Portugal Tier 3

Campeonato de Portugal - Serie A

4th Tier Becomes Playable in the second season (2021/22)

League Guide & Facts

The third tier of Portuguese football
94 teams
3 stages
8 groups of 12 teams (22 games) Group B & H will have 11 teams (20 Games)

Promotion

The top club in each group will compete in two mini leagues of four and the winners of those mini leagues will gain promotion to the Segunda Liga
Clubs finishing in positions 2 to 5 (thirty-two in total) will split into eight mini-leagues of four with the top two in each forming a new 3rd Professional League (Terceira Liga) – behind the Primeira Liga and the Segunda Liga.
Clubs finishing 6-8 will stay in the same division but the division will move from tier 3 to 4

Relegation

Bottom 4 clubs (9-12) of each group relegated to what will be the 5th tier (Unplayable in FM21) except Group B & H which is only bottom 3

Other

4th Tier becomes playable in 2021/22
5 substitutions From 7 (max of 3 stoppages)
The match squad must have at least 12 players trained by a club in Portugal.
Under-19 players are automatically eligible to play in all matches.
Sp. Braga B & Pedras Salgadas can be managed but are feeder clubs for teams in higher divisions

Competition Format (From Wikipedia)

The new competition format consists of three stages. In the first stage, the 96 clubs will be divided in eight series of 12 teams, according to geographic criteria, with a maximum of two reserve teams in each series. In each series, teams play against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system.

In the second stage, the best-placed teams of each of eight Series advance to the promotion series, teams placed from second to fifth qualify for Terceira Liga qualification Series (a new tier 3 league), bottom 4 teams are relegated to the District Championships (will become tier 5) and remaining teams stay in Campeonato de Portugal (will become tier 4). On the promotion series, the 8 teams are divided in two series of 4 teams, the winners of each series being promoted to LigaPro, remaining teams qualify for Terceira Liga. On the Terceira Liga qualification Series, the 32 teams are divided in eight series of 4 teams, the two best-placed teams of each series qualifying for Terceira Liga. In both promotion Series and Terceira Liga qualification Series, teams play against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system.

In the third stage, the best-placed teams of the two promotion series will play each other on a neutral venue to decide the champion.

Location of Clubs

Suggested* Additional Nations To Load

Iberian Adventure & Beyond

*As always this is only a suggestion, the leagues listed are in order of importance, feel free to run as many or as little leagues as you think your system can handle. The setup above gives a nice regional feel.

It is advisable however to run as many top tier leagues of major nations as you can to keep the continental club competitions competitive