Venezuelan Primera División

For other leagues called Primera División, see Primera división (disambiguation).

Primera División
Countries	Venezuela
Confederation	CONMEBOL
Founded	1957
Number of teams	18
Levels on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Segunda División
Domestic cup(s)	Copa Venezuela
International cup(s)	Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana
Current champions	Deportivo Táchira (2010–11)
Most championships	Caracas (11 titles)
Website	FVF's website
2011–12 season

The Primera División (Venezuelan First Division), or Liga Venezolana (Venezuelan League) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It's organized by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol and from the season 2007-2008 the league will consist of 18 clubs.

1 Format
- 1.1 International qualification
- 1.2 Relegation
2 2011/12 Teams
3 List of champions
- 3.1 Professional
  - 3.1.1 Annual Tournament (February to August)
  - 3.1.2 Seasonal Tournament (August to May)
4 Titles by Club
5 See also
6 External links

Format

The 18 teams play two single-round tournaments each year: the Apertura (August to December), and the Clausura (February to June). The league table is kept like a normal European league table, one point for ties three points for wins.

The absolute champion is decided between the Apertura and Clausura champions. If the same team is the champions of both tournaments that team is the absolute champion.

International qualification

The winner of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments qualify to the group phase of the Copa Libertadores, (The absolute champion qualifies as Venezuela 1 and the runner up as Venezuela 2).

The team with the most points in the entire season (Apertura + Clausura) qualifies to the preliminary round of the Copa Libertadores as Venezuela 3.

The second and third team with the most points in the entire season qualifies to the Copa Sudamericana as Venezuela 1 and Venezuela 2.

If a team won both tournaments that team qualify to the Copa Libertadores as Venezuela 1, then the first and second team with the most points in the entire season qualify to the Copa Libertadores as Venezuela 2 and Venezuela 3 and the fourth and fifth team with the most points in the entire season qualify to the Copa Sudamericana as Venezuela 1 and Venezuela 2.

If the winner of the Copa de Venezuela does not qualify to the Copa Libertadores through the aforementioned manners or through the point total in the entire season, they take the Venezuela 2 spot in the Copa Sudamericana.

Relegation

The two lowest placed teams in the entire season (Apertura + Clausura) are automatically relegated to the Segunda División

2011/12 Teams

Team	City	Stadium
Aragua	Maracay	Olímpico Hermanos Ghersi Páez
Atlético El Vigía	El Vigía	Ramón "Gato" Hernández
Carabobo	Valencia	Misael Delgado
Caracas	Caracas	Olímpico de la UCV
Deportivo Anzoátegui	Puerto La Cruz	José Antonio Anzoátegui
Deportivo Lara	Barquisimeto	Metropolitano de Barquisimeto
Deportivo Petare	Caracas	Olímpico de la UCV
Deportivo Táchira	San Cristóbal	Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo
Estudiantes de Mérida	Mérida	Metropolitano de Mérida
Llaneros	Guanare	Rafael Calles Pinto
Mineros de Guayana	Ciudad Guayana	Polideportivo Cachamay
Monagas	Maturín	Monumental de Maturín
Real Esppor	Caracas	Brígido Iriarte
Trujillanos	Valera	Luis Loreto Lira
Tucanes	Puerto Ayacucho	Antonio José de Sucre
Yaracuyanos	San Felipe	Florentino Oropeza
Zamora	Barinas	Agustín Tovar
Zulia	Maracaibo	José "Pachencho" Romero

List of champions

Professional

Annual Tournament (February to August)

Season	Champion	Count	Runner-up	Third Place	Topscorer(s)
1957	Universidad Central	1	La Salle	Banco Obrero	Tonho (Universidad Central, 12 goals)
1958	Deportivo Portugués	1	Deportivo Español	Estudiantes	René Irazque (Deportivo Portugués, 6 goals)
1959	Deportivo Español	1	Deportivo Portugués	Danubio	Abel Benítez (Deportivo Español, 15 goals)
1960	Deportivo Portugués	2	Deportivo Español	Deportivo Italia	José Luis Iglesias (Deportivo Portugués, 9 goals)
1961	Deportivo Italia	1	Banco Agrícola y Pecuario	Banco Francés-Italiano	Antonio Ravelo (Banco Agrícola y Pecuario, 11 goals)
1962	Deportivo Portugués	3	Universidad Central	Banco Francés-Italiano	Jaime da Silva (Universidad Central, 16)
1963	Deportivo Italia	2	Deportivo Portugués	Tiquire Flores	Nino (Deportivo Portugués, 15 goals)
1964	Deportivo Galicia	1	Tiquire Flores	No third place awarded	Helio Rodrigues (Tiquire Flores, 12 goals)
1965	Lara	1	Valencia	No third place awarded	Mario Mateo (Lara, 16 goals)
1966	Deportivo Italia	3	Deportivo Portugués	Deportivo Galicia	Ratto (Deportivo Portugués, 20 goals)
1967	Deportivo Portugués	4	Deportivo Galicia	Lara	Joao Ramos (Deportivo Portugués, 28 goals)
1968	Unión Deportiva Canarias	1	Deportivo Italia	Deportivo Portugués	Raimundinho (Deportivo Portugués, 21 goals)
1969	Deportivo Galicia	2	Deportivo Italia	Valencia	Eustaquio Batista (Deportivo Italia, 19 goals) Lelo (Valencia, 19 goals)
1970	Deportivo Galicia	3	Deportivo Italia	Valencia	Roland Langon (Deportivo Galicia, 13 goals)
1971	Valencia	1	Deportivo Italia	Tiquire Aragua	Agostinho Sabara (Tiquire Aragua , 20 goals)
1972	Deportivo Italia	4	Deportivo Galicia	Anzoátegui	Francisco Rodriguez (Anzoátegui, 18 goals)
1973	Portuguesa	1	Valencia	Estudiantes de Mérida	Jose Chiazzaro (Estudiantes de Mérida, 14 goals)
1974	Deportivo Galicia	4	Portuguesa	Estudiantes de Mérida	Unknown
1975	Portuguesa	2	Estudiantes de Mérida	Deportivo Galicia	Pedro Pascual Peralta (Portuguesa, 20 goals)
1976	Portuguesa	3	Estudiantes de Mérida	Deportivo Portugués	Pedro Pascual Peralta (Portuguesa, 25 goals)
1977	Portuguesa	4	Estudiantes de Mérida	Valencia	Jairzinho (Portuguesa, 20 goals) Juan Cesar Silva (Portuguesa, 20 goals)
1978	Portuguesa	5	Deportivo Galicia	Estudiantes de Mérida	Andrade (ULA Mérida, 23 goals)
1979	Deportivo Táchira	1	Deportivo Galicia	Universidad de Los Andes	Omar Ferrari (Deportivo Táchira, 15 goals)
1980	Estudiantes de Mérida	1	Portuguesa	Valencia	Wilfrido Campos (Portuguesa, 12 goals)
1981	Deportivo Táchira	2	Estudiantes de Mérida	Valencia	Rafael Angulo (Deportivo Táchira, 14 goals)
1982	Atlético San Cristóbal	1	Deportivo Táchira	Universidad de Los Andes	German Montero (Estudiantes de Mérida, 21 goals)
1983	Universidad de Los Andes	1	Portuguesa	Deportivo Italia	Johnny Castellanos (Atlético Zamora, 13 goals)
1984	Deportivo Táchira	3	Deportivo Italia	Atlético Zamora	Sergio Meckler (Atlético Zamora, 15 goals)
1985	Estudiantes de Mérida	2	Deportivo Táchira	Nacional Carabobo	Sergio Meckler (Deportivo Táchira, 17 goals)
1986	Deportivo Táchira	4	Estudiantes de Mérida	Marítimo	Wilton Arreaza (Caracas, 8 goals)

Seasonal Tournament (August to May)

Season	Champion	Count	Runner-up	Third Place	Topscorer(s)
1986–87	Marítimo	1	Unión Atlético Táchira	Estudiantes de Mérida	Johnny Castellanos (Portuguesa, 16 goals)
1987–88	Marítimo	2	Unión Atlético Táchira	Caracas	Miguel González (Unión Atlético Táchira, 22 goals)
1988–89	Mineros de Guayana	1	Pepeganga Margarita	Marítimo	Johnny Castellanos (Mineros, 24 goals)
1989–90	Marítimo	3	Unión Atlético Táchira	Minervén	Herbert Márquez (Marítimo, 19 goals)
1990–91	Universidad de Los Andes	2	Marítimo	Atlético Zamora	Alexander Bottini (Monagas, 15 goals)
1991–92	Caracas	1	Minervén	Marítimo	Andreas Vogler (Caracas, 25 goals)
1992–93	Marítimo	4	Minervén	Caracas	Herbert Márquez (Marítimo, 21 goals)
1993–94	Caracas	2	Trujillanos	Minervén	Rodrigo Soto (Trujillanos, 20 goals)
1994–95	Caracas	3	Minervén	Trujillanos	Rogeiro da Silva (Mineros, 30 goals)
1995–96	Minervén	1	Mineros de Guayana	Caracas	Jose Luis Dolgetta (Caracas, 24 goals)
1996–97	Caracas	4	Atlético Zulia	Unión Atlético Táchira	Rafael Castellín (Caracas, 19 goals)
1997–98	Atlético Zulia	1	Estudiantes de Mérida	Deportivo Chacao	Jose Luis Dolgetta (Estudiantes de Mérida/Carabobo, 22 goals)
1998–99	Deportivo Italchacao	5	Unión Atlético Táchira	Estudiantes de Mérida	Gustavo Fonseca (Internacional Lara, 24 goals)
1999–00	Deportivo Táchira	5	Deportivo Italchacao	Estudiantes de Mérida	Juan Enrique García (Caracas, 24 goals)
2000–01	Caracas	5	Trujillanos	Deportivo Italchacao	Martín Brignani (Estudiantes de Mérida, 12 goals)
2001–02	Nacional Táchira	1	Estudiantes de Mérida	Monagas	Juan Enrique García (Nacional Táchira, 34 goals)
2002–03	Caracas	6	Maracaibo	Deportivo Italchacao	Juan Enrique García (Monagas/Mineros, 19 goals)
2003–04	Caracas	7	Deportivo Táchira	Mineros de Guayana	Juan Enrique García (Mineros, 18 goals)
2004–05	Maracaibo	1	Caracas	Deportivo Táchira	Daniel Delfino (Carabobo, 19 goals)
2005–06	Caracas	8	Maracaibo	Deportivo Táchira	Juan Enrique García (Deportivo Táchira, 21 goals)
2006–07	Caracas	9	Maracaibo	Mineros de Guayana	Robinson Rentería (Trujillanos, 19 goals)
2007–08	Deportivo Táchira	6	Caracas	Deportivo Anzoátegui	Alexander Rondon (Deportivo Anzoátegui, 19 goals)
2008–09	Caracas	10	Deportivo Italia	Deportivo Táchira	Daniel Arismendi (Maracaibo/Deportivo Táchira, 17 goals) Heatklif Castillo (Aragua, 17 goals)
2009–10	Caracas	11	Deportivo Táchira	Deportivo Italia	Norman Cabrera (Atlético El Vigía, 20 goals)
2010–11	Deportivo Táchira	7	Zamora	Caracas	Daniel Arismendi (Deportivo Anzoátegui, 20 goals)

Titles by Club

Team	Nº of titles	Years/Tournaments Won
Caracas	11	1991–92, 1993–94, 1994-95, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10
Deportivo Táchira	7	1979, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1999–00, 2007–08, 2010–11
Deportivo Italia	5	1961, 1963, 1966, 1972, 1998–99
Portuguesa	5	1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978
Deportivo Galicia	4	1964, 1969, 1970, 1974
Deportivo Portugués	4	1958, 1960, 1962, 1967
Marítimo	4	1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1992–93
Estudiantes de Mérida	2	1980, 1985
Universidad de Los Andes	2	1983, 1990–91
Atlético San Cristóbal	1	1982
Atlético Zulia	1	1997–98
Carabobo	1	1971
Deportivo Español	1	1959
Lara	1	1965
Maracaibo	1	2004–05
Mineros de Guayana	1	1988–89
Minervén	1	1995–96
Nacional Táchira	1	2001–02
Unión Deportivo Canarias	1	1968
Universidad Central	1	1957

External links

2011–12 Primera División Venezolana

Aragua · Atlético El Vigía · Carabobo · Caracas · Deportivo Anzoátegui · Deportivo Lara · Deportivo Petare · Deportivo Táchira · Estudiantes de Mérida · Llaneros de Guanare · Mineros de Guayana · Monagas · Real Esppor · Tucanes de Amazonas · Trujillanos · Yaracuyanos · Zamora · Zulia

Football in Venezuela

Federación Venezolana de Fútbol

National teams	men: Men's team · Men's U-20 team · Men's U-17 team women: Women's team · Women's U-20 team · Women's U-17 team

League system	men: Primera División · Segunda División · Segunda División B · Tercera División women: Liga Nacional Femenina

National cup	Copa Venezuela

International cup	Copa Simón Bolívar

Venezuelan Primera División · List of clubs · List of venues

Football in South America (CONMEBOL)

Argentina (AFA)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Primera División · Copa Argentina

Bolivia (FBF)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Liga de Fútbol Profesional · Copa Aerosur

Brazil (CBF)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Série A · Copa do Brasil

Chile (FFC)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Primera División · Copa Chile

Colombia (FCF)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Primera A · Copa Colombia

Ecuador (FEF)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Serie A

Paraguay (APF)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Primera División

Peru (FPF)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Primera División · Copa del Inca

Uruguay (AUF)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Primera División

Venezuela (FVF)

National team · Women's national team · Under-20 National team · Under-17 National team · Primera División · Copa Venezuela

National team competitions

Men	Copa América · Under-20 Football Championship · Under-17 Football Championship · Under-15 Football Championship · Pan-American Games · Superclásico de las Américas

Women	Women's Football Championship · Under-20 Women's Football Championship · Under-17 Women's Football Championship

Club competitions

Current	Copa Libertadores · Copa Sudamericana · Recopa Sudamericana · Copa Suruga Bank · Copa Libertadores de Fútbol Femenino · Under-20 Copa Libertadores

Defunct	Intercontinental Cup · Copa Iberoamericana · Copa CONMEBOL · Copa Mercosur · Copa Merconorte · Supercopa Sudamericana · Supercopa Masters · Copa de Oro · Copa Masters CONMEBOL · Copa Ganadores de Copa · Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones · Copa Río de La Plata

South American Footballer of the Year · South American Coach of the Year · South American Best 11 · Top-division clubs · Club competition winning teams · Club competition winning managers

Top level football leagues of South America (CONMEBOL)

Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Paraguay · Peru · Uruguay · Venezuela