cmaddict21

Having grown tired of European LLM, I want to try my hand in Brazil. I have heard that it is both challenging and rewarding. My question, though, is how is the third division organized? Is there a cup competition for third division sides? How is promotion acheived? Thanks!

UELLfan

Didn't the new game describe the structure of the leagues?

Anyhoos: You've got 3 or 4 competitions each year.

Statal(?) League: In which you play the teams of your region, regardless of the Division in which you are in the Brazilian League. There are two relegation spots from this league and the winner (and perhaps the runner-up) enter a cup competition (Statal Champions Cup?). (This is the first competition you'll play).

Brazilian Cup: in the rest period between the Statal Leagues and the Brazilian 3rd Division Championship, the Brazilian Cup kicks off.

Brazilian 3rd Division: 128 teams for 2 promotion spots!! Do I need to say anything else? 16 groups of 8 teams IIRC play a regular season. Bottom two of each group get relegated and top two enter the knockout stage.

Knockout stage comprises two legged fixtures in which away goals don't count (in fact it's points during the regular season that are used if the score ends level). There's 1/32th, 1/16th and 1/8th rounds.

The teams that go after the 1/8th round get into a final play-off group in which the top two get promotion to Brazilian 2nd Division.

cmaddict21

thanks...the new game does describe the leagues, but since play.com have yet to have the game delivered, i dont have it. 128 teams! i cant wait!

adax

Statal, Jordi?

Surely you mean state leagues.

turnip

The State Championships have different rules depending on which State you're in. It's not obvious whether there are any relegation spots in the Bahia State Championships I'm currently struggling in.
To be fair, I didn't notice anything explaining the structure of the leagues either, until I checked a minute ago. But anyway, Brazil 3rd Division can be a bitch.

arbitrary

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> 128 teams for 2 promotion spots!! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Whoa! Heavy! :eek:

And to think i was feeling daunted by spanish D2B

Pangaea

Tempting to try the Brazilian sun :thup:

UELLfan

Minas Gerais State Championship had two relegation spots in 03/04.

All my previous explanation was taken from my 3 years spell there.

reddbaron

Brazilian third division is very satisfying! One thing to think about when you start your game, due to the different seasons, the Brazilian leagues start at a different time. If your game slows down during transfer periods, you may want to avoid putting European teams in your Brazilian game (or the opposite is also true) as you will encounter double the transfer windows and thus double the unsatisfying months where you have to patiently wait while the PC processes. This may be less of an issue in FM than it was in 03/04, but is still a consideration.

ndn

I've always played with Moto Clube de São LuÃ*s, a brazilian third division team. Moto Clube plays in Maranhão State Championship in February to April. The State League has 12 teams. Moto Club, Sampaio Corrêa and Maranhão are the best. In the first stage, the teams play against each other in 11 rounds. Top 8 qualify for quartefinals. This fase is disputed in one leg. The winners qualify for semifinals (two legs). The two finalists dispute the state title in two matches. As the maranhão teams are very poor, this is the great chance to win a title. Moto Clube, Sampaio Corrêa, Maranhão, Santa Inês, Imperatriz and Caxiense plays too in Brazil Cup and 3rd Division (Série C), but is very hard to qualify for final phases.