The Bhutan Super League, previously known as the Thimphu League and Bhutan A-Division, was the men's football league in Bhutan. Until 2012, it was the lone national top division. Between 2013 and 2020, it was played as the second division and the qualifier for the

Bhutan Premier League The Bhutan Premier League, currently known as the Bank of Bhutan Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the men's highest division of professional football in Bhutan. It also provides Bhutan's entrant for continental competition, the AFC ...

History

The Thimphu League has taken a number of formats during its history. Initially, the competition was held as a single round-robin group of matches, with all games being held at the national stadium, Changlimithang. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, the format of football played was very similar to the later set up of a Thimphu league, including Paro taking part in a qualifying contest to join other teams from different

Dzongkhag The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts (Dzongkha: ). Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia. are the primary subdivisions of Bhutan. They pos ...

s for a genuine national league. However, the main focus of the league has been on Thimpu-based teams. Under its previous name, the A-Division was formally named as such in

, following five years of competition under a different, unknown name between 1996 and 2000 and what appears to have been a one-off competition in 1986. The initial A-Division season, as noted above, consisted of a Thimphu-based qualifying round, followed by an essentially national competition, albeit hosted in

Phuentsholing Phuntsholing, also spelled as Phuentsholing (), is a border town in southern Bhutan and is the administrative seat of Chukha District. The town occupies parts of both Phuentsholing Gewog and Sampheling Gewog. Phuentsholing adjoins the Indian ...

Druk Star Druk Stars Football Club, sometimes referred to as Druk Star, was a Bhutanese association football, football club from Thimphu. The team have won the national championship twice and competed in the Thimphu League, A-Division from 2002, when they ...

broke the domination of Drukpol by winning the A-Division that season. In

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

the league continued to include teams from outside of Thimphu, but this time, there were no teams from

Gomtu Gomtu is a border town in south-western Bhutan near the border with India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; th ...

Samtse Samtse is a town and the headquarters of the Samtse District in Bhutan. The population of the town was 5,396 as of 2017. The population of the Samtse district was 60,100 at the 2005 census. Samtse is close to the Bhutan–India border. Across t ...

, only from

and Paro. By 2003, all non-Thimphu teams had dropped out of the league to be replaced by others from the capital city who contested a single round-robin series of matches. In 2003, a full league pyramid was established in Bhutan, with the A-Division at its head. There were nine A division clubs and nine B division clubs competing in the national league. The Bhutan football federation (BFF) introduced C division clubs, from this year, to participate in the national league. About 12 to 14 C division clubs are thought to have participated. Based on the performance in the national league, the two best teams from C division will from this point be promoted to the B division. Likewise, two B division teams will move up to A division. On the other hand, two weakest teams in each division will be relegated to a lower division. Details are scant for

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, but it is known that this was the first time that Bhutan submitted an entrant for any AFC tournament, with that season's champion,

Transport United Transport United Football Club is a Bhutanese professional football club based in Thimphu that competes in the Bhutan Premier League, the top level of Bhutanese football. The club was founded in 2001 and plays at the Changlimithang Stadium. Tran ...

being awarded Bhutan's slot in the

2005 AFC President's Cup The 2005 AFC President's Cup was the inaugural season of the AFC President's Cup, a competition for football clubs in countries categorized as "emerging nations" by the Asian Football Confederation. The eight teams that competed were split into ...

. This cemented the A-Division's position as the premier football competition in the country and it continued to supply Bhutan's President's Cup entrant until the creation of the National League. The league settled into its Thimpu-focussed home and away set up by

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

at the latest. This season would see the beginning of the dominance of Transport United, who picked up their second successive title and would go on to win another two to make it four in a row, only bettered by Drukpol's performance prior to the formalisation of the A-Division. However, following their final title in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, they began to slip down the league table, finishing second in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and spending several seasons in mid-table obscurity before finally being relegated to the B-Division in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. As Transport United slipped, so Yeedzin were poised to take their place, winning four titles and taking one second place in the next six seasons.

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, however, was the last edition where the A-Division held the premier spot in Bhutan's football pyramid. In an attempt to spread the popularity of the game around the country, a

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

was established. The Division continues in its usual format, but now no longer supplies Bhutan's entrant to the

AFC President's Cup The AFC Challenge League (previously known as the AFC President's Cup, abbreviated as ACGL) is an annual third-tier continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. The competition is played among clubs from n ...

. Instead the top teams from the Thimphu League qualify to compete in the National League against several teams from different districts. In 2015 the A-Division was renamed the Thimphu League (

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

Thimphu League for sponsorship reasons), reflecting the National League's position as the preeminent football competition in the country. In 2019, the rebranded second division named Bhutan Super League was introduced, adding clubs outside of

Thimphu Thimphu (; ) is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's '' dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replac ...

to its membership. Thimphu League continued to exist as part of the district leagues. The Super League ceased after the 2020 season and was replaced by the qualifying tournament for the Premier League.

List of winners

Performance by club

References

{{AFC second leagues Bhutan Super League Football leagues in Bhutan Sports leagues established in 2001 2001 establishments in Bhutan