2018–19 Liga FPD

The 2018–19 Liga FPD season, also known as Campeonato Banco Popular for sponsorship reasons,[1] is the 98th since its establishment. The tournament is the second 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.

Liga FPD
Season2018–19
ChampionsApertura:
Herediano (27th title)
Clausura:
San Carlos (1st title)
RelegatedCarmelita
CONCACAF LeagueSan Carlos
Herediano
Saprissa
Top goalscorerMarcel Hernández
(15 goals)
Biggest home winAlajuelense 6–1 Herediano
(9 September 2018)
Biggest away winGrecia 0–5 Saprissa
(28 April 2019)
Highest scoringHerediano 6–2 Limón
(11 November 2018)
All statistics correct as of 11 November 2018.

The Voit Lummo is the official match ball of the tournament.[2] Deportivo Saprissa are the defending champions, after defeating Herediano in the Clausura 2018 tournament.

Teams and Structure Changes

A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 11 sides from the 2017–18 season, one team promoted from the Liga de Ascenso.

San Carlos were promoted for the first time to the Liga FPD after defeating Jicaral in the Liga de Ascenso final, thus replacing Liberia in the Liga FPD.

For this season, the league has changed the playoff format. The top 4 teams in the regular season will progress to a two-legged knockout tournament. If the same team that wins the regular season wins the playoff, that team wins the season championship immediately. Should a different team win the playoff than won the regular season, those two teams will meet in a two-legged Grand Final for the season championship.

Personnel, kits and Stadia
Locations of the 2018-19 Costa Rican FPD teams
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s) Stadium Capacity
Alajuelense Luis Diego Arnáez Kelme Claro Alejandro Morera Soto 18,000
Carmelita Mario Víquez Monarca Almacenes Decavisa Estadio Rafael Bolaños 4,500
Cartaginés Martin Arriola Joma Bancrédito "Fello" Meza 13,500
Municipal Grecia Walter Centeno Living Sports Super Rosvil Estadio Allen Riggioni 3,000
Guadalupe F.C. Geiner Segura Pirma Papa John's Pizza Estadio José Joaquín "Coyella" Fonseca 4,500
Herediano Jaime de la Pava Umbro kölbi Eladio Rosabal Cordero 8,721
Limón Ricardo Allen Thomas Sportek APM Terminals Estadio Juan Gobán 3,000
Pérez Zeledón José Giacone Textiles JB kölbi Municipal de Pérez Zeledón 6,000
San Carlos Martin Cardetti ARN Dos Pinos Estadio Carlos Ugalde Álvarez 5,600
Santos Johnny Chaves Capelli Sport Grupo Colono Ebal Rodríguez 3,000
Saprissa Vladimir Quesada Kappa Bimbo, Ibérico Ricardo Saprissa 23,000
UCR Minor Díaz Saeta TBD Estadio Jorge Hernán "Cuty" Monge 5,500

Managerial changes

Before the start of the season
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
CF Universidad de Costa Rica TBD Resigned June 2018 Octavio Bermúdez July 2018 TBD (2017-2018)
Herediano TBD Resigned June 2018 Jaime de la Pava July 2018 TBD (2017-2018)
Cartaginés TBD Resigned June 2018 Paulo Wanchope July 2018 TBD (2017-2018)

During the Apertura season
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Limón F.C. Horacio Esquivel Resigned September 2018 Ricardo Allen Thomas September 2018 12th (Apertura 2018)
Herediano Jaime de la Pava Sacked September 2018 Jafet Soto September 2018 th (Apertura 2018)
C.S. Cartaginés Paulo Wanchope Resigned September 2018 Martin Arriola September 2018 th (Apertura 2018)
Limón F.C. Ricardo Allen Thomas Moved to assistant coach September 2018 Marvin Solano September 2018 th (Apertura 2018)
UCR Octavio Bermúdez Sacked October 2018 Minor Díaz October 2018 12th (Apertura 2018)
Herediano Jafet Soto Sacked October 2018 Paulo Wanchope October 2018 th (Apertura 2018)
Carmelita Mario Víquez Sacked October 2018 Luis José Herra y Luis Carlos Mejías October 2018 th (Apertura 2018)

Between the Apertura and Clausura season
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Herediano Jafet Soto Sacked December 2018 Hernan Medford December 2018 12th (Apertura 2018)

During the Clausura season
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
San Carlos Martin Cardetti Sacked January 2019 Luis Marin January 2019 th (Apertura 2018)
Alajuelense Luis Diego Arnáez Sacked January 2019 Hernán Torres January 2019 th (Apertura 2018)
Herediano Hernan Medford Sacked March 2019 Jafet Soto March 2019 th (Apertura 2018)
Limon Marvin Solano Sacked February 2019 Ricardo Allen February 2019 th (Apertura 2018)

Apertura

The Apertura tournament will be played in the second half of 2018, starting on 21 July.

Regular season

The regular season began on 21 July 2018 and ended on 11 November 2018.

On 17 October 2018, the match between Limón and Grecia was suspended in the 25th minute due to a waterlogged pitch. The remaining 65 minutes were played the next day.

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Saprissa 22 14 6 2 45 17 +28 48 Advance to Playoffs and (if necessary) Grand final
2 Alajuelense 22 16 0 6 44 22 +22 48 Advance to Playoffs
3 San Carlos 22 11 5 6 38 29 +9 38
4 Herediano 22 11 5 6 35 26 +9 38
5 Pérez Zeledón 22 10 7 5 31 24 +7 37
6 Cartaginés 22 8 8 6 40 34 +6 32
7 Santos de Guápiles 22 7 4 11 26 29 −3 25
8 Carmelita 22 6 6 10 31 40 −9 24
9 Grecia 22 7 3 12 27 36 −9 24
10 Guadalupe 22 6 5 11 25 40 −15 23
11 Limón 22 5 5 12 27 43 −16 20
12 UCR 22 2 4 16 23 52 −29 10
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

Results
Home \ Away ALA CARM CART GRE GUA HER LIM PER SCA SNT SAP UCR
Alajuelense — 2–3 2–1 2–0 3–1 6–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 5–1
Carmelita 0–1 — 1–1 1–2 3–0 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–4 0–3 2–2 3–2
Cartaginés 2–3 3–2 — 2–3 5–1 3–2 3–0 3–0 1–1 4–3 0–1 2–2
Grecia 1–4 2–0 1–1 — 2–0 2–0 1–2 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–3 2–1
Guadalupe 0–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 — 2–2 3–1 1–1 2–3 2–1 0–2 1–0
Herediano 1–0 2–0 0–0 4–2 2–1 — 6–2 0–1 1–0 3–0 2–0 4–0
Limón 0–1 1–1 1–3 2–1 5–2 3–0 — 0–3 1–2 0–2 1–1 3–1
Pérez Zeledón 3–1 2–2 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 — 2–1 2–1 0–2 2–0
San Carlos 2–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–0 2–1 — 2–2 2–2 2–0
Santos de Guápiles 0–2 2–1 3–0 2–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 — 0–0 2–1
Saprissa 2–1 3–0 4–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 4–0 2–2 3–3 2–1 — 4–0
UCR 1–2 3–4 1–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 0–4 —
Source: Soccerway
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Playoffs
  Semifinals Finals
                         
1 Saprissa 0 1 1 (2)  
4 Herediano 1 0 1 (4)  
    4 Herediano 2 1 3 (4)
  2 Alajuelense 1 2 3 (2)
2 Alajuelense 1 1 2 (3)
3 San Carlos 1 1 2 (1)  

Semifinals
First legs
Herediano1 – 0Saprissa
H. Saravia  21'
Referee: Adrian Elizondo
San Carlos1 – 1Alajuelense
J. McDonald  38' (pen)  54' Á. Saborío
Referee: Christian Rodríguez
Second legs
Saprissa1 – 0 (a.e.t.)Herediano
J. Venegas  33'
Penalties
2 - 4
Referee: Pedro Navarro
Alajuelense1 – 1San Carlos
A. López  55'
Penalties
3 - 1
Referee: Geiner Zuñiga

Finals
First leg
Herediano2 – 1Alajuelense
Y. Ruiz  60' (pen)  75'  88' M. Foster
Referee: Keylor Herrera [3]
Second leg
Alajuelense2–1Herediano
Jonathan Mcdonald  28'
Jonathan Moya  72'		 Allan Cruz  60'
Penalties
  • Roger Rojas
  • Freddy Álvarez
  • Jonathan McDonald
  • Kenner Gutiérrez
2 - 4
  • Randall Azofeifa
  • Pablo Salazar
  • Gerardo Lugo
  • Antonio Pedroza
Referee: Christian Rodriguez

Grand final

If the regular season winners are unable to win the playoffs, a double-legged final will be played against the playoffs winner in order to determine the champions of the Apertura tournament. The team with the better accumulated record over the regular season and playoffs will host the second leg.

First leg
Herediano2 – 2Saprissa
Ó. Granados  40'
A. Magaña  78'		  69' J. Venegas
 87' A. Cabral
Referee: Adrian Elizondo

Second leg
Saprissa2 – 3 (a.e.t.)Herediano
O. Arellano  36' (o.g.)
J. Venegas  66'		  47' J. Marín
 70' C. Reyes
 112' A. Magaña
Referee: Pedro Navarro
 Apertura 2018 Champions 
Herediano
27th title

Clausura

Regular season

The regular season began on 12 January 2019 and will end of 28 April 2019.

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 San Carlos 22 11 6 5 36 20 +16 39 Advance to Playoffs and (if necessary) Grand final
2 Saprissa 22 11 5 6 41 27 +14 38 Advance to Playoffs
3 Pérez Zeledón 22 9 10 3 35 27 +8 37
4 Herediano 22 9 7 6 31 24 +7 34
5 Cartaginés 22 9 7 6 34 28 +6 34
6 Alajuelense 22 8 8 6 33 27 +6 32
7 Grecia 22 8 7 7 32 32 0 31
8 UCR 22 8 7 7 35 38 −3 31
9 Santos de Guápiles 22 8 3 11 33 39 −6 27
10 Limón 22 7 5 10 22 32 −10 26
11 Guadalupe 22 4 6 12 20 37 −17 18
12 Carmelita 22 2 5 15 19 40 −21 11
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

Results
Home \ Away ALA CARM CART GRE GUA HER LIM PER SCA SNT SAP UCR
Alajuelense — 1–0 2–2 1–0 3–0 2–2 1–0 1–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 3–3
Carmelita 1–1 — 0–3 0–1 4–1 0–3 2–0 2–4 1–3 2–2 0–1 1–1
Cartaginés 2–4 2–1 — 1–1 2–3 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 2–2
Grecia 1–0 1–1 0–1 — 2–2 1–2 0–0 2–2 2–1 5–0 0–5 2–0
Guadalupe 0–3 1–1 0–3 1–2 — 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–0 0–2 1–4
Herediano 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–3 1–0 — 2–1 0–0 1–1 3–2 2–0 1–2
Limón 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 — 3–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–2
Pérez Zeledón 2–4 2–1 0–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 3–0 — 1–0 1–1 2–3 3–1
San Carlos 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–2 0–0 3–2 5–1 2–2 — 1–0 0–2 3–1
Santos de Guápiles 1–3 2–0 2–1 3–0 1–2 1–1 4–2 0–1 1–5 — 5–3 2–1
Saprissa 0–0 4–1 1–2 4–2 1–3 2–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 — 4–0
UCR 2–2 3–1 4–4 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–3 0–2 —
Source: Soccerway
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Playoffs
  Semifinals Finals
                         
1 San Carlos 0 4 4  
4 Herediano 2 1 3  
    1 San Carlos 1 0 1 (a)
  2 Saprissa 1 0 1
2 Saprissa 1 2 3
3 Pérez Zeledón 1 1 2  

Semifinals
First legs
Herediano2 – 0San Carlos
J. Marín  47'
J. Ortiz  59'
Referee: Pedro Navarro
Pérez Zeledón1 – 1Saprissa
L. Cazal  10'  45+2' C. Bolaños
Referee: Adrian Chinchilla
Second legs
San Carlos4 – 1Herediano
Á. Saborío  9'
R. Chirino  26'
L. Días  64' (o.g.)
P. Leal  84'		  24' J. Ortiz
Referee: Christian Rodríguez

San Carlos progress 4-3 on aggregate.

Saprissa2 – 1Pérez Zeledón
M. Torres  21'
M. Barrantes  75'		  24' J. Sánchez
Referee: Adrián Elizondo

Saprissa progress 3-2 on aggregate.

Finals
First leg
Saprissa1 – 1San Carlos
R. Castillo  64'  42' M. Mena
Referee: Adrian Chinchilla
Second leg
San Carlos0 – 0Saprissa
Referee: Christian Rodríguez

1-1 on aggregate. San Carlos wins 1-0 on away goals.

Grand final

If the regular season winners are unable to win the playoffs, a double-legged final will be played against the playoffs winner in order to determine the champions of the Clausura tournament. The team with the better accumulated record over the regular season and playoffs will host the second leg. For this tournament, San Carlos won both the regular season and playoffs, so they were declared champions without a grand final.

 Clausura 2019 Champions 
San Carlos
1st title

Aggregate table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Saprissa (Q) 44 25 11 8 86 44 +42 86 CONCACAF League preliminary round[lower-alpha 1]
2 Alajuelense 44 24 8 12 77 49 +28 80
3 San Carlos (Q) 44 22 11 11 74 49 +25 77 CONCACAF League round of 16[lower-alpha 2]
4 Pérez Zeledón 44 19 17 8 66 51 +15 74
5 Herediano (Q) 44 20 12 12 66 50 +16 72 CONCACAF League round of 16[lower-alpha 3]
6 Cartaginés 44 17 15 12 74 62 +12 66
7 Grecia 44 15 10 19 59 68 −9 55
8 Santos de Guápiles 44 15 7 22 59 68 −9 52
9 Limón 44 12 10 22 49 75 −26 46
10 UCR 44 10 11 23 58 90 −32 41
11 Guadalupe 44 10 11 23 45 77 −32 41
12 Carmelita (R) 44 8 11 25 50 80 −30 35 Relegated to Liga de Ascenso
Source: Soccerway 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
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. As non-champions with best aggregate record (CRC3)
  2. As Clausura champions (CRC1)
  3. As Apertura champions (CRC2)

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in the 2018–19 season. The following players:

  1. Have played at least one game for the respective club.
  2. Have not been capped for the Costa Rica national football team 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 is released and it's before the close of the season transfer window.

(player released during the Apertura season) (player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons) (player released during the Clausura season)

  • (CR Hoy -Spanish)
  • (Nacion - Spanish)
  • (Everardo herrera - Spanish)

References
  1. Molina, José Pablo (20 June 2017). "Últimos campeones abrirán en casa el certamen de Apertura 2017". www.unafut.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2017-06-25. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. Molina, José Pablo (20 June 2017). "El Campeón abre en Guadalupe | El Guardián.cr". El Guardián (Costa Rica) (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  3. https://us.as.com/us/2018/12/02/futbol/1543789505_763441.html
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