UNDERSTANDING THE LEAGUE
Over the past couple of seasons there has been many changes to the formation of the league due to the pandemic and there will be more to come.
Before you begin to read this post I suggest that you open a bottle of wine because it is complicated. By the end I expect many of you will be cracking open the brandy bottle.
The Spanish Football Federation has altered the league over many seasons and in best part, for the good. Fifteen years ago the team that won the league still entered into the playoffs along with four other sides directly below them and not having any advantage.
Thankfully this has changed with the Champions of the league automatically being promoted to the Segunda B (Third Tier), unless their B team is in the league above as is the case with UD Las Palmas C.
Currently Las Palmas C are in second spot and are one point behind leaders CD Tenerife B though they have more chance of being relegated than promoted as the Las Palmas B team is in the relegation zone in the league above. Should they drop down a division this will force their C team to have a knock on effect as they would also face relegation because, for obvious reasons the two sides cannot play in the same league.
Presently there are 17 teams in Lanzarote’s league which is possibly going to be reduced to 16 if the Federation decide to do so. The league winners other than UD Las Palmas C will be automatically promoted with the following four sides entering into a knockout playoff against mainland teams from various other groups in the Tercera division (Fourth Tier).
Now is the time to refill your wine glass as it’s still too early for the brandy.
The relegation side of things is where it gets very interesting. Four teams will definitely drop into the league below, Regional Preferente, but more could and probably will follow.
This depends a lot on the league above in Segunda B where the Canary Islands have five teams. Five sides will definitely be relegated from this league and unbelievably the five Canarian sides are in that bottom five with UD Las Palmas B the best placed of those teams though they are still three points off safety.
In reality seven teams could easily be relegated from our division and the scramble at the bottom half of the league table is intense. Only Tenerife side UD Las Zocas looks doomed, rooted to the bottom with just nine points.
From second from bottom up to Lanzarote in 7th spot there are only six points separating 10 teams and six of those sides are facing relegation. Each side is seeking at least the safety of mid table.
Lanzarote have nine games remaining with their last league match at home on the 24th April however the league finishes the following week, then around mid May the playoffs begin.
One final thing to take into consideration before you pour yourself that large brandy is understanding how goal difference works in the Tercera Division.
It does not matter whether your goal difference is better than your rivals it is settled on how you faired against each other. For example if Lanzarote and Yaiza finish on the same amount of points and Yaiza were to have a better goal difference it wouldn’t be to their advantage. Over the two games they played against each other Lanzarote may have lost 0-1 at home but they won 0-2 away. If both sides were equal in say 1-1 in both matches then it does come down to goal difference.
This is how I understand the situation but I could have easily made a mistake so if you know different please let me know. If you have understood all this reward yourself with that large brandy.
