Primera División de México

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Primera División de México

Sport	Football
Founded	1943
Inaugural season	1943
No. of teams	18
Country	Mexico
Current champions	Chivas de Guadalajara
Official website	femexfut.org.mx

La Primera División del Futbol Méxicano is the premier football championship established by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación (F.M.F.) in the Mexican League System. The league currently consists of eighteen teams. The First Division is a successor of the Liga Mayor that was established in 1943.

1 Teams in the league
2 Amateur era
3 Professional era
- 3.1 Founding members
4 Reformation
5 The Mexican League Boom
6 The Playoffs
7 Television
8 Unusual aspects
9 Champions
10 Titles by Team
11 All-time leading goalscorers
12 External links

[edit] Teams in the league

[edit] Amateur era

Prior to the Liga Mayor, football was disputed within geographical regions. The winners of the Primera Fuerza, a local league consisting of teams near and around Mexico City, were considered national champions. There were other regional leagues such as the Liga Veracruzana, Liga Occidental and Liga del Bajío that also had notable clubs. Many club owners were not keen on the idea of establishing a professional league, despite paying players under the table. With the increasing demand of football, there was a sense of urgency to unite all the local amateur leagues in Mexico to progress as a footballing nation. The national league was finally established in 1943.

[edit] Professional era

When the F.M.F. announced the formation of the nation's first professional league, many clubs petitioned to join the newly formed league. The F.M.F. announced that ten clubs would form the Liga Mayor. The first members of the league were founded by six clubs of the Primera Fuerza of Mexico City, two clubs from the Liga Occidental (Western League) and two members from the Liga Veracruzana (Veracruz League).

[edit] Founding members

Primera Fuerza: América, Asturias, Atlante, España, Marte and Moctezuma

Liga Occidental: Atlas and Guadalajara

Liga Veracruzana: A.D. Orizabeño and Veracruz

Expansion was evident as popularity increased. This popularity led to the league expanding the number of team participating. The F.M.F. changed the name of the Liga Mayor in 1950 to Primera División and established the Segunda División (Second Division).

[edit] Reformation

Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, many small clubs faced economic difficulties which were attributed to the lack of international competition by Mexican clubs and an unrewarding league format. As a result of the difficulties suffered by smaller teams, financially affluent Deportivo Guadalajara was able to capture 8 championships within a relatively short time span. Mexican clubs who placed relatively high in the league standings did not have the luxury to participate in prestigious international tournaments (such as the Copa Libertadores or the UEFA Champions League) as many South American and European clubs did. The F.M.F. knew they had to act to regenerate interest to save many of the smaller clubs from bankruptcy and recruit new investors. The F.M.F., along with affluent club owners, were able to attract key investors. As a result, the F.M.F was in a position to host the FIFA World Cup.

[edit] The Mexican League Boom

The 1970 FIFA World Cup held in Mexico was the first World Cup televised on a grand scale. For that one summer, the world looked to Mexico. This set a trend in marketing, recruitment and development. The new stadiums practice facilities built for the World Cup set a path for future events to come. Prior to the World Cup, the Liga Mayor awarded the team with the most points as national champions. The season following the FIFA World Cup, the F.M.F. changed the league format and established a playoff phase to determine the national champion. This was done to regenerate interest and reward teams that placed fairly high in the standings.

[edit] The Playoffs

The birth of the playoffs modernized the league despite the disagreements between the tradionalist and the modernist. Clubs that were near bankruptcy now were able to compete and generate profits. The playoffs have evolved since their inception. Today the 18 teams are divided into 3 groups, with the top teams from each group qualifying for a playoff phase called Liguilla. This playoff phase starts with 8 teams and is played in the "tie" format in two-leg aggregate-score, similar to the quarterfinals and semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.

In 1996, the league decided to split the season into two championships. This measure was done to generate additional revenues to finance the F.M.F.'s lower divisions. The league holds two tournaments per year, first called invierno (winter) and verano (summer), now changed to clausura (closing) and apertura (opening).

At the end of a season, after the apertura and clausura tournaments, one team is relegated to the next lower division, Primera División A, and one team from that division is promoted and takes the place left open by the relegated team. Currently, the relegated team is determined by computing the points-per-game-played ratio for each team, considering all the games played by the team during the last three seasons (six tournaments). The team with the lower ratio is relegated. For teams recently promoted, only the games played since their promotion are considered (two or four tournaments). The team promoted from Primera Division A is the winner of a two-leg match between the champions of the apertura and clausura tournaments of that division. If a team becomes the champion in both tournaments, it is automatically promoted.

[edit] Television

The teams of the Primera, like those of Serie A in Italy have the right to sell their own broadcast rights. What this means in practice is that the league is effectively divided between teams broadcast on Televisa and others broadcast on TV Azteca. The matches of the Televisa teams are shown primarily on Galavision Saturday afternoons and evenings, with the "big match" shown Sundays on Canal de las Estrellas. All of Azteca's matches are on Azteca 13 on Saturday or Sunday afternoons.

The clubs are divided as follows:

Televisa teams:

Azteca's teams are:

[edit] Unusual aspects

One unusual aspect of the Primera is that one entity may own more than one team. In fact, the owners of Televisa own three of them: America, Necaxa, and San Luis.

Also, the teams operate on a franchise basis - that is, they pay a fee to the league for the right to operate exclusively in one area. This means that teams may buy and sell spots in the Primera and Primera División A. In fact this has been done on several occasions, most notably by Veracruz.

[edit] Champions

Season	Champion	Coach	Runner-up
Apertura 2006	Guadalajara	José de la Torre	Toluca
Clausura 2006	Pachuca	José Luis Trejo	San Luis
Apertura 2005	Toluca	Américo Gallego	Monterrey
Clausura 2005	América	Mario Carrillo	U.A.G.
Apertura 2004	U.N.A.M.	Hugo Sánchez	Monterrey
Clausura 2004	U.N.A.M.	Hugo Sánchez	Guadalajara
Apertura 2003	Pachuca	Víctor Manuel Vucetich	U.A.N.L.
Clausura 2003	Monterrey	Daniel Passarella	Morelia
Apertura 2002	Toluca	Alberto Jorge	Morelia
Verano 2002	América	Manuel Lapuente	Necaxa
Invierno 2001	Pachuca	Alfredo Tena	U.A.N.L.
Verano 2001	Santos	Fernando Quirarte	Pachuca
Invierno 2000	Morelia	Luis Fernando Tena	Toluca
Verano 2000	Toluca	Enrique Meza	Santos
Invierno 1999	Pachuca	Javier Aguirre	Cruz Azul
Verano 1999	Toluca	Enrique Meza	Atlas
Invierno 1998	Necaxa	Raúl Arias	Guadalajara
Verano 1998	Toluca	Enrique Meza	Necaxa
Invierno 1997	Cruz Azul	Luis Fernando Tena	León
Verano 1997	Guadalajara	Ricardo Ferretti	Neza
Invierno 1996	Santos	Alfredo Tena	Necaxa
1995-1996	Necaxa	Manuel Lapuente	Celaya
1994-1995	Necaxa	Manuel Lapuente	Cruz Azul
1993-1994	U.A.G.	Víctor Manuel Vucetich	Santos
1992-1993	Atlante	Ricardo LaVolpe	Monterrey
1991-1992	León	Víctor Manuel Vucetich	Puebla
1990-1991	U.N.A.M.	Miguel Mejía Barón	América
1989-1990	Puebla	Manuel Lapuente	U.G.
1988-1989	América	Jorge Vieira	Cruz Azul
1987-1988	América	Jorge Vieira	U.N.A.M.
1986-1987	Guadalajara	Alberto Guerra	Cruz Azul
México 1986	Monterrey	Francisco Avilán	Tampico
PRODE 85	América	Miguel Ángel López	Tampico
1984-1985	América	Miguel Ángel López	U.N.A.M.
1983-1984	América	Carlos Reinoso	Guadalajara
1982-1983	Puebla	Manuel Lapuente	Guadalajara
1981-1982	U.A.N.L.	Carlos Miloc	Atlante
1980-1981	U.N.A.M.	Bora Milutinovic	Cruz Azul
1979-1980	Cruz Azul	Ignacio Trelles	U.A.N.L.
1978-1979	Cruz Azul	Ignacio Trelles	U.N.A.M.
1977-1978	U.A.N.L.	Carlos Miloc	U.N.A.M.
1976-1977	U.N.A.M.	Jorge Marik	U.G.
1975-1976	América	Raúl Cárdenas	U.G.
1974-1975	Toluca	Ricardo de León	León
1973-1974	Cruz Azul	Raúl Cárdenas	Español
1972-1973	Cruz Azul	Raúl Cárdenas	León
1971-1972	Cruz Azul	Raúl Cárdenas	América
1970-1971	América	José Antonio Roca	Toluca
México '70	Cruz Azul	Raúl Cárdenas	Toluca
1969-1970	Guadalajara	Javier de la Torre	Cruz Azul
1968-1969	Cruz Azul	Raúl Cárdenas	Guadalajara
1967-1968	Toluca	Ignacio Trelles	U.N.A.M.
1966-1967	Toluca	Ignacio Trelles	América
1965-1966	América	Alejandro Scopelli	Atlas
1964-1965	Guadalajara	Javier de la Torre	Oro
1963-1964	Guadalajara	Javier de la Torre	América
1962-1963	Oro	Arpad Fekete	Guadalajara
1961-1962	Guadalajara	Javier de la Torre	América
1960-1961	Guadalajara	Javier de la Torre	Oro
1959-1960	Guadalajara	Arpad Fekete	América
1958-1959	Guadalajara	Arpad Fekete	León
1957-1958	Zacatepec	Ignacio Trelles	Toluca
1956-1957	Guadalajara	Donald Ross	Toluca
1955-1956	León	Antonio López Herranz	Oro
1954-1955	Zacatepec	Ignacio Trelles	Guadalajara
1953-1954	Marte	Ignacio Trelles	Oro
1952-1953	Tampico	Joaquín Urquiaga	Zacatepec
1951-1952	León	Antonio López Herranz	Guadalajara
1950-1951	Atlas	Eduardo Valdatti	Atlante
1949-1950	Veracruz	Juan Luque de Serrallonga	Atlante
1948-1949	León	José María Casullo	Atlas
1947-1948	León	José María Casullo	Oro
1946-1947	Atlante	Luis Grocz	León
1945-1946	Veracruz	Enrique Palomini	Atlante
1944-1945	España	Rodolfo Muñoz "Butch"	Puebla
1943-1944	Asturias	Ernesto Pauler	España

[edit] Titles by Team

11	Guadalajara
10	América
8	Cruz Azul, Toluca
5	León, U.N.A.M.
4	Pachuca
3	Necaxa
2	Atlante, Monterrey, Puebla, Santos, U.A.N.L., Veracruz, Zacatepec
1	Asturias, Atlas, España, Marte, Morelia, Oro, Tampico, U.A.G.

[edit] All-time leading goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals
1st	Evanivaldo Castro	312 Goals
2nd	Carlos Hermosillo	296 Goals
3rd	Jose Cardozo	249 Goals
4th	Jared Borgetti	226 Goals
5th	Osvaldo Castro	214 Goals
6th	Luis Alves "Zague"	209 Goals
7th	Carlos Perucci	197 Goals
8th	Adalberto Lopez	196 Goals
9th	Sergio Lira	195 Goals
10th	Ricardo Pelaez	187 Goals
11th	Ricardo Ferretti	182 Goals
12th	Horacio Casarin	174 Goals
13th	Horacio Lopez	172 Goals
14th	Ricardo Brandon	169 Goals
15th	Enrique Borja	168 Goals