League Club is a term used to refer to football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 clubs that are in one of the top professional

Professional

A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...

 leagues of a country. The club itself does not have to be professional and in some of the lower leagues of more minor footballing nations some clubs have become semi-professional in order to compete. The oldest league club in the world is Notts County

Notts County F.C.

Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...

.

League status by country

Country	Professional Leagues
Argentina Football in Argentina Football in Argentina is the most popular sport, the one with the most players and is the most popular recreational sport, played from childhood into old age...	Primera División Argentina Primera División Argentina The Primera División is a professional football league in Argentina. It is the country's premier football division and is at the top of the Argentine football league system. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Primera B Nacional. The season runs...
Brazil Football in Brazil Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. The Brazilian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament a record 5 times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, and is the only team to succeed in qualifying for every World Cup competition ever held. It is among the favourites to win...	Campeonato Brasileiro Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...	Série B Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Série B is the second division of Brazilian football. It is played by 20 teams. However, the competition format has changed almost every year since it first occurred, in 1971. In some years, it was not played altogether...	Série C Campeonato Brasileiro Série C The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C is the third division of Brazilian football.Unlike the first and second divisions, the Série C is not played in a double round robin system, arguably because many participating teams lack the financial conditions to travel long distances...	Série D Campeonato Brasileiro Série D The Campeonato Brasileiro Série D is the fourth tier of the Brazilian football, and it was announced by Brazilian Football Confederation on April 9, 2008. Campeonato Brasileiro Série D was formed from the split of Série C, keeping its best 20 clubs and playing double round robin, like the top...
England Football in England Association football is a national sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game...	Premier League	Football League Championship Football League Championship The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...	Football League 1	Football League 2
France Football in France Football is the most popular sport in France. The Fédération Française de Football is the national governing bodyand is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of association football in the country, both professional and amateur...	Ligue 1 Ligue 1 Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....	Ligue 2 Ligue 2 Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...	Championnat National Championnat National The Championnat de France National, commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2...
Germany Football in Germany Association football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the 1. and 2. Bundesliga on top, and the winner of the first...	Bundesliga	Second Bundesliga	3. Liga
Italy Football in Italy Football is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup 4 times , trailing only Brazil . Italy's club sides have won 27 major European trophies, making them the most successful European nation in the subject of football...	Serie A Serie A Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...	Serie B Serie B Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...	Serie C1 Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1....	Serie C2 Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione is the name of the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consists of 54 teams, but in the season 2010–11 the teams are only 49 divided geographically into three divisions of 17, 16 and 16 teams each...
India Football in India Association football is one of India's most popular sports, next to cricket. It is a very popular sport in states like West Bengal, Goa, Kerala and the entire North-East India, especially Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim....	I-League I-League The I-League is an Indian football league for association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation of two teams each year with the I-League 2nd Division...	I-League 2nd Division I-League 2nd Division The I-League 2nd Division is the second highest division of football in India after the I-League....
Japan Football in Japan Association football is one of the most popular sports in Japan. Its nationwide organization, Japan Football Association, administers the professional football league, J...	J. League Division 1	J. League Division 2 J. League The or is the top division of and is the top professional association football league in Japan. It is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football and the only league given top class 'A' ranking by the AFC. Currently, J. League Division 1 is the first level of the Japanese...
Malaysia Football in Malaysia The sport of football in the country of Malaysia is run by the Football Association of Malaysia. The association administers the national football team as well as the national league....	Malaysian Super League Malaysian Super League The Malaysia Super League is a Malaysian professional league for association football. At the top flight of the Malaysian football league system and it is managed by the Malaysia Super League Sdn Bhd, under supervision of the Football Association of Malaysia...	Malaysian Premier League Malaysian Premier League Malaysia Premier League is the second-tier football league in Malaysia. The league is currently named Astro Premier League Malaysia...
Korea Football in South Korea The sport of football in the country of South Korea is run by the Korea Football Association. The association administers the national football team as well as the K-League.-beginning:...	K-League Division 1 K-League The Korea Professional Football League is South Korea's only fully professional association football league. At the top of the South Korean football league system, it is the country's highest and most prestigious level of football competition currently contested by 16 clubs.-Establishment:The...	K-League Division 2 N-League The Korea National League is a semi-professional association football league, the second tier of the South Korean football league system. It consists of fifteen member clubs....
Peru	Primera División Peruana Primera División Peruana The Peruvian Primera División is the top professional division of Peruvian football. It is known today as Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional Peruano...	Segunda División Peruana Segunda División Peruana The Segunda División of Peru is the second division of Peruvian football. It is not a professional division but was declared a promotional division by the Peruvian Football Federation . After years of changing numbers of clubs, as of 2011 the league includes 10 clubs...
Russia Football in Russia When the USSR broke down into 15 different countries, the once renowned sports structure collapsed as well. Football was one of the most popular sports in the Soviet Union. While the national teams and the clubs used to be linked to state institutions or mass organizations, in 1991 they became...	Russian Premier League Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League , currently called SOGAZ Russian Football Championship due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of Russian football. There are 16 teams in the competition...	Russian First Division	Russian Second Division Russian Second Division The Russian Second Division is the third level of Russian professional football.In 1998–2010, it was run by the Professional Football League....
Scotland Football in Scotland Association football is the national sport in Scotland and highly popular throughout the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of these include carrying the ball and passing by hand, and despite...	Scottish Premier League Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...	Scottish First Division	Scottish Second Division	Scottish Third Division
Spain Football in Spain Football is the most popular sport in Spain. The Royal Spanish Football Federation is the national governing body and it organizes La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spain national football team, current champion of the FIFA World Cup...	Primera división La Liga The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...	Segunda división
Sweden Football in Sweden In Sweden, the most popular sport is association football, with over 240,000 licensed players—of which 56,000 are women—plus another 240,000 youth players. There are around 3,200 active clubs fielding over 8,500 teams, which are playing on the 7,900 pitches available in the country...	Allsvenskan Allsvenskan Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Swedish football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan...	Superettan Superettan Superettan is the second highest league in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 16 Swedish football teams. It was created in 2000. Before that, the second level league in Sweden had been Division 1....	Division 1
USA Soccer in the United States Soccer, fully known as association football,See the articles Football and Names for association football#North America for more detailed explanations of the differing names for soccer. has long been a popular sport in the United States...	Major League Soccer Major League Soccer Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...	United Soccer Leagues United Soccer Leagues The United Soccer Leagues is the organizer of several soccer leagues with teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It includes men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Leagues currently organized are the USL Pro, the USL Premier Development League, the W-League, and...