The Copa Luis Villarejo is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. Created in 2016, it is open to all clubs that are affiliated with the

Puerto Rican Football Federation The Puerto Rican Football Federation ( es, Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol) is the governing body of association football in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1940 and became affiliated to FIFA in 1960, one of the last to do so in the Wester ...

History

1st cup

A new domestic cup tournament, the Copa Luis Villarejo, was inaugurated and involved teams from the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Puerto Rico (LNF), the second tier

Puerto Rico Soccer League The Puerto Rico Soccer League or PRSL is an association football league in Puerto Rico founded in 2008 and the first unified football league in the island's history. Association football had been growing in popularity in recent years, and this wa ...

(PRSL), as well as

Puerto Rico FC Puerto Rico FC was a professional football club based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2015, the team played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team debuted in the 2016 fall ...

of the North American Soccer League (NASL), a second tier league sanctioned by the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

. On November 17 2016, Puerto Rico FC (PRFC) escaped with a 1-0 win over Bayamón FC (BFC) in the second leg to complete a 4–0 aggregate victory in the semifinal round of the First Luis Villarejo Cup, Senior Men's category, of the Puerto Rican Football Federation (FPF). The victory, sealed with a penalty goal by its captain, Cristiano Dias, in the 44th minute, gave the PRFC a ticket to the Cup championship game at Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel de Bayamón against the Criollos, who come from struggling, aggregate 5–4, to Metropolitan FC. PRFC also joined the Criollos as teams with tickets secured to represent Puerto Rico in the 2017 Champions League Cup of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which is qualifying for the Champions League 2017–18 Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF). On November 20 2016,

defeated the Criollos de Caguas FC 4–1 to become the cups 1st ever champion, with 3 goals coming from the Puerto Rican striker Hector Ramos, and one coming from "Georgie" to seal the deal in the 88th minute.

2nd edition suspended

On August 16 2017, The president of the Competitions Commission of the Puerto Rican Football Federation (FPF), Alberto Santiago; announced the 2nd edition of the Luis Villarejo Cup is scheduled to begin in mid-September of this year. Recalling that the PRFC also had administrative failings and that it had to pay a substantial fine to finally be able to compete. This year the FPF is advancing the celebration of the Cup to avoid those consequences. The format will remain the same as simple elimination in round-trip series. On September 3, 2017, The Puerto Rican Football Federation (FPF) announced it was ready to celebrate the annual Luis Villarejo Cup starting this September with 6 registered clubs. The clubs being last years champion,

, Bayamón FC,

Caguas Sporting FC Caguas Sporting FC is an association football team that plays in Caguas. They currently play in the Liga Puerto Rico. This team is from Caguas, Puerto Rico. History On March 12, 2017 the team announced the inauguration of their new updated pl ...

, Metropolitan Football Academy, Mayaguez FC, and newcomer to the tournament

Club Deportivo Barbosa Club Deportivo Barbosa is an association football team that plays in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Rio Grande. They currently play in the Puerto Rico Soccer League. This team is from Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. Current squad April 10, 2016 Club ...

. The FPF will be holding the congress of the Cup on Wednesday, September 6, if there is no time against

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

. On Wednesday, other clubs, such as

Don Bosco FC (Puerto Rico) Don Bosco FC is a Puerto Rican soccer team based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. History In 2016, they competed in the inaugural Copa Luis Villarejo. Losing in the first round to Criollos de Caguas FC with an aggregate of 2–14. On February 26, D ...

, and others who did not submit everything required before the closing of the call could enter. On September 29, the FBF announced the 2nd Luis Villarejo Cup will be suspended, due to the devastation left by

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

that had left the entire island powerless. The Federation was looking to restart the cup in November, if all teams are available.

2nd cup

On February 12, 2019, the Puerto Rico Football Federation announced that the cup was coming back for its second edition.

Past winners and results

Yearly winner

Team results

Players records

Career goals

References

{{National association football cups (CONCACAF region) Football competitions in Puerto Rico 2016 establishments in Puerto Rico