Primera División de Chile
The Primera División de Chile (English: Chilean First Division), officially called Campeonato Nacional BancoEstado for sponsorship reasons, is the top category of Chilean football, and main component of the Chilean football league system. It is organized by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile and is currently ranked 9th in the IFFHS Best Leagues of the World ranking.[1] The current tournament is Clausura 2008
Competition format
Resembling the Primera División Mexicana league system, the Chilean First Division is currently played by 21 teams, which play two single-round tournaments per season.
First, the Apertura tournament is played (usually held between January and June), and then is followed by the Clausura tournament (between July and December). For each Apertura and Clausura tournament, a single round-robin tournament, called the regular phase, is played first. Afterwards, a post-season play-off begins, where the best eight teams in each single-round tournament eliminate each other in the knockout tournament format in two-leg aggregate-score. In this way, there are two champions per season. Unlike most European countries, Chile currently has no official cup competitions, although they have been held in the past years.
The Chilean League of Football has never been regular in terms of their tournament systems. Traditionally, the League had consisted in one annual, double round-robin tournament, with the addition of a Cup, but the number of contesting teams and League format has varied throughout the years, until the adaptation of the Mexican system in 2002.
Relegation and promotion
Very much like the tournament format, the relegation/promotion (to Primera B) has changed throughout the years.
Currently, the three teams with the worst scores in the complete season (including Apertura and Clausura, but excluding the play-off stage), are relegated to Primera B, and replaced by the Champions and Runners-up of this Division, making the number of participating teams for the 2008 season equal to 20. There is also a Relegation Playoff Tournament, played in a home-and-away basis by the team who finishes 18° in the First Division, and the teams who finish 3° and 4° in the Primera B.
Qualification for International competitions
The champions of the Apertura and Clausura of each season are immediately qualified to Copa Libertadores for the next year. The third Chilean spot in that tournament is used by the team with the highest score in the Clausura regular phase (that is, excluding the play-offs).
For the Copa Sudamericana, the qualification system changes every year. For the 2007 season, a small tournament was played by the top four teams in the Apertura. The winners of that tournament (Colo-Colo and Audax Italiano) qualified for Copa Sudamericana 2007.
History
Football arrived at Chile during the last decades of the nineteenth century. At first, football was played at some port cities, and with the highest popularity in Valparaiso, Coquimbo, Antofagasta, Iquique and Talcahuano. Originally, football was not so popular in Santiago, the capital of Chile, but soon the popularity was comparable to the aforementioned areas.
On June 19, 1895, the Football Association of Chile (FAC) was established in Valparaiso. It was the first organization trying to co-ordinate the existing clubs of the city to contest in ordinary competitions. Valparaíso F.C., Victoria Rangers, Mac Kay and Sutherland Athletic, Chilean F.C. joined, upon Santiago National Athletic, Santiago Rangers, Valparaíso Wanderers and National F.C. were united quickly.
On May 23, 1906, the Asociación de Fútbol de Santiago (AFS) was set up in Santiago to organize competition in the capital, whereas the FAC changed its name to the Spanish version Asociación de Fútbol de Chile, on September 14, 1912, to unite various regional associations. In the early twenties, there arose the Federación de Football de Chile as the competing organization of Asociación de Fútbol de Chile. The problem between the two bodies caused FIFA to remove Chile's membership in 1925. As a result, the two organizations merged on January 24, 1926, forming the present Federación de Fútbol de Chile (FFCh).
Professionalism
Football was played in different local associations in an amateur manner until the twentieth century, when football started to turn professional in Valparaíso and Santiago, where football competitions were consistently at the prominent level in Chile at that time. Chilean football truly professionalized in the 1930s. At that time, different teams paid salaries to their players, despite being illegal, and this phenomenon occurred even on international level. In 1933, eight big clubs at that time, namely, Unión Española, Bádminton, Colo-Colo, Audax Italiano, Green Cross, Morning Star, Magallanes and Santiago National, left the ASF over a dispute on salaries policy, and used the reduced percentage of their income which originally had to submit to the AFS to found the Liga Profesional de Football de Santiago (LPF) on May 31, 1933. The newly formed body was recognized by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile on June 2, 1933.
The first edition of professional competition was contested by the eight founding teams and was won by Magallanes after defeating Colo-Colo in a decisive match. In the following year, according to the disposition of Federación de Fútbol de Chile, Liga Profesional returned to integrate with the AFS. Like part of the negotiations for reunification, four teams from AFS, namely, Ferroviarios, Carlos Walker, Deportivo Alemán, and Santiago F.C., would join the 1934 professional competition. Moreover, it was also decided that the last six teams in the 1934 competition would be eliminated to form the new second division in 1935. The title of the 1934 edition was again clinched by Magallanes, which won 10 out of the 11 matches this year.[2]
Club de Fútbol Universidad de Chile and Club Deportivo Universidad Católica entered to compete in 1938 and 1939, and obtained their first titles in 1940 and 1949, respectively.
The professional competition was confined to teams from Santiago at the first few years. Santiago Wanderers joined the league in 1937 and was the first club in the league coming from other regions. However, its participation in the league was just occasional and it did not contest in the league in the following years, until it rejoined the league with Everton de Viña del Mar, its classic rival, in 1944. Everton de Viña del Mar captured the title in 1950, becoming the first national champions not coming from the capital city. Not until 1953 did a third team from other areas, Rangers de Talca, was admitted to the league, after which had been crowned the runners-up of the second division in 1952.
Diverse formats
The lack of regularity of format has been one of the characteristics of the Chilean football league. Since the first edition, a variable number of teams had taken part in the competition under different formats, so no any single format had been adopted for a long time. One of the major problems in the early years was the small number of competing teams. With merely a few teams, it was difficult to schedule matches throughout the year. In order to tackle this problem, the Torneos de Apertura (Opening Tournament) format was derived. For every year, an Apertura tournament was played before the Campeonato Oficial (Official Competition), so that more matches could be played.
In the following years, the formats kept changing, as well as the number of contesting teams. Initially, there were only seven teams, then it increased to 18 between 1962 and 1980, and 16 between 1987 and 2003, although in 1984 26 teams competed, and in 2008 the competition reduced to 20 teams.
The modern format and controversy
Since 2002, the format of Primera División de México was adopted, with a short single round-robin and play-off to determine the winner, crowning two champions every year. (Apertura and Clausura tournament)
This format has been criticized by some of the teams and fans, who indicate that the champions was not always the best team of the league, since play-off is "torneo aparte".[3]
Nonetheless, the leader of the league indicated that the format has managed to arouse the emotion of the matches, especially in deceive rounds, and the attendance of the matches has been increasing in recent years.
Current teams
These are the teams participating in the Chilean first division in Campeonato de Apertura 2008:
- Deportes Antofagasta, Antofagasta
- Audax Italiano, La Florida, Santiago
- Cobreloa Calama
- Cobresal, El Salvador
- Colo-Colo, Macul, Santiago
- Deportes Concepcion, Concepción
- Everton, Viña del Mar
- Huachipato, Talcahuano
- Deportes La Serena, La Serena
- Rangers, Talca
- Deportes Melipilla, Melipilla
- Ñublense, Chillán
- O'Higgins, Rancagua
- Palestino, La Cisterna, Santiago
- Provincial Osorno, Osorno
- Santiago Morning, La Pintana, Santiago
- Unión Española, Independencia, Santiago
- Universidad Católica, Las Condes, Santiago
- Universidad de Chile, Ñuñoa, Santiago
- Universidad de Concepción, Concepción
Statistics Year By Year
Year |
Champions |
Runners-up |
Topscorer |
1933 |
Magallanes |
Colo Colo |
Luis Carvallo (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 9 goals |
1934 |
Magallanes |
Audax Italiano |
Carlos Giuduce (CHI) · Audax Italiano · 19 goals |
1935 |
Magallanes |
Audax Italiano |
Aurelio Domínguez (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 12 goals
Guillermo Ogaz (CHI) · Magallanes · 12 goals
|
1936 |
Audax Italiano |
Magallanes |
Hernán Bolaños (CRC) · Audax Italiano · 14 goals |
1937 |
Colo Colo |
Magallanes |
Hernán Bolaños (CRC) · Audax Italiano · 16 goals |
1938 |
Magallanes |
Audax Italiano |
Gustavo Pizarro (CHI) · Badminton · 17 goals |
1939 |
Colo Colo |
Santiago Morning |
Alfonso Domínguez (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 32 goals |
1940 |
Universidad de Chile |
Audax Italiano |
Victor Alonso (CHI) · Universidad de Chile · 20 goals
Pedro Valenzuela (CHI) · Magallanes · 20 goals
|
1941 |
Colo Colo |
Santiago Morning |
José Profetta (ARG) · Santiago National · 19 goals |
1942 |
Santiago Morning |
Magallanes |
Domingo Romo (CHI) · Santiago Morning · 16 goals |
1943 |
Unión Española |
Colo Colo |
Luis Machuca (CHI) · Unión Española · 17 goals
Victor Mancilla (CHI) · Universidad Católica · 17 goals
|
1944 |
Colo Colo |
Audax Italiano |
Juan Alcantara (CHI) · Audax Italiano · 19 goals
Alfonso Domínguez (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 19 goals
|
1945 |
Green Cross |
Unión Española |
Ubaldo Cruche (URU) · Universidad de Chile · 17 goals
Hugo Giorgi (ARG) · Audax Italiano · 17 goals
Juan Zarate (ARG) · Green Cross · 17 goals
|
1946 |
Audax Italiano |
Magallanes |
Ubaldo Cruche (URU) · Universidad de Chile · 25 goals |
1947 |
Colo Colo |
Audax Italiano |
Apolonides Vera (CHI) · Santiago National · 17 goals |
1948 |
Audax Italiano |
Unión Española |
Juan Zarate (ARG) · Audax Italiano · 22 goals |
1949 |
Universidad Católica |
Santiago Wanderers |
Mario Lorca (CHI) · Unión Española · 20 goals |
1950 |
Everton |
Unión Española |
Félix Díaz (ARG) · Green Cross · 21 goals |
1951 |
Unión Española |
Audax Italiano |
Rubén Aguilera (CHI) · Santiago Morning · 21 goals
Carlos Tello (CHI) · Audax Italiano · 21 goals
|
1952 |
Everton |
Colo Colo |
René Meléndez (CHI) · Everton · 30 goals |
1953 |
Colo Colo |
Palestino |
Jorge Robledo (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 26 goals |
1954 |
Universidad Católica |
Colo Colo |
Jorge Robledo (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 25 goals |
1955 |
Palestino |
Colo Colo |
Nicolas Moreno (ARG) · Green Cross · 27 goals |
1956 |
Colo Colo |
Santiago Wanderers |
Guillermo Villarroel (CHI) · O'Higgins · 19 goals |
1957 |
Audax Italiano |
Universidad de Chile |
Gustavo Albella (ARG) · Green Cross · 27 goals |
1958 |
Santiago Wanderers |
Colo Colo |
Gustavo Albella (ARG) · Green Cross · 23 goals
Carlos Verdejo (CHI) · Deportes La Serena · 23 goals
|
1959 |
Universidad de Chile |
Colo Colo |
José Benito Rios (CHI) · O'Higgins · 22 goals |
1960 |
Colo Colo |
Santiago Wanderers |
Juan Falcon (ARG) · Palestino · 21 goals |
1961 |
Universidad Católica |
Universidad de Chile |
Carlos Campos (CHI) · Universidad de Chile · 24 goals
Honorino Landa (CHI) · Unión Española · 24 goals
|
1962 |
Universidad de Chile |
Universidad Católica |
Carlos Campos (CHI) · Universidad de Chile · 34 goals |
1963 |
Colo Colo |
Universidad de Chile |
Luis Hernán Álvarez (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 37 goals |
1964 |
Universidad de Chile |
Universidad Católica |
Daniel Escudero (CHI) · Everton · 25 goals |
1965 |
Universidad de Chile |
Universidad Católica |
Héctor Scandolli (ARG) · Rangers · 25 goals |
1966 |
Universidad Católica |
Colo Colo |
Carlos Campos (CHI) · Universidad de Chile · 21 goals
Felipe Bracamonte (ARG) · Unión San Felipe · 21 goals
|
1967 |
Universidad de Chile |
Universidad Católica |
Eladio Zarate (PAR) · Unión Española · 28 goals |
1968 |
Santiago Wanderers |
Universidad Católica |
Carlos Reinoso (CHI) · Audax Italiano · 21 goals |
1969 |
Universidad de Chile |
Rangers |
Eladio Zarate (PAR) · Unión Española · 22 goals |
1970 |
Colo Colo |
Unión Española |
Osvaldo Castro (CHI) · Deportes Concepcion · 36 goals |
1971 |
Unión San Felipe |
Universidad de Chile |
Eladio Zarate (PAR) · Universidad de Chile · 25 goals |
1972 |
Colo Colo |
Unión Española |
Fernando Espinoza (CHI) · Magallanes · 25 goals |
1973 |
Unión Española |
Colo Colo |
Guillermo Yavar (CHI) · Unión Española · 21 goals |
1974 |
Huachipato |
Palestino |
Julio Crisosto (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 28 goals |
1975 |
Unión Española |
Deportes Concepción |
Victor Pizarro (CHI) · Santiago Morning · 27 goals |
1976 |
Everton |
Unión Española |
Oscar Fabbiani (ARG) · Palestino · 23 goals |
1977 |
Unión Española |
Everton |
Oscar Fabbiani (ARG) · Palestino · 34 goals |
1978 |
Palestino |
Cobreloa |
Oscar Fabbiani (ARG) · Palestino · 35 goals |
1979 |
Colo Colo |
Cobreloa |
Carlos Caszely (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 20 goals |
1980 |
Cobreloa |
Universidad de Chile |
Carlos Caszely (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 26 goals |
1981 |
Colo Colo |
Cobreloa |
Victor Cabrera (CHI) · San Luis · 20 goals
Carlos Caszely (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 20 goals
Luis Marcoleta (CHI) · Magallanes · 20 goals
|
1982 |
Cobreloa |
Colo Colo |
Jorge Luis Siviero (URU) · Cobreloa · 18 goals |
1983 |
Colo Colo |
Cobreloa |
Washington Oliveira (URU) · Cobreloa · 29 goals |
1984 |
Universidad Católica |
Cobresal |
Victor Cabrera (CHI) · Regional Atacama · 18 goals |
1985 |
Cobreloa |
Everton |
Ivo Basay (CHI) · Magallanes · 19 goals |
1986 |
Colo Colo |
Palestino |
Sergio Salgado (CHI) · Cobresal · 18 goals |
1987 |
Universidad Católica |
Colo Colo |
Osvaldo Hurtado (CHI) · Universidad Católica · 21 goals |
1988 |
Cobreloa |
Cobresal |
Gustavo De Luca (ARG) · Deportes La Serena · 18 goals
Juan José Oré (PER) · Deportes Iquique · 18 goals
|
1989 |
Colo Colo |
Universidad Católica |
Rubén Martínez (CHI) · Cobresal · 25 goals |
1990 |
Colo Colo |
Universidad Católica |
Rubén Martínez (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 22 goals |
1991 |
Colo Colo |
Coquimbo Unido |
Rubén Martínez (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 23 goals |
1992 |
Cobreloa |
Colo Colo |
Anibal González (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 24 goals |
1993 |
Colo Colo |
Cobreloa |
Marco Antonio Figueroa (CHI) · Cobreloa · 18 goals |
1994 |
Universidad de Chile |
Universidad Católica |
Alberto Acosta (ARG) · Universidad Católica · 33 goals |
1995 |
Universidad de Chile |
Universidad Católica |
Gabriel Caballero (ARG/MEX) · D. Antofagasta · 18 goals
Anibal González (CHI) · Palestino · 18 goals
|
1996 |
Colo Colo |
Universidad Católica |
Mario Véner (CHI) · Santiago Wanderers · 30 goals |
1997[A] |
Universidad Católica |
Colo Colo |
David Bisconti (ARG) · Universidad Católica · 15 goals |
1997[C] |
Colo Colo |
Universidad Católica |
Richard Báez (PAR) · Universidad de Chile · 10 goals
Rubén Vallejos (CHI) · Puerto Montt · 10 goals
|
1998 |
Colo Colo |
Universidad de Chile |
Pedro González (CHI) · Universidad de Chile · 23 goals |
1999 |
Universidad de Chile |
Universidad Católica |
Mario Núñez (CHI) · O'Higgins · 34 goals |
2000 |
Universidad de Chile |
Cobreloa |
Pedro González (CHI) · Universidad de Chile · 26 goals |
2001 |
Santiago Wanderers |
Universidad Católica |
Héctor Tapia (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 24 goals |
2002[A] |
Universidad Católica |
Rangers |
Sebastián González (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 18 goals |
2002[C] |
Colo Colo |
Universidad Católica |
Manuel Neira (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 14 goals |
2003[A] |
Cobreloa |
Colo Colo |
Salvador Cabañas (PAR) · Audax Italiano · 18 goals |
2003[C] |
Cobreloa |
Colo Colo |
Gustavo Biscayzacú (URU) · Unión Española · 21 goals |
2004[A] |
Universidad de Chile |
Cobreloa |
Patricio Galaz (CHI) · Cobreloa · 23 goals |
2004[C] |
Cobreloa |
Unión Española |
Patricio Galaz (CHI) · Cobreloa · 19 goals |
2005[A] |
Unión Española |
Coquimbo Unido |
Joel Estay (CHI) · Everton · 13 goals
Héctor Mancilla (CHI) · Huachipato · 13 goals
Álvaro Sarabia (CHI) · Puerto Montt · 13 goals
|
2005[C] |
Universidad Católica |
Universidad de Chile |
César Díaz (CHI) · Cobresal · 13 goals
Gonzalo Fierro (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 13 goals
Cristián Montecinos (CHI) · Deportes Concepción · 13 goals
|
2006[A] |
Colo Colo |
Universidad de Chile |
Humberto Suazo (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 19 goals |
2006[C] |
Colo Colo |
Audax Italiano |
Leonardo Monje (CHI) · Universidad de Concepción · 17 goals |
2007[A] |
Colo Colo |
Universidad Católica |
Humberto Suazo (CHI) · Colo-Colo · 18 goals |
2007[C] |
Colo Colo |
Universidad de Concepción |
Carlos Villanueva (CHI) · Audax Italiano · 20 goals |
2008[A] |
Everton |
Colo Colo |
Lucas Barrios (ARG) · Colo Colo · 19 goals |
2008[C] |
Team |
Team |
|
Legend
- [A] = Apertura
- [C] = Clausura
Titles by Team
Club |
N° of Titles |
Years |
Runners-Up |
Colo-Colo |
27
|
1937; 1939; 1941; 1944; 1947; 1953; 1956; 1960; 1963; 1970; 1972; 1979; 1981; 1983; 1986; 1989; 1990; 1991; 1993; 1996; 1997-C; 1998; 2002-C; 2006-A; 2006-C; 2007-A; 2007-C |
16
|
Universidad de Chile |
12
|
1940; 1959; 1962; 1964; 1965; 1967; 1969; 1994; 1995; 1999; 2000; 2004-A |
8
|
Universidad Católica |
9
|
1949; 1954; 1961; 1966; 1984; 1987; 1997-A; 2002-A; 2005-C |
15
|
Cobreloa |
8
|
1980; 1982; 1985; 1988; 1992; 2003-A; 2003-C; 2004-C |
7
|
Unión Española |
6
|
1943; 1951; 1973; 1975; 1977; 2005-A |
7
|
Audax Italiano |
4
|
1936; 1946; 1948; 1957 |
8
|
Magallanes |
4
|
1933; 1934; 1935; 1938 |
4
|
Everton |
4
|
1950; 1952; 1976; 2008-A |
2
|
Santiago Wanderers |
3
|
1958; 1968; 2001 |
3
|
Palestino |
2
|
1955; 1978 |
3
|
Santiago Morning |
1
|
1942 |
2
|
Huachipato |
1
|
1974 |
0
|
Unión San Felipe |
1
|
1971 |
0
|
Green Cross |
1
|
1945 |
0
|
References
- ↑ IFFHS
- ↑ Chilean League 1934
- ↑ Juan Cristóbal Guarello (2008-02-28). "Las patas y el buche" (in es). Retrieved on 2008-28-02.
External links
Football in Chile
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ANFP / ANFA |
Cup competitions |
First League |
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Copa Chile |
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List of clubs |
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Antofagasta · Audax Italiano · Cobreloa · Cobresal · Colo-Colo · Deportes Concepción · Everton
Huachipato · La Serena · Melipilla · Ñublense · O'Higgins · Osorno · Palestino · Rangers
Santiago Morning · Unión Española · U. Católica · U. de Chile · U. de Concepción
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