FKF Division One is the third tier in the Kenyan football league system. It has a promotion and relegation system with the

Kenyan National Super League The Kenyan National Super League (also referred to as Betika Super League for sponsorship reasons ) is the second tier of the Kenyan football league system, with a promotion and relegation system with the Kenyan Premier League and FKF Division ...

and the Kenyan Provincial League. It is controlled by the Football Kenya Federation. Most member clubs are

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

, though some clubs are either fully professional or

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

History

The league was formed after the

Kenyan Nationwide League The Kenyan Nationwide League was the second-division football league in Kenya, until it was replaced by FKF Division One. There is promotion and relegation with the Kenyan Premier League and the Kenyan Provincial League. History In 2008 Nationwid ...

was divided into two 16-team zones in 2008. In 2009, the two zones were later restructured to form "Nationwide League Division One" and "Nationwide League Division Two", representing the second and third divisions of Kenyan football. Division One was later renamed the FKL Nationwide League after former governing body Football Kenya Limited, while Division Two was renamed the KFF Nationwide League after former governing body, the

Kenya Football Federation Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the List of countries and dependencies by population, 27th-most-populous country in ...

. The two leagues were merged after the 2011 season, and the consequent league was divided into Zone A and Zone B, with teams from the eastern and western halves of Kenya, respectively. Due to a lack of enough teams from Zone B, a number of teams were promoted from the provincial leagues in the western half. For the 2013 season, all Division One teams endorsed a decision to split both Zone A and Zone B into two groups of 12 teams each, increasing the total number of teams in the league to 48. The first group from Zone A comprised teams from the

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Aberdares and

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...

regions while the second group comprise teams from the Eastern, North and South Coast regions. The first group from Zone B is to comprise teams from the

South Nyanza The South Cushitic or Rift languages of Tanzania are a branch of the Cushitic languages. The most numerous is Iraqw language, Iraqw, with one million speakers. Scholars believe that these languages were spoken by Southern Cushitic agro-pastoralis ...

, Central and South Rift regions, while the second group comprise teams from the North Nyanza, North Rift, and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

regions. Winners from each of these four groups will play the winners from the other group in their zone in a two-legged playoff to determine who gains promotion to the

Kenyan Premier League The Kenyan Premier League (KPL), officially known as the FKF Premier League, is a professional league for men's football clubs in Kenya. Standing at the top of the Kenyan football league system, the league was formed in 1963 under the Kenya Foo ...

for the following season. From the beginning of the 2014 season, FKF Division One was lowered to the third tier of the Kenyan football league system to give way to the

, now putting it above the Kenyan Provincial League, in line with the introduction of a new six-tier system by the Football Kenya Federation to take effect at the beginning of that season.

Competition

There are 24 clubs in each of the two divisions of the FKF Division One. These two divisions are further divided into two groups of 12 teams each. During the course of a season, each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home ground and once at that of their opponents. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the winners of each of the 4 groups play the winners of the other group in their zone in a two-legged play-off tie to determine who advances to the

, in place of the last two teams from that league, who are then placed in their respective zones depending on their locations of origin. Promoted teams from the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

are also placed in their respective zones depending on their locations of origin. If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank.

Clubs

Zone A

Zone A teams are based in

, Central, Eastern, North Eastern and

Coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

, representing the Eastern half of Kenya.

Zone B

Zone B teams are based in

Rift Valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges produced by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear ...

and Nyanza, representing the Western half of Kenya.

Previous winners

Zone A

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 ...

: Bandari (Mombasa) *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

: Kenya Revenue Authority (Nairobi)

Zone B

: Kakamega Homeboyz (Kakamega) *

: Top Fry AllStars (Nakuru)

Top scorers in recent seasons

References

External links

Futaa.com
– Kenyan Football Website {{Football in Kenya 3

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...