The new category of Spanish football is gradually taking shape. The Federation summoned in the morning of this Thursday the 30 clubs already classified for this new competition and the remaining 32 that compete for a place. It is the new First RFEF, the intermediate category between the Second Division and the Second B (which will be called Second RFEF). With his creation It is intended to professionalize modest football and get closer to the conditions in which it is competed in LaLiga SmartBank. Less equipment and more control and economic demand. Although this topic is still very open.
Competition format: league, promotion, relegation and playoff
The First RFEF will be made up of 40 teams divided into two groups of 20 by geographic criteria (As was done in Second B, although it has not yet been decided whether it will be north-south or otherwise). The competition will be divided into two phases. The first will be in league format, where 38 days (round trip) will be played between the members of each group. From this first phase, those who finish in first position are promoted directly to Second (LaLiga SmartBank), while those that remain between second place and fifth place, inclusive, will go on to play a promotion promotion. While the last five of each group (from 16 to 20) will go down to Second RFEF.
As for the playoff, the eight teams will compete for the two remaining places in a one-game playoff and one-off venue. There will only be three rounds and the pairings will be made by pitting the second of one group against the fifth of the other and the third against the fourth. The matches will have extra time, but no penalties. In case of a tie, the one with the best position obtained in the first phase will pass. If the circumstance arises that both teams finished in the same position in the league, there will be a penalty shoot-out.
Economic criteria
The Federation and clubs will have to continue seeing each other in the coming weeks and months as many fronts remain open. You have to talk and see if you can make a centralized sale of television rights, but some would be reluctant to do so and others already have them awarded. One of the approaches for the distribution of income would be related to the number of punctures in the audiences of the matches of the competition. There was talk of distributing 25% of said income according to that criterion, another 25% according to classification and the remaining 50% equally. In addition, it is still pending to negotiate the naming of the competition, which would bear the name of a sponsor as is the case with Santander in First and Second, and the official ball, among other matters.
To access this new category, a series of financial and infrastructure requirements will have to be met. But knowing the difficulty for some clubs, moratoriums and a gradual application would be carried out so that the cubs implement them and not have to reject the place that they have won with sporting merits.Regarding infrastructures, there was talk of a minimum power of light (600) for the next season; for 22-23, that all the fields are made of artificial grass and for 23-24 that the minimum capacity of the stadiums is 4,000 spectators. The president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, highlighted “the desire to achieve a competition that achieves excellence and that all classified clubs can participate in it”, as well as “A fairer system, which allows reaching up in a staggered manner and not a bottleneck.”
It will also try to professionalize the category in the contractual aspect of the players. But it will have to be in a negotiation between the union and clubs, where it is determined if a salary limit is established, as it happens in LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank.
In addition, it was proposed for the future (in the medium-long term) to limit the number of subsidiary or dependent teams of a professional in this category. The RFEF would be looking for some legal mechanism to balance the opportunities between the modest teams and the subsidiaries that serve to strengthen the quarry of the big clubs. Next season, the First RFEF could be made up of a quarter of these teams, leaving less space for the more modest ones who do not have the backing of a great one. At the moment, the use of VAR is not on the table, although in the RFEF there is a working group that studies how to expand its use in the different categories in the medium-long term, provided that it is feasible.
Teams that will participate in the First RFEF
The new category will have 40 clubs (36 from Second B and the four that descend from LaLiga SmartBank) and will be divided into two groups. For now, 30 teams are known with a guaranteed ticket to play this new competition next season.
Teams already classified: Burgos, Valladolid B, Cultural Leonesa, Celta B, Unionistas, Zamora, Real Sociedad B, Bilbao Athletic, Amorebieta, Tudelano, Calahorra, SD Logroñés. Ibiza, Nàstic, Andorra, Barcelona B, Alcoyano, Villarreal B, UCAM Murcia, Linares, Algeciras, Betis Deportivo, San Fernando, Atlético Sanluqueño, Badajoz, Sanse, Extremadura, Castilla, Talavera and DUX Inter de Madrid.
* Of these 30, four will not participate in the First RFEF, as they will achieve an even greater prize, being promoted to LaLiga SmartBank.
Second B teams that choose to qualify:
Group I: Deportivo, Numancia, Ferrol, Langreo, Compostela and Marino Luanco.
Group II: Real Unión, Racing, Ebro, Osasuna Promesas, Arenas de Getxo, Tarazona and Laredo.
Group III: Cornellà, Lleida, Badalona, Llagostera, Hercules, Atlético Levante and La Nucía.
Group IV: Sevilla Atlético, Linense, Córdoba, Tamaraceite, Real Murcia and Cádiz B.
Group V: Rayo Majadahonda, Atlético Baleares, Villanovense, Mérida, Don Benito and Navalcarnero.
* Only ten will get a ticket. Two teams per group.
The four teams that descend from Second: yet to be decided.