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 Lummo is the official match ball of the tournament.
Herediano 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
* L ...
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
Guadalupe or Guadeloupe may refer to:
Places Bolivia
* Guadalupe, Potosí Brazil
* Guadalupe, Piauí, a municipality in the state of Piauí
* Guadalupe, Rio de Janeiro, a neighbourhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro Colombia
* Guadalupe, A ...
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 M ...
, 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 FIFA ...
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 Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...
, 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 List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...
.
The tournament began with two scoreless draws in the
UCR vs
Cartaginés and
Herediano vs
Guadalupe
Guadalupe or Guadeloupe may refer to:
Places Bolivia
* Guadalupe, Potosí Brazil
* Guadalupe, Piauí, a municipality in the state of Piauí
* Guadalupe, Rio de Janeiro, a neighbourhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro Colombia
* Guadalupe, A ...
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
Herediano 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
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 ...
in the 2003–04 season, the team being coincidentally managed by
Hernán Medford). The team also broke the record for more points achieved in a regular season, surpassing
Alajuelense in the
2014 Invierno season.
On 3 September 2017, the match between
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 ...
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
Herediano 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 ...
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 M ...
, represented by their captain
Róger Flores.
Regular season
Standings
Positions by round
Results
Quadrangular – Clausura
Clausura Finals
Since regular season leaders
Herediano were unable to top the quadrangular stage, a double-legged final will be played against the quadrangular winner
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 ...
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