2019–20 Premier League of Belize

The 2019–20 Premier League of Belize is the ninth season of the Premier League of Belize, the highest competitive football league in Belize, after it was founded in 2011. There are two seasons which are spread over two years, the opening (which will be played towards the end of 2019) and the closing (which will be played at the beginning of 2020).

Premier League of Belize
Season2019–20
Dates27 July 2019 – 11 March 2020
ChampionsOpening:
Verdes
Closing:
Season cancelled
CONCACAF LeagueVerdes
Matches played89
Goals scored296 (3.33 per match)
Top goalscorerOpening:
Mariano Landero (14)
Closing:
Georgie Welcome (8)
Biggest home winBelmopan Bandits 11-0 Placencia Assassins
(11 January 2020)
Biggest away winValley Pride Freedom Fighters 1-10 Verdes
(6 October 2019)
Highest scoringValley Pride Freedom Fighters 1-10 Verdes
(6 October 2019)
Belmopan Bandits 11-0 Placencia Assassins
(11 January 2020)
Longest winning run San Pedro Pirates (4)
Longest unbeaten runVerdes (15)
Longest winless runValley Pride Freedom Fighters (10)
Longest losing runValley Pride Freedom Fighters (7)
2020–21 →

Teams
Team City Stadium Manager Captain
Altitude Independence Michael Ashcroft Stadium Hilberto Muschamp Jose Urbina
Belize Defence Force Belize City MCC Grounds Jerome Serano Osmar Duran
Belmopan Bandits Belmopan Isidoro Beaton Stadium Leroy Sherrier Lewis Dalton Eiley
Placencia Assassins Placencia Placencia Football Field Robert Muschamp Ashley Torres
San Pedro Pirates San Pedro Ambergris Stadium Jorge Nunez Jesse Smith
Valley Pride Freedom Fighters[lower-alpha 1] Dangriga Carl Ramos Stadium Gerson Voss Jacinto Bermudez
Verdes San Ignacio Norman Broaster Stadium Cesar Martin Dall'Orso Woodrow West
Wagiya Dangriga Carl Ramos Stadium Francis Flores
  1. Valley Pride Freedom Fighters did not compete in the closing season.

Opening season

From the 2018–19 Premier League of Belize closing season, 7 teams continued to play in the opening season of 2019–20, with Placencia Assassins returning to the league to replace Police United. Freedom Fighters were also rebranded to Valley Pride Freedom Fighters and relocated to Dangriga from Punta Gorda.

There would be one league consisting of the 8 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The opening season commenced on 27 July 2019.[1]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Verdes 14 10 3 1 45 15 +30 33 Advance to Playoffs
2 Belmopan Bandits 14 8 4 2 35 13 +22 28
3 San Pedro Pirates 14 5 8 1 24 18 +6 23
4 Altitude 14 6 3 5 22 26 −4 21
5 Wagiya 14 5 4 5 22 16 +6 19
6 Belize Defence Force 14 5 4 5 21 21 0 19
7 Placencia Assassins 14 1 3 10 15 36 −21 6
8 Valley Pride Freedom Fighters 14 1 1 12 14 53 −39 4
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away ALT BDF BEL PLA SPE VAL VER WAG
Altitude 2–0 2–2 3–1 0–0 4–2 0–1 1–0
Belize Defence Force 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–3 3–1 3–3 2–1
Belmopan Bandits 3–1 2–0 6–0 0–0 6–2 1–4 3–1
Placencia Assassins 2–3 0–1 0–1 2–3 3–1 2–3 1–4
San Pedro Pirates 1–1 3–3 0–2 0–0 3–0 2–1 2–2
Valley Pride Freedom Fighters 2–4 0–4 0–7 3–2 1–2 1–10 0–1
Verdes 5–1 2–1 0–0 7–1 3–3 3–0 2–0
Wagiya 6–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 0–1
Source: Soccerway
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs
  Semifinals Finals
                         
1 Verdes 1 5 6  
4 Altitude 1 3 4  
    1 Verdes 1 2 3
  2 Belmopan Bandits 1 0 1
2 Belmopan Bandits (a) 2 0 2
3 San Pedro Pirates 1 1 2  

Semifinals

Game One[2]

23 November 2019 Altitude1 – 1VerdesMichael Ashcroft Stadium, Independence
19:30 Andres Orozco  6' Everal Trapp  90+3'
23 November 2019 San Pedro Pirates1 – 2Belmopan BanditsAmbergris Stadium, San Pedro
19:30 Jesse Smith  84' Roberto Silva de Lima  20'
Nahjib Guerra  58'

Game Two[3]

30 November 2019 Belmopan Bandits0 – 1
(2 – 2 (a) agg.)		San Pedro PiratesIsidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
20:00 Mailson Moura  83'
1 December 2019 Verdes5 – 3
(6 – 4 agg.)		AltitudeNorman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio
16:00 Elroy Smith  10' (pen.)
Krisean Lopez  19', 77'
Trimayne Harris  47', 83'		 Andres Orozco  4'
Everal Trapp  31' (o.g.)
Elroy Coe  40+5'

Finals

Game One[4]

8 December 2019 Belmopan Bandits1 – 1VerdesIsidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
19:00 Daniel Jimenez  45+1' Krisean Lopez  35' Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador)

Game Two[5]

15 December 2019 Verdes2 – 0
(3 – 1 agg.)		Belmopan BanditsNorman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio
15:30 Jeromy James  6'
Elroy Smith  89' (pen.)		 Referee: Bryan Lopez Castellanos (Guatemala)

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Team Goals*
1 Mariano Landero Verdes 14
2 Andres Orozco Altitude 11
3 Krisean Lopez Verdes 9
4 Roberto Silva de Lima Belmopan Bandits 8
5 Facundo Garnier San Pedro Pirates 7
Edwin Villeda Verdes
7 Jesse August Belize Defence Force 6
8 Carlos Lino Valley Pride Freedom Fighters 5
Trimayne Harris Verdes
Henry Vivas San Pedro Pirates
Georgie Welcome Belmopan Bandits
12 Anderson Cordoba San Pedro Pirates 4
Miguel Garcia Altitude
Jaren Lambey Belize Defence Force
Camilo Sanchez Belize Defence Force
Ashton Torres Placencia Assassins

* Includes playoff goals.

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Mariano LanderoVerdesAltitude5–1 (H)15 September 2019
Mariano LanderoVerdesBelize Defence Force3–3 (A)22 September 2019
Carlos GonzalezBelmopan BanditsValley Pride Freedom Fighters7–0 (A)10 November 2019

Awards

At an awards ceremony on 4 January 2020, the individual awards were announced.[6]

Award Recipient Team
Golden Boot Mariano Landero Verdes
MVP (Regular Season) Edwin Villeda Verdes
MVP (Playoff) Krisean Lopez Verdes
Best Young Player Jesse August Belize Defence Force
Best Midfielder Jordy Polanco Verdes
Best Defender Elroy Smith Verdes
Golden Glove Shane Orio Belmopan Bandits
Best Coach Cesar Martin Dall'Orso Verdes
Best Manager Lorin Frazer Verdes

Closing season

7 of the 8 teams that participated in the opening season will participate in the closing season, with Valley Pride Freedom Fighters not competing, as they were unable to meet their commitments.[7]

The format will be the same as the opening season with one league consisting of the 7 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The closing season commenced on 11 January 2020.[8]

On 18 April 2020 a virtual meeting was held by the Premier League of Belize, and it was unanimously agreed by club owners to cancel the remainder of the closing season due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The league also stated that the safety of players, officials, fans and stakeholders had to be taken into consideration. It was also agreed that Verdes would represent Belize at the 2020 CONCACAF League. According to the league, the decision to allow Verdes to represent Belize was based on the fact that the club had won the 2019–20 opening season, and was the aggregate point leader with a total of 51 points at the initial juncture, when the season was suspended.[9]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Verdes 8 5 3 0 14 4 +10 18 Advance to Playoffs
2 Belmopan Bandits 7 4 1 2 26 4 +22 13
3 San Pedro Pirates 8 3 3 2 13 11 +2 12
4 Altitude 8 2 5 1 8 7 +1 11
5 Placencia Assassins 8 2 2 4 7 19 −12 8
6 Wagiya 8 1 3 4 7 18 −11 6
7 Belize Defence Force 7 1 1 5 6 18 −12 4
Updated to match(es) played on 11 March 2020. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away ALT BDF BEL PLA SPE VER WAG
Altitude 1–1 – – 2–2 0–0 2–2
Belize Defence Force – 0–5 2–1 1–2 – –
Belmopan Bandits 0–1 – 11–0 – – 5–0
Placencia Assassins 0–1 3–0 0–3 – 1–1 –
San Pedro Pirates 1–1 – 3–2 1–2 – 2–0
Verdes 1–0 3–1 0–0 – 2–1 2–1
Wagiya – 3–1 – 0–0 1–1 0–5
Updated to match(es) played on 11 March 2020. Source: Soccerway
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Team Goals*
1 Georgie Welcome Belmopan Bandits 8
2 Facundo Garnier Belmopan Bandits 7
Jesse Smith San Pedro Pirates
4 Krisean Lopez Verdes 3

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Georgie WelcomeBelmopan BanditsPlacencia Assassins11–0 (H)11 January 2020
Facundo GarnierBelmopan BanditsWagiya5–0 (H)8 February 2020

References
  1. "PLB 2019-2020 Opening Season kicks off this weekend". Amandala. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  2. "Bandits Sport one step closer to Premier League finals". The Guardian. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  3. "PLB semifinals over; Bandits vs Verdes for Opening Season Championship". Amandala. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  4. "Bandits – Verdes, 1-1 in PLB Finals Game 1; Game 2 "for all the marbles" this weekend". Amandala. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. "Verdes FC are PLB 2019-2020 Opening Season Champions". Amandala. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  6. "Premier League of Belize 2019-2020 Opening Season Awardees". Amandala. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  7. "Tight contests in Week 2 of PLB 2019-2020 Closing Season". Amandala. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  8. "PLB on a stumbling start to 2019-2020 Closing Season". Amandala. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  9. "Belize's semi-pro basketball and football leagues cancelled due to COVID-19". San Pedro Sun. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
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