2017–18 Liga FPD

The 2017–18 Liga FPD season, also known as Campeonato Banco Popular for sponsorship reasons,^[2] 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.^[2][5]

Liga FPD

Season	2017–18
Dates	Apertura 2017: 29 July^[1] – 23 December^[2] Clausura 2018: 7 January – 20 May^[3]
Champions	Apertura: Pérez Zeledón (1st title) Clausura: Saprissa (34th title)
Champions League	Saprissa
CONCACAF League	Pérez Zeledón Herediano Santos de Guápiles
Matches played	146
Goals scored	426 (2.92 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jonathan McDonald (15 goals)
Biggest home win	Saprissa 6–1 Grecia (3/4 September 2017) Santos 5–0 Grecia (29 October 2017) Herediano 5–0 UCR (1 November 2017)
Biggest away win	Guadalupe 0–4 Santos (15 October 2017) Cartaginés 2–6 Carmelita (25 October 2017) Liberia 1–5 Saprissa (19 November 2017)
Highest scoring	Cartaginés 2–6 Carmelita (25 October 2017)
Longest winning run	5 matches Herediano (Two times)
Longest unbeaten run	22 matches Herediano
Longest winless run	8 matches Guadalupe UCR (Two times)
Longest losing run	6 matches Alajuelense Guadalupe Liberia
Highest attendance	17,037 Saprissa 2–0 Alajuelense (29 October 2017)^[4]
Lowest attendance	210 Santos 4–0 Pérez Zeledón (30 July 2017)^[4]
Total attendance	388,793^[4]
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The Voit Lummo is the official match ball of the tournament.^[6] 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 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.^[7]

Guadalupe is a newly established team that take over the previous franchise of Belén.^[8] UNAFUT authorized the name change just two days before the beginning of the season.^[9]

On 2 June 2017 Henning Jensen, rector of the University of Costa Rica, 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.^[10] On 19 June 2017, Con Talla Mundial announced that the club will now be under the name "Universitarios FC".^[11] The administration of the team had revealed the team badge and their intentions to use the Estadio Nacional as their home stadium.^[12] 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.^[13]

Stadia and locations

Alajuelense	Carmelita	Cartaginés	Grecia	Guadalupe	Herediano
Alejandro Morera Soto		"Fello" Meza	Allen Riggioni	"Coyella" Fonseca	Eladio Rosabal Cordero
Capacity: 18,000		Capacity: 13,500	Capacity: 4,000	Capacity: 4,500	Capacity: 8,500
Liberia	Limón	Pérez Zeledón	Santos de Guápiles	Saprissa	UCR
Edgardo Baltodano	Juan Gobán	Estadio Municipal	Ebal Rodríguez	Ricardo Saprissa	Estadio Ecológico
Capacity: 5,979	Capacity: 3,000	Capacity: 6,000	Capacity: 3,000	Capacity: 23,112	Capacity: 1,800

 

 

Alajuelense/Carmelita

 

Cartaginés

 

Grecia

 

Guadalupe

 

Herediano

 

Liberia

 

Limón

 

Pérez Zeledón

 

Santos

 

Saprissa

 

UCR

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Locations of the 2014-15 Costa Rican FPD teams

Torneo Apertura

Main article: 2017–18 Liga FPD – Apertura season

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.^[2][1] The tournament is dedicated to former referee Luis Paulino Siles who, in 1982, became the first Costa Rican to officiate a match at a FIFA World Cup.^[14]

The tournament began with two scoreless draws in the UCR vs Cartaginés and Herediano vs Guadalupe matches. Saprissa's Luis Stewart Pérez scored the first goal of the tournament, during his team's match against Carmelita.^[15]

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 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.^[16]

On 3 September 2017, the match between Saprissa and Grecia was suspended at the 81st minute due to a false bomb threat.^[17] The remaining nine minutes were played the next morning.^[18]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Herediano	22	16	6	0	41	12	+29	54	Advanced to the quadrangular and a possible final
2	Saprissa	22	13	4	5	50	27	+23	43	Advanced to the quadrangular
3	Santos de Guápiles	22	11	7	4	46	28	+18	40
4	Pérez Zeledón	22	10	6	6	43	33	+10	36
5	Alajuelense	22	8	7	7	38	31	+7	31
6	Grecia	22	8	7	7	31	37	−6	31
7	Limón	22	7	9	6	35	36	−1	30
8	Cartaginés	22	4	11	7	27	38	−11	23
9	UCR	22	4	8	10	16	28	−12	20
10	Carmelita	22	4	6	12	29	38	−9	18
11	Guadalupe	22	3	7	12	22	36	−14	16
12	Liberia	22	4	2	16	23	57	−34	14

Updated to match(es) played on 16 November 2017. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) draw

Quadrangular – Apertura

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Pérez Zeledón	6	4	1	1	9	6	+3	13	Final
2	Saprissa	6	3	1	2	7	6	+1	10
3	Herediano	6	2	0	4	5	5	0	6	Final
4	Santos de Guápiles	6	1	2	3	3	7	−4	5

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) draw

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.^[19]

20 December 2017 (2017-12-20)

20:00 (UTC-6)

Pérez Zeledón	1–0	Herediano
Venegas   15'

Estadio Municipal Pérez Zeledón

Referee: Ricardo Montero^[20]

---

23 December 2017 (2017-12-23)

20:00 (UTC-6)

Herediano	0–0	Pérez Zeledón

Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero

Referee: Keylor Herrera

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.^[3] The tournament is dedicated to the Costa Rica national football team squad that played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, represented by their captain Róger Flores.^[21]

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Herediano	22	13	6	3	34	14	+20	45	Advance to the quadrangular and a possible final
2	Saprissa	22	13	5	4	43	21	+22	44	Advance to the quadrangular
3	Alajuelense	22	13	4	5	46	25	+21	43
4	Santos	22	10	9	3	30	16	+14	39
5	Guadalupe	22	7	8	7	28	32	−4	29
6	Limón	22	7	7	8	31	31	0	28
7	Pérez Zeledón	22	7	7	8	27	32	−5	28
8	UCR	22	6	7	9	26	32	−6	25
9	Carmelita	22	7	4	11	26	39	−13	25
10	Grecia	22	6	6	10	27	34	−7	24
11	Liberia	22	3	6	13	18	44	−26	15
12	Cartaginés	22	1	9	12	16	32	−16	12

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) draw

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Alajuelense
Carmelita
Cartaginés
Grecia
Guadalupe
Herediano
Liberia
Limón
Pérez Zeledón
Santos
Saprissa
UCR

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Results

Home \ Away	ALA	CRM	CAR	GRE	GUA	HER	LIB	LIM	PEZ	SAN	SAP	UCR
Alajuelense		^MD22	^MD16	^MD12	^MD08	^MD03	^MD06	1–0	^MD15	^MD20	^MD18	^MD10
Carmelita	^MD11		2–1	^MD21	^MD07	^MD13	^MD19	^MD17	^MD05	^MD03	^MD15	^MD09
Cartaginés	^MD05	^MD12		^MD18	^MD15	^MD20	^MD22	^MD10	^MD17	^MD08	^MD03	1–1
Grecia	1–2	^MD10	^MD07		^MD13	^MD15	^MD09	^MD03	^MD19	^MD05	^MD17	^MD22
Guadalupe	^MD19	^MD18	2–1	2–1		^MD06	^MD14	^MD09	^MD11	^MD12	^MD21	^MD16
Herediano	^MD14	0–1	^MD09	^MD04	^MD17		^MD10	^MD19	^MD07	^MD22	^MD05	^MD12
Liberia	^MD17	^MD08	^MD11	^MD20	^MD03	^MD21		^MD05	^MD13	^MD15	0–3	^MD18
Limón	^MD13	^MD06	^MD21	^MD14	^MD20	^MD08	^MD16		1–1	^MD18	^MD11	^MD04
Pérez Zeledón	^MD04	^MD16	^MD06	^MD08	^MD22	^MD18	2–2	^MD12		^MD10	^MD20	^MD14
Santos	^MD09	^MD14	^MD19	^MD16	1–1	^MD11	^MD04	^MD07	^MD21		^MD13	^MD06
Saprissa	^MD07	^MD04	^MD14	^MD06	^MD10	^MD16	^MD12	^MD22	^MD09	1–0		^MD19
C.F. Universidad de Costa Rica	^MD21	^MD20	^MD13	^MD11	^MD05	0–1	^MD07	^MD15	2–1	^MD17	^MD08

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [1]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Quadrangular – Clausura

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saprissa	6	3	2	1	13	8	+5	11	Final
2	Alajuelense	6	3	2	1	10	8	+2	11
3	Herediano	6	3	0	3	8	7	+1	9	Final
4	Santos	6	1	0	5	5	13	−8	3

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) draw

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 in order to determine the champions of the Clausura tournament.

15 May 2018 (2018-05-15)

20:05 (UTC-6)

Herediano	1–1	Saprissa
O. Arrellano   11'		80' Y. Salinas

Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero

Referee: Henry Bejarano

---

20 May 2018 (2018-05-20)

Saprissa	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Herediano
Penalties
	4-3

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá

Referee: Ricardo Montero

Aggregate table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Herediano	44	29	12	3	75	26	+49	99	2018 CONCACAF League
2	Saprissa	44	26	9	9	93	48	+45	87	2019 CONCACAF Champions League
3	Santos de Guápiles	44	21	16	7	76	44	+32	79	2018 CONCACAF League
4	Alajuelense	44	21	11	12	84	56	+28	74
5	Pérez Zeledón	44	17	13	14	70	65	+5	64	2018 CONCACAF League
6	Limón	44	14	16	14	66	67	−1	58
7	Grecia	44	14	13	17	58	71	−13	55
8	Guadalupe	44	10	15	19	50	68	−18	45
9	UCR	44	10	15	19	42	60	−18	45
10	Carmelita	44	11	10	23	55	77	−22	43
11	Cartaginés	44	5	20	19	43	70	−27	35
12	Liberia	44	7	8	29	41	89	−48	29	Relegation to the 2018–19 Liga de Ascenso

Updated to match(es) played on 15 November 2017. Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) draw

References

1. Molina, José Pablo (28 July 2017). . UNAFUT.com (in European Spanish). UNAFUT. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
2. Molina, José Pablo (20 June 2017). . www.unafut.com (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 2017-06-25. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
3. Molina Salas, José Pablo. . www.unafut.com (in European Spanish). UNAFUT. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
4. . UNAFUT.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
5. Coto, Gerardo (25 July 2017). . UNAFUT.com (in European Spanish). UNAFUT. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
6. Molina, José Pablo (20 June 2017). "El Campeón abre en Guadalupe | El Guardián.cr". El Guardián (Costa Rica) (in European Spanish). Retrieved 23 June 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
7. Masís, Fiorella; Jiménez, Daniel (28 May 2017). "Grecia asciende a Primera División de la mano de Paté Centeno". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2017.
8. Mendoza, Adrián (26 May 2017). "Belén desaparece para dar paso a Guadalupe FC". CRHoy (in European Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2017.
9. Jiménez, Daniel (27 July 2017). "Guadalupe FC recibe aval para cambio de nombre en la Unafut". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 July 2017.
10. Córdoba, Javier (2 June 2017). . Semanario Universidad (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
11. Oviedo, Steven (19 June 2017). "Equipo de la UCR cambia de nombre, anuncia la llegada de 17 jugadores y nuevo cuerpo técnico". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 June 2017.
12. Segura, Geovanny (22 June 2017). . La Prensa Libre. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
13. Tayver, Fanny (7 July 2017). "Equipo de fútbol sigue llamándose UCR y hasta regresa al Estadio Ecológico". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
14. Coto, Gerardo. . UNAFUT.com (in European Spanish). UNAFUT. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
15. Álvarez, Cristian (30 July 2017). "Luis Stewart Pérez anotó el primer gol del Apertura 2017". Diario Digital Nuestro País. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
16. Brenes, Cristian (21 November 2017). "Herediano impone récords aplastando dentro y fuera de casa". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 November 2017.
17. Álvarez, Cristian (3 September 2017). "El partido Saprissa-Grecia fue suspendido por una falsa amenaza de bomba". Diario Digital Nuestro País (in European Spanish). Retrieved 18 December 2017.
18. . UNAFUT.com. 18 December 2017. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
19. "Resultados". unafut.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 17 December 2017. En esta serie final el equipo local en el segundo juego sera el mejor ubicado en la tabla acumulada
20. "FIFA Referees News: Costa Rica : 2017 Torneo Apertura Final". 23 December 2017.
21. Coto, Gerardo (4 January 2018). "Un campeonato para 22 leyendas". unafut.com (in European Spanish). from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.

External links

• (in Spanish) UNAFUT - Primera División de Costa Rica