Liga Indonesia Premier Division (Indonesian: Divisi Utama Liga Indonesia) was the second-tier of the football competition system in Indonesia, organized by PSSI. The competition started in 1994 as a top-tier division in the Indonesian football league system. Prior to the formation of Indonesia Super League in 2008, the Premier Division was the Indonesian top-flight football league. Along with Indonesia Super League, Premier Division is a fully professional competition. The competition is usually divided into several groups because of factors in terms of geography and number of participants.
In its time as a top-flight league, the competition used to be contested by 28 to 36 teams divided into 2 groups, the West Division and the East Division. The top four teams from each group would then advance to the second stage where they were placed in one of two groups of four teams, with the top two teams in the second stage advancing to the knockout stage.
After the establishment of the Liga 2 in 2017, the Premier Division was dissolved.
History
In 1994, PSSI merged the existing Perserikatan and Galatama to form Liga Indonesia. This decision was taken to increase the quality of Indonesian football. In order to do so, PSSI sought to combine supporter's fanaticism from Perserikatan and Galatama's professionalism. The Premier Division was the first-tier in Liga Indonesia. The system stayed put until 2007.
In 2008, PSSI formed the Indonesia Super League (ISL), the first fully professional league in Indonesia, as the new top-tier of Indonesian football. The Premier Division was then being relegated to the second-tier.
As a result of continuing conflict between PT Liga Indonesia (LI) and PT Liga Prima Indonesia Sportindo (LPIS), there were two different Liga Indonesia Premier Division being organized for 2011–12 and 2013 season, one for the Indonesia Super League and the other for Indonesian Premier League. Starting in the 2014 season Premier Division was organized again by PT Liga Indonesia after the dissolution of LPIS.
In January 2017, PSSI renamed the competition from Premier Division to Liga 2 along with the change in the name of the league in the top division from Indonesia Super League to Liga 1.
First-tier era
Past champions
Title sponsors
Broadcasting partner
- TVRI (1994–2002)
- ANTV (1994–2007)
- RCTI (2000–2002)
- SCTV (2003)
- Trans TV (2004)
- TV7 (2004–2006)
- Lativi (2007)
Player of the season
Top scorers
Second-tier era
Past champions
Title sponsors
Broadcasting partner
- ANTV (2008–2013)
- tvOne (2013)
- First Media and Big TV (2014)
Player of the season
Top scorers
See also
- Indonesian football league system
- Liga 1 (Indonesia)
- Liga 2 (Indonesia)
References
