The Czech National Football League (, CHNL), known as Chance Národní Liga due to sponsorship reasons, is the second level professional association football league in the Czech Republic. Before 2013 it was known as 2. liga or Druhá liga. The top team each season is eligible for promotion to the Czech First League, while the second and third placed teams enter play offs for possible promotion.
The league replaced the I.ČNL (I. Česká národní liga; First Czech National League), which had been established following the end of the nationwide Czechoslovak Second League in 1977. The league became known as simply II. liga (Second League) in 1993 following the establishment of the Czech Republic as an independent state.
Structure There are 16 clubs in the CHNL. During the season, which runs from August to May or June, with a winter break between November and February or March, each club plays each of the other clubs twice (once at home, once away) and is awarded three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the top-ranked team is promoted to the Czech First League, providing they obtain a license and meet league requirements, and is replaced by the team that finished 16th in that league. The two teams positioned 2nd and 3rd play a play-out with two teams from the first league positioned 14th and 15th in a home and away format. The two teams that finished at the bottom of the CHNL are relegated to either the Bohemian Football League or the Moravian-Silesian Football League, based on geographical criteria. In turn, the champions of each of these regional divisions are promoted to the CHNL.
In the 1993–94 season the league was played with 16 teams, before expanding to 18 teams in the 1994–95 season. Since 1995, the league is usually played with 16 teams, but on two occasions a team did not fulfil its fixtures and the full 30 rounds were not completed. Firstly in the 1997–98 Czech 2. Liga as Ústí nad Labem did not fulfil their fixtures and their results were cancelled, and secondly in the 2004–05 Czech 2. Liga as Bohemians' results were expunged after playing only the first half of the season. In the 2020–21 season, only 14 teams competed because of the suspension of the first league in the previous season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participating teams The following 16 clubs are competing in the 2025–26 Czech National Football League.
Club Location Stadium Capacity 2024–25 positionSK Dynamo České BudějoviceČeské BudějoviceStadion Střelecký ostrov 6,681 16th in First LeagueMFK ChrudimChrudimZa Vodojemem 1,500 2ndFC Silon TáborskoTáborStadion v Kvapilově ulici 1,500 4thAC Sparta Prague BPragueeFotbal Arena 2,799 5thFC Sellier & Bellot VlašimVlašimStadion Kollárova ulice 3,000 6thFC Zbrojovka BrnoBrnoMěstský fotbalový stadion Srbská 10,200 7thSK Artis BrnoBrnoMěstský fotbalový stadion Srbská 10,200 8thFK Viktoria ŽižkovPragueeFotbal Arena 2,799 9thFC Vysočina JihlavaJihlavaStadion v Jiráskově ulici 4,500 10thSK Slavia Prague BPragueStadion Olympia Radotín 1,500 11th1. SK ProstějovProstějovStadion Za Místním nádražím 3,500 12thSFC OpavaOpavaStadion v Městských sadech 7,524 13thFC Baník Ostrava BOstravaMěstský stadion (Ostrava) 15,123 14thFK Viagem Ústí nad LabemÚstí nad LabemMěstský stadion 4,000 1st in ČFLSK Hanácká Slavia KroměřížKroměřížStadion Jožky Silného 1,529 1st in MSFLFK PříbramPříbramNa Litavce 9,100 2nd in ČFL Group A
CHNL champions Season Winners Runners-up1993–94 Sklobižu Jablonec nad Nisou FK Švarc Benešov1994–95 Uherské Hradiště Ostroj Opava1995–96 FC Karviná FK Teplice1996–97 FC Dukla Prague AFK Atlantic Lázně Bohdaneč1997–98 FK Chmel Blšany FC Karviná1998–99 Bohemians Prague SK České Budějovice1999–2000 Synot Staré Město FC Viktoria Plzeň2000–01 FC Hradec Králové SFC Opava2001–02 SK Dynamo České Budějovice FK Zlín2002–03 FC Viktoria Plzeň SFC Opava2003–04 FK Mladá Boleslav FK Drnovice2004–05 FK SIAD Most FC Vysočina Jihlava2005–06 SK Kladno SK Dynamo České Budějovice2006–07 FK Viktoria Žižkov Bohemians 19052007–08 Bohemians Prague FK Marila Příbram2008–09 Bohemians 1905 FC Zenit Čáslav2009–10 FC Hradec Králové FK Ústí nad Labem2010–11 FK Dukla Prague FK Viktoria Žižkov2011–12 FK Ústí nad Labem FC Vysočina Jihlava2012–13 1. SC Znojmo Bohemians 19052013–14 SK Dynamo České Budějovice FC Hradec Králové2014–15 SK Sigma Olomouc FK Varnsdorf2015–16 MFK Karviná FC Hradec Králové2016–17 SK Sigma Olomouc FC Baník Ostrava2017–18 SFC Opava 1.FK Příbram2018–19 SK Dynamo České Budějovice FC Vysočina Jihlava2019–20 FK Pardubice FC Zbrojovka Brno2020–21 FC Hradec Králové SK Líšeň2021–22 FC Zbrojovka Brno FC Sellier & Bellot Vlašim2022–23 MFK Karviná MFK Vyškov2023–24 FK Dukla Prague SK Sigma Olomouc B2024–25 FC Zlín MFK Chrudim2025–26 FC Zbrojovka Brno FC Silon Táborsko
Teams promoted to the First League since 1993 From 1993 to 2018, the top two teams qualified for promotion. Since the 2018–19 season, only the top team has been directly promoted. Teams finishing second and third play a two-legged playoff with teams from the First League to determine who will play there next season. In the COVID-impacted 2019–20 season, the playoffs were cancelled.
1993: Viktoria Žižkov, Petra Drnovice, Viktoria Plzeň, Union Cheb, Slovan Liberec, Svit Zlín 1994: Sklobižu Jablonec nad Nisou, Švarc Benešov 1995: Uherské Hradiště, Ostroj Opava 1996: FC Karviná, FK Teplice, Bohemians Prague 1997: FC Dukla Příbram, AFK Atlantic Lázně Bohdaneč 1998: FK Chmel Blšany, FC Karviná 1999: Bohemians Prague, SK České Budějovice 2000: Synot Staré Město, FC Viktoria Plzeň 2001: FC Hradec Králové, SFC Opava 2002: SK Dynamo České Budějovice, FC Tescoma Zlín 2003: FC Viktoria Plzeň, SFC Opava 2004: FK Mladá Boleslav, FK Drnovice 2005: FK SIAD Most, FC Vysočina Jihlava, FC Viktoria Plzeň 2006: SK Kladno, SK Dynamo České Budějovice 2007: Viktoria Žižkov, Bohemians 1905 2008: Bohemians (Střížkov) Prague, FK Marila Příbram 2009: Bohemians 1905, 1. FC Slovácko 2010: FC Hradec Králové, FK Ústí nad Labem 2011: FK Dukla Prague, FK Viktoria Žižkov 2012: FC Vysočina Jihlava, FC Zbrojovka Brno 2013: 1. SC Znojmo, Bohemians 1905 2014: SK Dynamo České Budějovice, FC Hradec Králové 2015: SK Sigma Olomouc, FC Fastav Zlín 2016: MFK Karviná, FC Hradec Králové 2017: SK Sigma Olomouc, FC Baník Ostrava 2018: SFC Opava, 1.FK Příbram 2019: SK Dynamo České Budějovice 2020: FK Pardubice, FC Zbrojovka Brno 2021: FC Hradec Králové 2022: FC Zbrojovka Brno 2023: MFK Karviná 2024: FK Dukla Prague 2025: FC Zlín 2026: FC Zbrojovka Brno
Top scorers All information in this table can be found at except for the 2003–04 season, which is sourced from the following link. SeasonTop scorerClubGoals1993–94 Tibor MičinecBenešov181994–95 Bedřich HamsaLeRK Brno221995–96 Patrik HolomekTatran Poštorná161996–97 Václav KoloušekDukla Prague181997–98 Vítězslav TumaKarviná191998–99 Patrik HolomekStaré Město181999–00 Vladimír MalárStaré Město242000–01 Pavel ČernýHradec Králové172001–02 Radek DrulákHFK Olomouc162002–03 Petr ŠvancaraOpava202003–04 Tomáš KaplanVysočina Jihlava10 Roman BednářMladá Boleslav Vojtěch SchulmeisterSigma Olomouc B2004–05 Horst SieglBaník Most162005–06 Petr FaldynaČeské Budějovice192006–07 Petr FaldynaVysočina Jihlava152007–08 Petr FaldynaVysočina Jihlava132008–09 Martin JiroušBaník Sokolov182009–10 Pavel ČernýHradec Králové14 Dani ChigouDukla Prague Karel KroupaZlín2010–11 Dani ChigouDukla Prague192011–12 Jiří MlikaBaník Sokolov192012–13 Lukáš ŽelezníkZlín132013–14 David VaněčekHradec Králové172014–15 Václav VašíčekSigma Olomouc132015–16 Jan PázlerHradec Králové172016–17 Jakub PlšekSigma Olomouc182017–18 Jan PázlerHradec Králové212018–19 David LedeckýČeské Budějovice182019–20 Stanislav KlobásaJihlava172020–21 Jaroslav MálekLíšeň132021–22 Jakub ŘezníčekZbrojovka Brno182022–23 Tomáš WágnerViagem Příbram172023–24 Jakub ŘezníčekZbrojovka Brno132024–25 Tomáš NecidViktoria Žižkov172025–26 Quadri AdediranArtis Brno17
Notes
References
External links
Information on ČMFS website League321.com – Czech Republic football league tables, records & statistics database.