Primera División de México

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Primera División Profesional

Confederation	CONCACAF
Founded	1943
Number of teams	18
Relegation to	Liga de Ascenso
Levels on pyramid	1
International cup(s)	CONCACAF Champions League, SuperLiga Copa Libertadores
Current champions	Toluca (2010 Bicentenario)
Most championships	Guadalajara (11)
TV partners	TV Azteca, Televisa ESPN Mexico, Univision, Fox Mexico, Sky Sport Mexico Azteca America, Telemundo TVC AYM Sports
Website	www.femexfut.org.mx
2010 Bicentenario

The Primera División Profesional (English: Professional First Division), simply known as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2009 has 18 clubs, divided into three groups competing for league titles. Each season the league holds two tournaments, the Apertura in the winter and the Clausura in the summer.

[edit] History

[edit] Amateur era

Prior to the Liga Mayor, there was no national football league in Mexico, and football competitions were held within relatively small geographical regions. The winners of the Primera Fuerza, a local league consisting of teams near and around Mexican Federal District, was considered the national competition. 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 football nation. The professional national league was finally established in 1943.^[1]

logo used 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 Mayor League. The first members of the league were founded by six clubs of the Primera Fuerza of Mexico City, two clubs from the Liga Occidental and two members from the Liga Veracruzana.

[edit] Founding members

Primera Fuerza: América, Asturias, Atlante, Real España, CD Marte, and Pachuca

Liga Occidental: Atlas and Guadalajara

Liga Veracruzana: Orizaba, Veracruz Sporting Club and Moctezuma

[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 that placed high in the league standings could not afford to participate in prestigious international tournaments such as the Copa Libertadores as did many South American and European clubs.

[edit] The Mexican League Boom

The 1970 World Cup held in Mexico was the first World Cup televised on a grand scale. 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] Liguilla (The Playoffs)

The birth of liguilla (the playoffs) modernized the league despite the disagreements between the traditionalists and the modernists. Clubs that were near bankruptcy now were able to compete and generate profits. The playoffs have evolved since their inception. Originally 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, originally called invierno (winter) and verano (summer), now changed to apertura (opening - running from August to December) and clausura (closing - running from January to May). The change was done to correspond with FIFA's world footballing calendar, which "opens" in July/August and "closes" in April/May of the next year. So throughout the footballing world, the action lasts about ten months. In Europe, where tournaments are played as one single championship throughout the year, there is only one champion per year. In the case of Mexico, Argentina and other countries in South America, a new champion is crowned about every five months, or two per year.

At the end of a season, after the apertura and clausura tournaments, one team is relegated to the next lower division, Liga de Ascenso, 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 two seasons (four 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 Liga de Ascenso 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] Current Teams

Primera División
Name	Manager	City	Stadium	First season in first division	First season of current spell in top division	Kit Maker
América	Manuel Lapuente	Mexico, D.F.	Azteca	1943–1944	1943–1944	Nike
Atlante	René Isidoro García	Cancún, Quintana Roo	Andrés Quintana Roo	1943–1944	1991–1992	Atlética
Atlas	Carlos Ischia	Guadalajara, Jalisco	Jalisco	1943–1944	1978–1979	Atlética
Chivas	José Luis Real	Guadalajara, Jalisco	Jalisco	1943–1944	1943–1944	Reebok
Cruz Azul	Enrique Meza	Mexico, D.F.	Azul	1964–1965	1964–1965	Umbro
Jaguares	José Guadalupe Cruz	Tuxtla, Chiapas	Víctor Manuel Reyna	2002–2003	2002–2003	Atlética
Monterrey	Víctor Manuel Vucetich	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Tecnológico	1945–1946	1960–1961	Nike
Monarcas Morelia	Tomás Boy	Morelia, Michoacán	Morelos	1957–1958	1981–1982	Atlética
Necaxa	Omar Arellano	Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes	Victoria	1950-1951	2010-2011	Voit
Pachuca	Guillermo Rivarola	Pachuca, Hidalgo	Hidalgo	1967–1968	1998–1999	Puma
Puebla	José Luis Sánchez Solá	Puebla, Puebla	Cuauhtémoc	1944–1945	2007–2008	Atlética
Querétaro	Ángel Comizzo	Querétaro, Querétaro	Corregidora	1985–1986	2009–2010	Pirma
Pumas U.N.A.M.	Guillermo Vázquez	Mexico, D.F.	Olímpico Universitario	1962–1963	1962–1963	Puma
San Luis	Ignacio Ambriz	San Luis, San Luis Potosí	Alfonso Lastras Ramirez	1971–1972	2005–2006	Voit
Santos Laguna	Ruben Omar Romano	Torreón, Coahuila	Nuevo Corona	1988–1989	1988–1989	Atlética
Estudiantes Tecos	Miguel Herrera	Zapopan, Jalisco	3 de Marzo	1975–1976	1975–1976	Somos Estudiantes
Tigres U.A.N.L.	Ricardo Ferreti	San Nicolás, Nuevo León	Universitario	1974–1975	1997–1998	Adidas
Toluca	Jose Manuel de la Torre	Toluca, Mexico	Nemesio Diez	1953–1954	1953–1954	Atlética

[edit] Kit and shirt sponsors

[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, TV Azteca in México and Telemundo & Univision In United States.

Additionally, SKY Latin America and Fox Sports LA hold exclusive broadcasting rights over certain matches, although the majority of the most important ones are shown on free-to-air television.

Most of the matches of the Televisa teams are shown primarily on Galavisión Saturday afternoons and evenings, The games of UNAM, Toluca and America are shown Sundays on Canal de las Estrellas. All of Television Azteca's matches are on Azteca 13 on Saturday or Sunday afternoons except U.A.G. that plays on Fridays and its matches are shown on Azteca 7. Match times are on U.S. Central Time.

The clubs are divided as follows, according to tv chain sponsor:

United States

Telemundo:

Univision/Telefutura:

Azteca America:

• Chiapas - Saturdays 5:00 p.m.
• Cruz Azul - Saturdays 5:00 p.m.
• Morelia - Saturdays 7:00 p.m.
• Puebla - Sundays 12:00 p.m. OR 4:00 p.m.

México

Televisa:

TV Azteca:

[edit] Amateur Era

This is a list of all the champions from the amateur era played in Mexico City and Liga Amateur de Jalisco from 1902^[2] to 1943. In 1920 and 1921, the tournament was split in to 2: the Liga Nacional and Liga Mexicana which each had its own champion.

[edit] Professional era Champions

Professional era Champions
Year	Champion	Score	Runner up	Promoted	Relegated	Manager
1943/44	Asturias F.C.	4-1	España			Ernesto Pauler
1944/45	España		Puebla F.C.			Rodolfo Muñoz
1945/46	Veracruz		Atlante			Enrique Palomini
1946/47	Atlante		León			Luis Grocz
1947/48	León	2-0	Oro			José María Casullo
1948/49	León		Atlas			José María Casullo
1949/50	Veracruz		Atlante			Juan Luque de Serrallonga
1950/51	Atlas		Atlante	Zacatepec	San Sebastian	Eduardo Valdatti
1951/52	León		Guadalajara	La Piedad	Veracruz	Antonio López Herranz
1952/53	Tampico		Zacatepec	Toluca	La Piedad	Joaquín Urquíaga
1953/54	Marte		Oro	Irapuato	Atlas	Ignacio Trelles
1954/55	Zacatepec		Guadalajara	Atlas Zamora Cuautla FC	Marte	Ignacio Trelles
1955/56	León	4-2	Oro	Monterrey	Zamora	Antonio López Herranz
1956-57	Guadalajara		Toluca	Zamora Morelia	Monterrey	Donald Ross
1957/58	Zacatepec		Toluca	Celaya	Tampico	Ignacio Trelles
1958-59	Guadalajara		León AC	Tampico	Cuautla FC	Arpad Fekete
1959-60	Guadalajara		América	Monterrey	Zamora	Arpad Fekete
1960-61	Guadalajara		Oro	Nacional	Celaya	Javier De la Torre
1961-62	Guadalajara		América	UNAM	Zacatepec	Javier De la Torre
1962/63	Oro		Guadalajara	Zacatepec	Tampico	Arpad Fekete
1963/64	Guadalajara		América	Cruz Azul Veracruz		Javier De la Torre
1964/65	Guadalajara		Oro	Ciudad Madero	Nacional	Javier De la Torre
1965/66	América		Atlas	Nuevo León	Zacatepec	Roberto Scarone
1966/67	Toluca		América	Pachuca	Ciudad Madero	Ignacio Trelles
1967/68	Toluca		UNAM	Laguna F.C.	Morelia	Ignacio Trelles
1968/69	Cruz Azul		Guadalajara	Torreón F.C.	Nuevo León	Raúl Cardenas
1969/70	Guadalajara		Cruz Azul	Zacatepec Puebla FC		Javier De la Torre
México 70*	Cruz Azul		Guadalajara			Raúl Cardenas
1970/71	América	2-0	Toluca	San Luis	Atlas	José Antonio Roca
1971/72	Cruz Azul	4-1	América	Atlas	Irapuato FC	Raúl Cardenas
1972/73	Cruz Azul	2-11	León	Ciudad Madero	Pachuca	Raúl Cardenas
1973/74	Cruz Azul	4-2	Atlético Español	UANL Atl. Potosino U de Curtidores U de G	San Luis	Raúl Cardenas
1974/75	Toluca	3-2	León	UAG	Ciudad Madero	Ricardo De León
1975/76	América	4-0	U de Guadalajara	San Luis	Atlante	Raúl Cardenas
1976/77	UNAM	1-0	U de Guadalajara	Atlante	Zacatepec	Jorge Marik
1977/78	UANL	3-1	UNAM	Zacatepec	Atlas	Carlos Miloc
1978/79	Cruz Azul	2-0	UNAM	Atlas	Veracruz	Ignacio Trelles
1979/80	Cruz Azul	4-3	UANL	Atl. Campesinos	Jalisco	Ignacio Trelles
1980/81	UNAM	4-2	Cruz Azul	Atl. Morelia	U de Curtidores	Bora Milutinović
1981/82	UANL	2-2 (3-1)	Atlante	Oaxtepec F.C.	Tampico FC	Carlos Miloc
1982/83	Puebla F.C.	2-2 (7-6)3	Guadalajara	U de Curtidores	Zacatepec	Manuel Lapuente
1983/84	América	5-3	Guadalajara	Zacatepec	U de Curtidores	Carlos Reinoso
1984/85	América	3-11	UNAM	Irapuato FC	Zacatepec	Miguel Angel López
Prode 85	América	5-4	Tampico-Madero	Querétaro		Miguel Angel López
México 86	Monterrey	3-2	Tampico-Madero			Francisco Avilán
1986/87	Guadalajara	4-2	Cruz Azul	Correcaminos UAT	Cobras de Querétaro León	Alberto Guerra
1987/88	América	4-2	UNAM	Cobras de Cd. Juárez	Correcaminos UAT#	Jorge Vieira
1988/89	América	5-4	Cruz Azul	+Potros Neza	Atl. Potosino	Jorge Vieira
1989/90	Puebla F.C.	6-4	U de Guadalajara	León	Atlante	Manuel Lapuente
1990/91	UNAM	3-34	América	Atlante	Irapuato FC	Miguel Mejía Barón
1991/92	León	2-0	Puebla FC	Pachuca	Cobras de Cd. Juárez	Víctor M. Vucetich
1992/93	Atlante	4-0	Monterrey	U.T.Neza	Pachuca	Ricardo La Volpe
1993/94	UAG	2-1	Santos	Tampico-Madero	Querétaro	Víctor M. Vucetich
1994-95	Necaxa	3-1	Cruz Azul	Atl. Celaya	TM Gallos Blancos Correcaminos UAT	Manuel Lapuente
1995/96	Necaxa	1-14	Atl. Celaya	Pachuca	UANL	Manuel Lapuente
Inv. 1996	Santos	4-3	Necaxa			Alfredo Tena
Ver. 1997	Guadalajara	7-2	Toros Neza		Pachuca	Ricardo Ferretti
Inv. 1997	Cruz Azul	2-1	León	UANL		Luis Fernando Tena
Ver. 1998	Toluca	6-4	Necaxa		Veracruz	Enrique Meza
Inv. 1998	Necaxa	2-0	Guadalajara	Pachuca		Raúl Arias
Ver. 1999	Toluca	5-5 (5-4)3	Atlas		Puebla F.C.	Enrique Meza
Inv. 1999	Pachuca	3-2	Cruz Azul	U de Curtidores*		Javier Aguirre
Ver. 2000	Toluca	7-1	Santos		Toros Neza	Enrique Meza
Inv. 2000	Morelia	3-3 (5-4)3	Toluca	Irapuato FC		Luis Fernando Tena
Ver. 2001	Santos	4-3	Pachuca		Atlante	Fernando Quirarte
Inv. 2001	Pachuca	3-1	UANL	La Piedad		Alfredo Tena
Ver. 2002	América	3-2	Necaxa		León AC	Manuel Lapuente
Ape. 2002	Toluca	4-2	Morelia	San Luis Veracruz		Alberto Jorge
Cla. 2003	Monterrey	3-1	Morelia		Cuernavaca	Daniel Passarella
Ape. 2003	Pachuca	3-2	UANL	Irapuato FC		Víctor M. Vucetich
Cla. 2004	UNAM	1-1 (5-4)3	Guadalajara		San Luis	Hugo Sánchez
Ape. 2004	UNAM	3-1	Monterrey	Sinaloa		Hugo Sánchez
Cla. 2005	América	7-4	UAG		Puebla F.C.	Mario Carrillo
Ape. 2005	Toluca	6-3	Monterrey	San Luis		Américo Gallego
Cla. 2006	Pachuca	1-0	San Luis		Sinaloa	José Luis Trejo
Ape. 2006	Guadalajara	3-2	Toluca	Querétaro FC		José Manuel De la Torre
Cla. 2007	Pachuca	3-2	América		Querétaro FC	Enrique Meza
Ape. 2007	Atlante	2-1	UNAM	Puebla FC		José Guadalupe Cruz
Cla. 2008	Santos Laguna	3-2	Cruz Azul		Veracruz	Daniel Guzmán
Ape. 2008	Toluca	2-2 (7-6)3	Cruz Azul	Cd. Juárez		José Manuel De la Torre
Clau. 2009	UNAM	3-2	Pachuca		Necaxa	Ricardo Ferretti
Ape. 2009	Monterrey	6-4	Cruz Azul	Querétaro FC		Víctor M. Vucetich
Bicentenario 2010	Toluca	2-2 (4-3)	Santos Laguna		Cd. Juárez	José Manuel De la Torre

• #:Avoided relegation by buying Deportivo Neza.
• +:The franchise was bought and converted in to Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz.
• *:The franchise was bought and sold to Puebla FC.
• In the 1943/44, 1947/48 and 1955/56 seasons, there was a tie at the end of the year and additional games were played.
• In 1955 Cuautla and Zamora were also promoted due to the leagues expansion.
• In 1957 Morelia was invited as being the runner up.
• In 1964 Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz were promoted and Club Nacional spared relegation by finishing first.
• In 1970 Puebla FC was promoted after winning a short tournament .
• In 1974 Atlético Potosino and Unión de Curtidores were promoted.
• In 2001 Atlante F.C. avoided relegation after winning a promotion match.
• In 2002 Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz were promoted after winning a promotion match.
• There was no relegation in 1969/70 and 1985/86 in order to increase the clubs in first division.

[edit] Championship

[edit] Historic participation table from 1943-2009

Notes:

• From 1943-44 to 1994-95, 2 points were awarded for a win; starting in 1995-96, and continuing until the present, which 3 points are awarded for a win.

• The table above only includes regular season games. Does not include playoffs or the Relegation\Promotion matches from 1955, 1957, 1964, 1970, 2001 and 2002.

• Cobras de Ciudad Juárez was relegated in 1986-87 while playing out of Querétaro. In the second division, the club was transferred to Ciudad Juárez where they obtained promotion. This is considered the same franchise, as only the city changed.

• In the middle of 1994-95, Tampico Madero transferred to Querétaro, due to problems with its stadium, and changed its name to TM Gallos Blancos; this table considers its statistics as Tampico Madero.

• In 1971, the Necaxa franchise was sold to Spaniards who changed the clubs names and colors to Atlético Español. These two clubs are listed as two different franchises.

• Jaguares de Chiapas in 2005, and San Luis Fútbol Club and Querétaro Fútbol Club in 2006 each lost 3 points by not following the rule that they must play 21 players for at least 745 minutes.

[edit] See also

• Liga de Ascenso
• Segunda División Profesional
• Tercera División de México
• Campeón de Campeones
• Copa México
• Football in Mexico
• Mexican Football Federation

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Map to all Mexican clubs
• Official League Website (Spanish)
• MedioTiempo Website (Spanish)
• Mexican League Top Goalscorers, Season by Season (Spanish)