Nelonen (football)

Nelonen or IV divisioona is the sixth level in the Finnish football league system and comprises 159 teams. The IV divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Nelonen (Number Four in English and Fyran in Swedish). Until the end of 2023, Nelonen was a fifth-highest level in Finnish football league system, but after the formation of the new second-tier Ykkösliiga, Nelonen dropped down one level in pyramid to create a new sixth-tier Nelonen.

Competition
There are 159 clubs in the Nelonen, divided in 14 groups of 9 to 12 teams each representing a geographical area. During the course of a season (starting in April and ending in October) each club normally plays the others twice, once at their home ground and once at that of their opponents. The top team in each Nelonen group is normally promoted to Kolmonen and the two lowest placed teams are normally relegated to the Vitonen.

Football Association of Finland (SPL)
The Football Association of Finland (Suomen Palloliitto, SPL; Finlands Bollförbund, FBF) administers the Nelonen.

Teams within the Nelonen are eligible to compete in the Suomen Cup and the Suomen Regions' Cup. The clubs are normally listed in an abbreviated form and their full names can be viewed by referring to the List of clubs.

References and sources

 * Finnish FA
 * ResultCode
 * Nelonen (jalkapallo) - Finnish Wikipedia