Costa Rican Primera División
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 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 ...
division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Unión de Clubes de Fútbol de la Primera División (UNAFUT). The league consists of 12 teams, with the last-placed team
relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
to 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 ...
. The league was founded in 1921, with
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 ...
crowned as the first champions.
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 ...
is the most successful club having won the championship a record 37 times. Together with
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 ...
(30 titles) and
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 ...
(29 titles), they have dominated the league.


Competition format

The Liga FPD features a format in which two separate tournaments are held over the course of one particular season. The ''Torneo de Apertura'' (Spanish for "Opening Tournament") lasts from July to December, while the ''Torneo de Clausura'' (Spanish for "Closing Tournament") lasts from January to May. From 2007 to 2017, these were known respectively as ''Torneo de Invierno'' ("Winter Tournament") and ''Torneo de Verano'' ("Summer Tournament"), based on the Costa Rican seasons, with the ''Invierno'' tournament played during the rainy season and the ''Verano'' tournament played during the dry season. A separate tournament is played on stages. The first stage follows the usual double round-robin format. During the course of a tournament, each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 22 matchdays. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with the top-four clubs at the end of the stage qualifying to the second stage. The second stage consists of a quadrangular in which the best four teams qualified will face each other twice again, adding 6 additional matchdays. If the top team of the first stage also wins the quadrangular, the club will be crowned as champions; otherwise, a double-legged final will be played between the winners of the first stage and the winners of the quadrangular to determine the champion.


Promotion and relegation

A system of
promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
exists between the ''Primera División'' and the ''
Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
''. In spite of having two champions during a regular season, the Liga FPD only relegates one team per season based on the aggregate performance in both ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. The last-placed team in the aggregate table is relegated to the Liga de Ascenso.


Qualifying for CONCACAF competitions

The top teams in the Liga FPD qualify to the
CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...
. Starting in the 2017–18 season, the CONCACAF Champions League will be separated into two stages. The first stage is
CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two leg ...
, which consists of sixteen teams from Central America and the Caribbean, in which the winner qualifies to the second stage, the Champions League, joining other fifteen teams. Because of this format, the qualification criteria in the Liga FPD are: *If one team wins both the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments **The double champion will qualify directly to the second stage of the Champions League **The two non-champion teams with the best aggregate record at the end of the season will qualify to the CONCACAF League *If two teams are crowned champions over the season **The champion with the best aggregate record will qualify directly to the second stage of the Champions League **The champion with the worst aggregate record will qualify to the CONCACAF League **The non-champion team with the best aggregate record will qualify to the CONCACAF League


History

On 13 June 1921, the
Costa Rican Football Federation The Costa Rican Football Federation ( es, Federación Costarricense de Fútbol, FCRF), also known as FEDEFUTBOL or FEDEFUT, is the official association football governing body in Costa Rica and is in charge of the Costa Rica national football tea ...
was created. With its creation, the need of a tournament also emerged, along with the establishment of a
national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...
, as a result of Costa Rica being invited to the 1921 Juegos del Centenario in Guatemala. The first season of the Costa Rican Primera División was played in 1921 with seven teams:
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 ...
, Cartaginés,
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 ...
, La Libertad, Sociedad Gimnástica Española, Sociedad Gimnástica Limonense and La Unión de Tres Ríos. La Libertad and Gimnástica Limonense played the first ever match of the Liga FPD, with La Libertad emerging victorious with a lone goal scored by Rafael Madrigal. Herediano were crowned as champions. In 1999, the Costa Rican Football Federation created the UNAFUT (acronym of Unión de Clubes de Fútbol de la Primera División), an entity designed for the organization and administration of the Primera División tournament and its youth leagues (known as Alto Rendimiento). On 9 January 2014, UNAFUT decided to rename the tournament to Liga FPD, in order to give more identity to the league. The main rivalry in the league is ''El Clásico'', played by
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 ...
and
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 ...
, as both teams are the most successful in the league and both share the vast majority of followers throughout the country. Since their first encounter at the old national stadium on 12 October 1949, the two teams have faced each other in over 300 matches, with the winning balance in favor of Saprissa.


Clubs 2022–23


Champions


Performance by club


Player records


Top scorers


Most appearances


References


External links


UNAFUT - Primera División de Costa Rica

Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (Football Federation of Costa Rica)


RSSSF.com
Primera División summary
SOCCERWAY) {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa Rican Primera Division 1 Top level football leagues in Central America