda
  11. Associação de Futebol da Horta
  12. Associação de Futebol de Leiria
  13. Associação de Futebol de Lisboa
  14. Associação de Futebol da Madeira
  15. Associação de Futebol de Ponta Delgada
  16. Associação de Futebol de Portalegre
  17. Associação de Futebol do Porto
  18. Associação de Futebol de Santarém
  19. Associação de Futebol de Setúbal
  20. Associação de Futebol de Viana do Castelo
  21. Associação de Futebol de Vila Real
  22. Associação de Futebol de Viseu
Note: "Associação de Futebol de/do/da" means "Football Association of"
Angra do Heroísmo, Beja, Bragança, Guarda, Horta and Viana do Castelo have never had representation in the top level.