Serie A de Ecuador
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Countries |  Ecuador |
|---|---|
| Confederation | CONMEBOL |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Relegation to | Serie B |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| International cup(s) | Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana |
| Current champions | Deportivo Quito (2008) |
| Most championships | Barcelona (13) El Nacional (13) |
| Website | Official webpage |
 Serie A 2009 |
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The Primera Categoría Serie A (shorten to Serie A or Primera A) is the top level of professional football in Ecuador. The league serves as the national championship between the country's top clubs.
While initially not a league, the Serie A has its roots in the national championship between the top teams of Ecuador's two regional leagues. Since the first tournament in 1957, a national champion has been crowned 51 times on a yearly basis (except 1958 & 1959), and twice in 2005. Eight different teams have been crowned Ecuadorian champions, but four teams have a combined total of 45 championships. The most successful clubs are Barcelona and El Nacional, each with 13 championships. The defending champion is Deportivo Quito.
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[edit] Format
The format for the Serie A national championship consistently changes from season to season. The basic format is a two-stage tournament, to which teams qualify to a mini-league (Spanish: Liguilla) to determine the champion. The current format is new for the 2009 season and consists of four stages: the First Stage is a double-round robin stage between all the teams; the Second Stage has the clubs divided into two groups from which they will compete in double-round robin format; the Third Stage is a playoff round between the qualified teams from the first two stages; the Fourth Stage is the championship round between the top-two teams of the Third Stage, plus another match for third place.
Relegation is done after the Second Stage and determined through an aggregate table of the first two stages. Teams throughout the season complete to play in following season's Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.
[edit] History
All of football in Ecuador was amateur football until 1950 when the Guayas Football Association (Spanish: Asociación de Fútbol del Guayas [AFG]) turned professional and held its first professional tournament for affiliated clubs (for clubs in Guayaquil). The Professional Football Championship of Guayaquil (Spanish: Campeonato Professional de Fútbol de Guayaquil) was first held in 1951 and was won by Río Guayas. In 1954, the football association in Pichincha (current the Asociación de Fútbol No Amatur de Pichincha [AFNA]) decided to turn professional and hold a professional tournament of their own for their affliated clubs (for clubs in Quito & Ambato). The first Inter-Andean Professional Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Professional Interandino) was held in 1954 and was won by LDU Quito.
The two tournaments were the top-level football leagues in Ecuador, but the champion of each could not claim to be the national champion. That changed in 1957 when a national football tournament was organized for the winners the two leagues. The first Ecuadorian Football Championship was contested between the champion and runner-up of the 1957 Campeonato Professional de Fútbol de Guayaquil of (Club Sport Emelec & Barcelona Sporting Club, respectively) and the champion and runner-up of the 1957 Campeonato Professional Interandino (Sociedad Deportivo Quito and Sociedad Deportiva Aucas, respectively). Emelec won the tournament and became the first national champions of football in Ecuador.
No championship was held in 1958 & 1959. The tournament return in 1960 using the same format as in 1957. This time the field grew from four teams to eight teams. The format continued until 1967 when a number of changes occurred: 1) the regional tournaments were discontinued after the 1967 season; 2) teams contesting the national championship from 1968 onwards were now part of the Primera Categoría; and 3) a second level of Ecuadorian football (Segunda Categoría) was put into play and a system of relegation and promotion began in 1967.
In 1971, the Primera Categoría was divided into two Series: Serie A & Serie B. Serie A was to be the top level of club football, while Serie B was the second, and Segunda the third. Between, 1983-1988, Serie B was merged into Segunda, but Serie A continued. Serie B was brought back in 1989, and has stayed as the second level since.
In 2005, the Campeonato Ecuatoriano was divided into two tournaments to crown two champions in one year. The two tournaments were called Torneo Apertura (opening tournament) and Torneo Clausura (closing tournament). The tournament returned to its year-long format in 2006.
[edit] Current clubs
Twelve teams are in Serie A for the 2009 season. They are (home city in parenthesis):
- Barcelona Sporting Club (Guayaquil)
- Centro Deportivo Olmedo (Riobamba)
- Club Deportivo Cuenca (Cuenca)
- Club Deportivo El Nacional (Quito)
- Club Deportivo ESPOLI (Quito, but plays home games in Latacunga)
- Club Deportivo Técnico Universitario (Ambato)
- Club Social y Deportivo Macará (Ambato)
- Club Sport Emelec (Guayaquil)
- Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Portoviejo (Portoviejo)
- Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito (Quito)
- Manta Fútbol Club (Manta)
- Sociedad Deportivo Quito (Quito)
[edit] Champions by year
[edit] Titles by club
| Team | Nº of titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | 13 | 1960, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997 |
| El Nacional | 13 | 1967, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1996, 2005 C, 2006 |
| Emelec | 10 | 1957, 1961, 1965, 1972, 1979, 1988, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002 |
| LDU Quito | 9 | 1969, 1974, 1975, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005 A, 2007 |
| Deportivo Quito | 3 | 1964, 1968, 2008 |
| Deportivo Cuenca | 1 | 2004 |
| Olmedo | 1 | 2000 |
| Everest | 1 | 1962 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Ecuador - List of Topscorers". website. RSSSF. 2008. http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/ecuatops.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-26.
[edit] External links
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