Professional football league in Argentina
Football league
The
Primera Division
(
Spanish pronunciation:
[p?i?me?a
ðiβi?sjon]
; English:
"First Division"
), known officially as
Liga Profesional de Futbol
, or
Torneo Sur Finanzas
for sponsorship reasons, is a professional
football
league in Argentina,
[9]
organised by the
Argentine Football Association
(AFA).
The Primera Division is the country's premier football division and is the top division of the
Argentine football league system
. It operates on a system of
promotion and relegation
with the
Primera Nacional
(Second Division), with the teams placed lowest at the end of the season being relegated.
With the first championship held in
1891
,
[10]
Argentina became the first country outside the
United Kingdom
(where the
Football League
had debuted in
1888
, and the
Scottish
and
Irish Football Leagues
in 1890) to establish a football league.
[11]
In the early years, only teams from
Buenos Aires
,
Greater Buenos Aires
,
La Plata
and
Rosario
[12]
were affiliated to the national association. Teams from other cities would join in later years.
The Primera Division turned professional in
1931
when 18 clubs broke away from the amateur leagues to form a professional one. Since then, the season has been contested annually in four different formats and calendars.
The Argentine championship was ranked as one of the top ten strongest leagues worldwide for the 2015 calendar year by the
International Federation of Football History & Statistics
(IFFHS). Argentina placed 4th after
La Liga
(Spain),
Serie A
(Italy), and
Bundesliga
(Germany), but has since descended to 19th in the 2021 list.
[13]
Format and teams
[
edit
]
Championship
[
edit
]
The 2024 season will be contested by 28 teams, including the 26 teams from the
previous season
plus the two teams promoted from
2023 Primera Nacional
. The league season will begin on 12 May and will end on 15 December.
Participating teams played each other in a
round-robin system
totaling 27 rounds. The team with most points at the end of the season crowned champion.
Relegation
[
edit
]
Relegation is based on an
averaging
system.
[14]
At the end of the season, the two teams with the worst three-year averages are relegated, while the winner and runner-up of Primera Nacional championship are promoted to Primera.
Domestic cups
[
edit
]
The Primera Division champion gains a place to play the
Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional
v. the winner of
Copa de la Liga Profesional
.
The
4th. edition
of
Copa de la Liga Profesional
will be held in the second semester of 2023, when the league tournament concludes. It will begin on 20 August and will end on 16 December. Teams will be divided into two zones (A and B) and will play each other in a single round robin format, totalising 14 fixtures.
[15]
International cups
[
edit
]
As of
2022
, five clubs from Argentina are eligible to play the
Copa Libertadores
. The champion of Primera Division automatically qualifies for the tournament. The other four teams best placed in the table at the end of the tournament (2nd to 5th) are also eligible to play the Cup.
For the
Copa Sudamericana
, six teams are eligible. Clubs placed 6th to 11th in the table at the end of the tournament, gain a place to play the cup.
History
[
edit
]
Round-robin amateur tournaments (1891?1931)
[
edit
]
In 1891 the
Association Argentine Football League
was established, with Alex Lamont of
St. Andrew's Scots School
as one of its board members.
[18]
The AAFL was the first football league outside of the British Isles.,
[19]
to establish a football league. The first amateur Primera Division matches were played on 12 April 1891: Buenos Aires FC vs.
St. Andrew's
and
Old Caledonians
vs. Belgrano FC.
[1]
Professional era tournaments (1931?1966)
[
edit
]
A single double
round-robin tournament
was played each year, and the team with the most points was crowned as champion, except for
1936
, during that year the winners of
Copa de Honor
and the
Campeonato
played a match for the championship title. The single tournament arrangement lasted until 1966.
During this period, the traditional "
Big Five
" clubs, namely,
River Plate
,
Boca Juniors
,
Independiente
,
Racing
and
San Lorenzo
dominated Argentine football. No other team besides them had won the league championship in these 36 years.
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
The most serious title challenge came from
Banfield
in 1951, when they gained the same points with Racing Club in the league table. However, they lost 1?0 in the two-legged first place playoffs and gave the title to Racing.
[22]
The
averaging
system for relegations was implemented for the first time in the
1957
championship,
[24]
with
Ferro Carril Oeste
becoming the first team to be relegated under that system.
[25]
Averaging continued until
1963
, when the championship returned to its old format (with the worst placed teams being relegated).
[26]
Nevertheless, there were no relegations until
1967
(with
Union (SF)
and
Deportivo Espanol
being sent to
Primera B
after playing a relegation tournament contested by teams of First and Second divisions to define the promotions and relegations).
[27]
Metropolitano and Nacional (1967?1985)
[
edit
]
In 1967, the single tournament format was abandoned and replaced by two championships in each year: the
Metropolitano
and the
Nacional
. The Metropolitano only allowed clubs competing the old tournament to participate, while the Nacional was open to teams from regional tournaments.
[23]
The format of competition was also altered, with the double round-robin tournament replaced by the two-group championship Metropolitano and single round-robin Nacional in that year.
This change brought about a revolution in Argentine football, as small teams, like
Estudiantes de La Plata
at first, and
Velez Sarsfield
,
Chacarita Juniors
and others in later years, broke down the hegemony of the five clubs who had won all the championships up to that date.
Between 1967 and 1969, the Metropolitano and Nacional had gone through several format changes. In the first three years, the Metropolitano was a two-group championship, with the best two teams from each group competing the semi-finals of the knock-out stage.
[23]
The six best teams of each group would advance to the Nacional, with four more teams coming from regional tournaments, to compete for the Nacional championship in a single round-robin format. The seventh and eighth team of each group, alongside four teams from regional tournaments, played the Promocional tournament, which, in 1969, was replaced by the Petit tournament contested without regional teams. The ninth to twelfth teams of each group entered the Reclasificatorio tournament to determine the relegating teams.
[23]
In 1970, the format of the Metropolitano and Nacional underwent a reform. Since that year, and until 1985, the Nacional had become a group tournament with playoffs, while the Metropolitano had been competed under a single or double round-robin system, except for the 1974, 1976 and 1979 edition, which were also contested as a group tournament with playoffs.
[28]
[29]
Despite the format change in 1970, teams still entered the Nacional championship, Petit tournament and Reclasificatorio tournament according to their rankings in the Metropolitano in that year. However, in 1971, the tournaments were separated. Teams did not enter the Nacional by finishing at the top ranks of Metropolitano. On the other hand, the Petit tournament and Reclasificatorio tournament were abandoned. The Metropolitano and Nacional became two truly individual tournaments. Although the old system was reused in 1972, the separation was instituted again in 1973 and was adopted throughout the remaining Metropolitano and Nacional era.
The Metropolitano was always played first, until the order of the tournaments was reversed in 1982.
[28]
After 20 years since the last time it had been used, the average system for relegations returned in the
1983 Metropolitano
championship,
[24]
two years after
San Lorenzo
was relegated. That year,
River Plate
finished 18° out of 19 teams and would have been relegated under the old system, along with
Racing de Cordoba
. The first teams to be relegated on average were
Racing
and
Nueva Chicago
.
[28]
Boca Juniors
was also struggling at that time and had a dismal
1984
season. These facts have led to speculation that the averaging system was instituted to minimize the chance of big teams being relegated.
[24]
European-styled seasons (1985?1991)
[
edit
]
Following the advice of
Argentina national football team
's then coach
Carlos Salvador Bilardo
, the structure of play was modified in 1985. Traditionally, like other countries in Southern Hemisphere, football season began and ended according to the calendar year. However, upon the reform, European style season was adopted for the first time among all the South American countries. Moreover, instead of holding two championships every year, only one double
round-robin tournament
was contested, like football leagues in Europe. The team topping the table at the end of season was crowned the champion.
In 1985, after the Nacional was played, the Metropolitano was not held, while the new single tournament (1985/86) was played for the first time.
In 1988?89 season, three points were given to match winners. If a draw occurred, A
penalty shootout
took place and the winner of the shootout would get two points while the loser still had one. This format was scrapped in the following season.
Apertura and Clausura (1991?2012)
[
edit
]
Five years later, the single championship was split into two single-round tournaments, giving birth to the
Apertura and Clausura
arrangement.
[30]
In 1991 the two champions played winner-take-all matches. This practice was very controversial, especially since one of the biggest teams,
Boca Juniors
, lost the finals against
Newell's Old Boys
, costing them their first official championship since 1981 despite an unbeaten run in the
Clausura
. In 1992 the game was held as well (this time between
Newell's Old Boys
and
River Plate
), but regardless of the result (which favored
River Plate
) both teams were awarded the title of
Champion
. After 1992, the practice was quickly abandoned, so that two champions (on equal footing) were crowned every season and no deciding game is played.
Originally, two points were given to match winners except in the
1989?90
season. Starting in
1995?96
, the rule was changed and three points were given for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss.
The
1999?2000
season introduced the
promotion and relegation
system for the first time, where the two clubs placed 1st and 2nd within the four teams with the lowest average, had to play a two-leg series with teams from
Primera B Nacional
to keep their place in the division.
[31]
Inicial and Final (2012?2014)
[
edit
]
For the 2012?13 season, the Torneo Apertura and Clausura became "Torneo Inicial" and "Torneo Final," being disputed with the same format as before but proclaiming only one champion each season, unlike the last format that had two champions (Apertura and Clausura, respectively).
[32]
Before those changes, a controversial project for the 2012?13 season had been proposed: it consisted in a new tournament that would contain both the Primera Division and Primera B Nacional teams: the former was not going to have any relegated team in its 2011?12 season and include sixteen teams from the latter, Primera B Nacional. The tournament would also include a team from the Primera B Metropolitana and one from the Torneo Argentino A, creating a 38-team league. These changes were strongly opposed by the media and the people, and finally the tournament was called off. However, the project for the new format was successfully picked up starting from the 2015 season.
Superfinal (2013?2014)
[
edit
]
Once the initial and final tournaments had finished, both winners had to play a match for the
Copa Campeonato
(familiarly known as
Superfinal
). The
AFA
had previously determined that the first edition (played in 2013) would be considered as a Primera Division official title (2012?13 season), therefore
Velez Sarsfield
was awarded its 10th official championship after defeating
Newell's
.
[33]
Nevertheless, from the 2014 edition it was determined that the
Superfinal
would not be considered as a Primera Division title but an official cup.
[34]
Due to this the 2015 and 2016 seasons were played as single tournaments with only one champion per season, the Copa Campeonato has not been held since then.
2014?20: One tournament again and Superliga
[
edit
]
Starting August 2014, the "Torneo de Transicion" was held, with 20 teams participating (17 from the
2013?14 season
and 3 promoted from the
2013?14 Primera B Nacional
). No teams were relegated at the end of the championship.
[35]
In 2015, the format switched to a tournament with 30 teams. The first five clubs of the Zonas A & B of
2014 Primera B Nacional
season promoted to the Primera Division. Those 10 teams, with the addition of the 20 clubs currently participating in the top division, qualified to contest the next season.
[36]
That same year, the
AFA
announced the format for the next five seasons of the Primera Division:
[37]
- In
the first half of 2016
, the league was contested by 30 teams. One team was relegated to and one team was promoted from Primera B Nacional.
- From
August 2016 to June 2017
, the league was also contested by 30 teams. Four teams were relegated to and two teams were promoted from Primera B Nacional.
- From
August 2017 to June 2018
, the league was contested by 28 teams. Four teams will be relegated to and two teams will be promoted from Primera B Nacional. This season was also the first "Superliga Argentina", organised by the homonymous entity, that is administered independently and has its own statute. Therefore, the AFA focused exclusively in the
Argentina national teams
. The
2017?18
season was the first championship organised by the body.
- From
August 2018 to June 2019
, the Superliga was contested by 26 teams. Four teams were relegated to and two teams were promoted from Primera B Nacional.
2020?present
[
edit
]
In February 2020, President of AFA
Claudio Tapia
stated that the Superliga had been established to position Argentine football as a product, but it failed in that purpose. As a result, the AFA would take over the organisation of Primera Division championships, according to Tapia's statement.
[38]
One month after those announcements, the president of the Superliga, Mariano Elizondo, resigned.
[39]
The Superliga was replaced by a similar body, named "Liga Profesional de Futbol", directly linked to AFA and presided by
Marcelo Tinelli
.
[40]
It was expected that Superliga was dissolved once the
2020 edition
of
Copa de la Superliga Argentina
finished,
[39]
but due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
the cup was cancelled, accelerating times. In May 2020, the LFP was launched by the AFA.
[40]
Clubs
[
edit
]
As of
2023
, twenty-eight teams are competing in the league, the 26 teams that took part in the
previous season
as well as two promoted teams from the
2022 Primera Nacional
.
[41]
Champions
[
edit
]
Since the
first championship held in 1891
, 28 clubs have won the Primera Division title at least once. The most successful club is
River Plate
, with 38 titles.
[3]
[4]
Other successful clubs are
Boca Juniors
with 35,
Racing
with 18,
Independiente
with 16, and
San Lorenzo
with 15.
Top scorers
[
edit
]
The all-time top scorer of Primera Division Argentina is
forward
Arsenio Erico
with 295 goals.
[7]
Most players on the all-time top scorers table had their golden age before the 1970s, with all of the top five all-time scorers having retired before 1973. The only player retired after that year in the top twenty list is
Martin Palermo
, who played for
Estudiantes (LP)
and
Boca Juniors
in Primera Division.
Records and facts
[
edit
]
Media coverage
[
edit
]
In Argentina, matches are broadcast by
American
companies
ESPN
and
Turner
, which signed a contract for 5 years where both companies agreed to pay
A$
3,200 million per year. Local company
Torneos
, who was formerly the official broadcaster of the Argentine championship from 1985 until 2009, will take over the content production of the games for Fox and La Corte will handle content production for Turner while
Cablevision
,
DirecTV
and Telecentro will be the TV operators.
[8]
[42]
Until the agreement with Fox and Turner was signed, Argentine football matches were broadcast nationally by
El Trece
,
Telefe
,
America TV
, and
Channel 7
. Games were free in
Argentina
from 2009 to 2016 thanks to the "Futbol para Todos" (
Football for Everyone
) program, when the
National Government
and AFA decided rescind the agreement. The Government paid A$9,500 million for 7 years.
[43]
The league attracts television audiences beyond
South America
,
Europe
,
Africa
and
MENA
. The matches are broadcast in over 80 countries. In Latin America the matches are broadcast live by
ESPN
(three matches per week),
TyC Sports International
(all the matches per week) and another streaming platforms like
Prende TV
,
Star+
and Fanatiz (together with AFA Play). In the United States, the matches are streamed on
Paramount+
since 2021.
[44]
BeIN Sports
broadcasts the games live in France and MENA regions.
ITV
showed highlights on a regional basis with the introduction of overnight broadcasting in 1988?89.
Channel 5
showed highlights from 1999 to 2003, while
Premier Sports
showed live games across 2011 and 2012.
In the United States, in the 2004-05 season,
ESPN Deportes
(instead of Fox Sports networks), broadcast some matches from
El Clasico del Domingo
(Like other football competitions as
Bundesliga
,
Ligue 1
or
Copa Libertadores
).
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[
edit
]
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External links
[
edit
]
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1890s
|
- 1891: Archer
- 1892
- 1893: Leslie
- 1894: Gifford
- 1895:
(No records)
- 1896: Allen /
Anderson
- 1897: Stirling
- 1898: Allen
- 1899: Hooton
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