The 2017–18

Liga FPD The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Fútbol de Primera División (FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Unión de Clubes ...

season, also known as Campeonato Banco Popular for sponsorship reasons, is the 97th since its establishment. The tournament is the first since the 2006–07 season to use the Apertura and Clausura names to their short tournaments, marking a departure from the Invierno and Verano tournaments. The

Voit Voit (official name: "Industrias Voit S.A. de C.V.") is a sports equipment manufacturing company based in Mexico. The company was founded by German American entrepreneur William J. Voit (1880–1946) of Worthington, Indiana. Current range of pro ...

Lummo is the official match ball of the tournament.

Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

entered as the defending champions, but lost the title in the Apertura finals to Pérez Zeledón.

Teams

Twelve teams contested for the league title; ten sides from the 2016–17 season, one team promoted from the

Liga de Ascenso Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

and a newly formed team. Grecia were promoted for their debut in the Liga FPD after defeating Jicaral in the Liga de Ascenso final, thus replacing San Carlos in the Liga FPD. Guadalupe is a newly established team that take over the previous franchise of Belén. UNAFUT authorized the name change just two days before the beginning of the season. On 2 June 2017 Henning Jensen, rector of the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Mo ...

, announced the cease of the agreement between the university and its homonymous club, citing that the transfer of the administrative management of the team to the Colombian company Con Talla Mundial was neither requested nor advised to the university. Jensen also stated that the club did not comply with the correction in the financial part of the club. On 19 June 2017, Con Talla Mundial announced that the club will now be under the name "Universitarios FC". The administration of the team had revealed the team badge and their intentions to use the Estadio Nacional as their home stadium. However, the Asociación Filial Club de Fútbol UCR, which holds the rights of the team within the league, sued the University because of their cease of the agreement. The club then retains its original name and is due to return to the Estadio Ecológico.

Stadia and locations

Torneo Apertura

The Apertura tournament will be played in the second half of 2017, starting on 29 July and, given the possibility of a final, ending on 23 December. The tournament is dedicated to former referee

Luis Paulino Siles Luis Paulino Siles Calderón (born December 13, 1941 in San José) is a Costa Rican lawyer, civil engineer and former association football referee. He is known for officiating two matches (Brazil vs Scotland and Poland vs Belgium) in the 1982 FIF ...

who, in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, became the first Costa Rican to officiate a match at a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. The tournament began with two scoreless draws in the UCR vs Cartaginés and

vs Guadalupe matches.

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

's Luis Stewart Pérez scored the first goal of the tournament, during his team's match against Carmelita.

Regular season

Defending champions

topped the season undefeated with 54 points. By achieving this, Herediano broke two records in the league. They became the first team with the longest undefeated streak (surpassing the 21-match streak by

in the 2003–04 season, the team being coincidentally managed by

Hernán Medford Hernán Evaristo Medford Bryan ( , ; born May 23, 1968) is a Costa Rican former Association football, football player and coach. Highly regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Central American football, Medford achieved su ...

). The team also broke the record for more points achieved in a regular season, surpassing

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

in the 2014 Invierno season. On 3 September 2017, the match between

and Grecia was suspended at the 81st minute due to a false bomb threat. The remaining nine minutes were played the next morning.

Standings

Quadrangular – Apertura

Standings

Apertura finals

Since regular season leaders

were unable to top the quadrangular stage, a double-legged final will be played against the quadrangular winner Pérez Zeledón in order to determine the champions of the Apertura tournament. By getting more points in the aggregate table, Herediano will host the second leg. ----

Torneo Clausura

The Clausura tournament will be played in the first half of 2018, starting on 7 January and, given the possibility of a final, ending on 20 May. The tournament is dedicated to the

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Costa Rica) represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body fo ...

squad that played in the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

, represented by their captain

Róger Flores Róger Flores Solano (born 26 May 1959 in San José) is a retired Costa Rican football player, a manager and father of three. He was the captain of the Costa Rica national football team during the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy. It was ...

Regular season

Standings

Positions by round

Results

Quadrangular – Clausura

Clausura Finals

Since regular season leaders

were unable to top the quadrangular stage, a double-legged final will be played against the quadrangular winner

in order to determine the champions of the Clausura tournament. ----

Aggregate table

References

External links

UNAFUT - Primera División de Costa Rica
{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Costa Rican FPD season Liga FPD seasons 2017–18 in Costa Rican football