The Second League (German: 2. Liga), commonly known as Admiral 2. Liga for sponsorship reasons and as Red-Zac-Erste-Liga, is the second-highest professional division in Austrian football.
The division currently contains 16 teams, and the champion of the league is promoted to the Austrian Bundesliga if it is not a reserve team. The two last-placed teams are directly relegated from the Second League into the regional leagues.
Teams
Starting in the 2018–19 season, the former First League changed its name to the Second League[1] and expanded from ten teams to 16 teams.[2]
The destination of a club relegated from the Second League depends upon which Land (state) of the Federal Republic it is a member. The relegated clubs join one of the Regionalligen (regional leagues) in the east, centre or west of the country. The three regional league champions are promoted to the Second League. Participation in the professional Second League is conditional on their licensing by the fifth senate of the federal league. If the licence is refused for economic reasons, one team fewer will be relegated.
The Austrian second division has had several different names and sponsors since 1974. It was formerly called the First League (Erste Liga), from 2002 to 2018.
(Seasons below represent the first season when the name was used)
1974/75 Nationalliga
1975/76 2. Division
1993/94 2. Division der Bundesliga
1998/99 Erste Division
2002/03 Red Zac-Erste Liga
2008/09 ADEG Erste Liga
2010/11 „Heute für Morgen“ Erste Liga
2014/15 Sky Go Erste Liga
2018/19 2. Liga
The league was known as the Sky Go Erste Liga for sponsorship reasons from 2014/15 to 2017/18, but Sky is not mentioned on the official website 2liga.at, or in the ÖFB's 2018/19 preview articles.[4]