Metropolitano championship

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The Metropolitano Championship was Argentina’s top-division football competition from 1967 to 1984. It was played in the first half of the season, while the Nacional Championship took place in the second half. This order remained until 1982 when the schedules were reversed. In 1985–1986 Argentina switched to European-style seasons and the Metropolitano and Nacional were dropped.

The Metropolitano used different formats over the years. Sometimes it was a simple league table; other times it was split into two groups that led to semi-finals. The number of teams varied from 18 to 23 (18 teams in 1972, 1973 and 1981; 23 teams in 1977).

Initially the Metropolitano ran in the first half of the year. Until 1969 it was played in two zones with knockout rounds to decide the champion. The best clubs moved on to the Campeonato Nacional in the second half, while the next-best teams entered the Torneo Promocional and the bottom teams played a relegation-style reclassification with teams from Primera División B. From 1971 the Metropolitano lasted at least eight months, and most editions used a double round-robin format (each team played the others twice). Beginning in 1973 the champion earned a spot in the Copa Libertadores. From 1980 the Metropolitano was played after the Nacional.