The 2018 Apertura season served as the opening half of the

2017–18 Liga FPD The 2017–18 Liga FPD 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 Primera División (Costa Rica), 2006–07 season to use the Apertura ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

season. It began on 29 July 2017 and ended on 23 December 2017. Herediano entered as the defending champions, but lost the title in the Apertura finals to Pérez Zeledón.

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

;Notes *

¹: Mario Viquez had already assumed as interim manager of Carmelite following Farinha's departure on 28 September. *

²: Adrián Leandro had already assumed as interim manager of Cartaginés following Delgado's departure on 10 November.

League table

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. Their colours are burgundy and white. It ...

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 football player and current coach of Deportivo Marquense. Highly regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Central American football, Medford ...

). 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, Al ...

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

Positions by round

Results

Quadrangular – Apertura

Teams qualified

* Herediano *

Santos de Guápiles Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

* Pérez Zeledón

Standings

Positions by round

Results

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. ----

Season statistics

Scoring

*First goal of the season:
Luis Stewart Pérez for

against Carmelita (30 July) *Last goal of the season:
Jeikel Venegas for Pérez Zeledón against Herediano (20 December)

Top goalscorers

Source:

Hat-tricks

Goalkeeping

Foreign players

This is a list of foreign players in the 2017 Apertura season. The following players: # Have played at least one game for the respective club. # Have not been capped for the

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team () represents Costa Rica in men's international Association football, football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation, Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (), the governi ...

on any level, independently from the birthplace A new rule was introduced this season, that clubs can have four foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or a player(s) is released and it's before the close of the season transfer window.

References

External links

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