Primera División de México
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| Primera División de México | |
|---|---|
| Image:FMF.gif | |
| Sport | Football |
| Founded | 1943 |
| Inaugural season | 1943 |
| No. of teams | 18 |
| Country | Image:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico |
| Current champions | Pachuca |
| 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.
Contents |
[edit] Teams in the league
Image:Monarcas Morelia TM.PNG Morelia Morelia |  MonterreyMonterrey |  NecaxaAguascalientes |  PachucaPachuca | Image:Deportivo Queretaro.gif Queretaro Querétaro |  San LuisSan Luis Potosí |
Image:Club Santos Laguna.gif Santos Torreón | Image:Toluca.gif Toluca Toluca |  U.A.G.Zapopan |  U.A.N.L.Monterrey |  U.N.A.M.México City |  VeracruzVeracruz |
Sinaloa was relegated to the Primera División A, for the season 2006-2007
[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
[edit] Titles by Team
| 10 | América, Guadalajara |
| 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 Image:Flag of Brazil.svg | 312 Goals |
| 2nd | Carlos Hermosillo Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 296 Goals |
| 3rd | Jose Cardozo Image:Flag of Paraguay.svg | 249 Goals |
| 4th | Jared Borgetti Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 226 Goals |
| 5th | Osvaldo Castro Image:Flag of Chile.svg | 214 Goals |
| 6th | Luis Alves "Zague" Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 209 Goals |
| 7th | Carlos Perucci Image:Flag of Brazil.svg | 197 Goals |
| 8th | Adalberto Lopez Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 196 Goals |
| 9th | Sergio Lira Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 195 Goals |
| 10th | Ricardo Pelaez Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 187 Goals |
| 11th | Ricardo Ferretti Image:Flag of Brazil.svg | 182 Goals |
| 12th | Horacio Casarin Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 174 Goals |
| 13th | Horacio Lopez Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 172 Goals |
| 14th | Ricardo Brandon Image:Flag of Uruguay.svg | 169 Goals |
| 15th | Enrique Borja Image:Flag of Mexico.svg | 168 Goals |
[edit] External links
| Primera División de México |
| América | Atlante | Atlas | Chivas | Cruz Azul | Jaguares | Morelia | Monterrey | Necaxa Pachuca | Queretaro | San Luis | Santos | Tecos | Tigres | Toluca | UNAM | Veracruz |
|
es:Primera división mexicana fr:Championnat du Mexique de football he:ליגת העל המקסיקנית nl:Primera División de México ja:メキシカンサッカーリーグ pl:Primera División (Meksyk) pt:Campeonato Mexicano de Futebol
