Originally, the Premier Division was the top-tier division when it was first established in 1994 and only became the second tier in 2008 when its place in the top flight was replaced by the newly formed Indonesia Super League.[2] The competition is usually divided into several groups because of factors in terms of geography and number of participants.[3]
History
Foundation
The Premier Division was the first-tier in Liga Indonesia. The system stayed put until 2007.[4] 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.[4]
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.
Name change
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.[2]
Liga 2 did not use the name of the main sponsor after the name change in 2017 season until Pegadaian, which operates in the financial sector became the main sponsor in the 2023–24 season and changed the name of the league to Pegadaian Liga 2.[5]
"Year joined" is the year the club joined the Liga Indonesia, including leagues that are divisionally below it and counted since 1994–95 season.
"First season in D2" and "Seasons in D2" counted since Premier Division dropped down to second-tier and also including of former ISC B.
"Most recent spell in top flight" counted since foundation of Indonesia Super League (now Liga 1), including Indonesian Premier League during dualism era (2011–2013) and former ISC A in 2016 season.
Notes
^Include season as Putra Safin Group and AHHA PS Pati.