Liga MX Femenil

Liga MX Femenil

Organising body	Mexican Football Federation
Founded	December 5, 2016 (2016-12-05)
Country	Mexico
Confederation	CONCACAF
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	Copa MX Femenil
Current champions	UANL (1st title) (Clausura 2018)
Most championships	Guadalajara UANL (1 title each)
TV partners	AYM Sports Claro[1] Fox Sports[2] Televisa[3] TVC Deportes[4]
Website	Website
2018–19 Liga MX Femenil season

The Primera División Femenil de México, primarily referred to as the Liga MX Femenil, is the highest division of women's football in Mexico. It is supervised by the Mexican Football Federation and is made up by the female representatives of the 18 Liga MX teams.^[5] The inaugural season began in July 2017.^[6] Liga MX CEO Enrique Bonilla stated the league was created in order to nurture the stars of the Mexico women's national football team.^[7]

The current champions are UANL who defeated Monterrey on penalty kicks in the Clausura 2018 final in May 2018.^[8]

History

Previously, in 2007, there was an attempt to professionalize women's football in Mexico via the Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil. While the league had some limited success (Mexico's women's team beat the United States for the first time in 2010, qualifying for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup),^[9] it did not have a major sponsorship and lacked media coverage (such as a consistent TV partner), and major clubs (such as Chivas de Guadalajara) pulled their support, and the league became semi-professional.

In December 2016, during a general assembly meeting with all Liga MX club owners in the new Mexican Football Federation headquarters, Liga MX CEO Enrique Bonilla announced the formation of the new Liga MX Femenil.^[10] He announced that 16 Liga MX clubs (excluding Puebla and Chiapas due to financial problems) will field an U-23 roster with four U-17 players and up to two overage players.^[10] No foreign-born players were allowed in the first season.^[11]

Before the inaugural season the teams took part in a domestic cup called Copa MX Femenil in May 2017.^[12] The tournament took place between 3 May and 6 May 2017 with only 12 of the 16 teams participating due to four not having a team ready.^[13] Pachuca won the final 9–1 against Club Tijuana.^[14]

The first Apertura matches were played on 28 July 2017. Guadalajara won the league championship on November 24, 2017, defeating C.F. Pachuca (Women) in the second match of a two-match playoff. The two matches drew record-setting crowds of 28,955 and 32,466 spectators.^[15]

Commentator Glenn Moore declared the Liga MX Femenil to have concluded a "very successful debut campaign".^[16] The league set history as the final between Monterrey and Tigres was the highest attended club match in women's soccer history.^[17]

Teams

The following 18 clubs competed in the Liga MX Femenil during the 2018–19 season.

Guadalajara
Atlas

Veracruz

León

UANL
Monterrey

Morelia

Necaxa

Pachuca

Puebla
BUAP

Querétaro

Santos Laguna

Tijuana

Toluca

Cruz Azul

Location of the 2018–19 Liga MX Femenil teams

América

UNAM

Location of the 2018–19 Liga MX Femenil teams in Greater Mexico City

Format

For the 2018-19 season, teams are divided into two groups of nine. After playing each other twice the top four teams in each group advance to the liguilla

Champions

Media coverage

• (*) All match times are UTC−06:00.

Attendance

The attendance for the regular season for the 16 teams was 307,202 for 112 matches, an average of 2,743 per match. The attendance for 6 post-season matches was 104,804. Total attendance for 118 matches was 412,006, and average of 3,492 per match.^[33]

Managers

The current managers in the Liga MX Femenil are:

Nat.	Name	Club	Appointed	Time as manager
	Eva Espejo	Pachuca	25 January 2017	7002626000000000000♠1 year, 261 days
	Leonardo Cuéllar	América	28 February 2017	7002592000000000000♠1 year, 227 days
	Ileana Dávila	UNAM	8 March 2017	7002584000000000000♠1 year, 219 days
	Luis Camacho	Guadalajara	26 April 2017	7002535000000000000♠1 year, 170 days
	Juan Carlos Mendoza	Toluca	26 April 2017	7002535000000000000♠1 year, 170 days
	Andrea Rodebaugh	Tijuana	28 April 2017	7002533000000000000♠1 year, 168 days
	Rodolfo Vega	Veracruz	11 September 2017	7002397000000000000♠1 year, 32 days
	Alberto Aguilar	Cruz Azul	9 November 2017	7002338000000000000♠338 days
	Jorge Macías	Santos Laguna	27 November 2017	7002320000000000000♠320 days
	Héctor Becerra	Monterrey	4 December 2017	7002313000000000000♠313 days
	José Julio Cevada	BUAP	6 December 2017	7002311000000000000♠311 days
	Rogelio Martínez	Puebla	6 December 2017	7002311000000000000♠311 days
	Alberto Arellano	Querétaro	1 June 2018	7002134000000000000♠134 days
	Everaldo Begines	León	20 June 2018	7002115000000000000♠115 days
	Ramón Villa Zevallos	UANL	22 June 2018	7002113000000000000♠113 days
	Fabiola Vargas	Necaxa	5 July 2018	7002100000000000000♠100 days
	Filadelfo Rangel	Morelia	6 July 2018	7001990000000000000♠99 days
	Fernando Samayoa	Atlas	12 July 2018	7001930000000000000♠93 days

Controversy

Only players born in Mexico are allowed to participate.^[34] The rule raised controversy since the foreign-born Mexican players (mostly born in the United States) who already represented the country's national team are excluded from playing in the league. Verónica Pérez, who capped 89 times for Mexico at senior level, was prevented from competing in the league along with Jazmín Aguas and former Mexico U-20 national team member Olivia Jiménez. Pérez has criticized the rule publicly and retired from football.^[35]

References

External links

• Official website