League Premier
The Segunda División (Mexico) was the second highest division in Mexican club football between 1950/51 and 1993/94. Since the introduction of the Primera División "A" in the 1994/95 season, it is - despite its name, which continued until 2015 - only the third highest division in the country. Before the start of the 2015/16 season, it was renamed Liga Premier .
Division of the league until 2007/08
Up to the 2007/08 season it consisted of five seasons, which were divided according to regional criteria:
- The Zona Sur comprised southeastern Mexico, which stretched from the eastern regions of the state of Puebla via Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Chiapas to the Yucatán Peninsula.
- The Zona Central contained the heart of the country: the capital district and the immediately adjacent areas in the states of México, Morelos, Puebla and Hidalgo.
- The associations of these states (with the exception of Puebla) located further from the capital district were found in the Zona Bajío together with the associations from the states of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Querétaro, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas . The clubs from the eastern regions of Jalisco and Michoacán also belonged to their catchment area.
- The Zona Occidente comprised the western coastal states (Jalisco, Michoacán, Colima, Nayarit, Sonora and Sinaloa) and the Baja California peninsula.
- The Zona Norte included the associations based in the northern states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
Current division of the league
Since the 2008/09 season, the league consists of six seasons, three of which belong to the Liga Premier de Ascenso and the other three to the Liga de Nuevos Talentos . The first-mentioned league corresponds to a normal third division with the possibility of promotion to the second-class Primera División “A”, while the second-mentioned league is a pure junior league without promotion. Both leagues, which are located within the Segunda División and should therefore rather be referred to as branches , are subdivided according to regional aspects and each contain a season that covers the north, the center and the south. In order to distinguish the leagues or branches from one another, the squadrons of the Liga Premier de Ascenso are named Norte (north), Central (central) and Sur (south), while the squadrons of the Liga de Nuevos Talentos are named Noroeste (northwest) Bajío (lowlands) and Sureste (southwest).
The creation of the Segunda División
With the introduction of professional football in 1943, the expansion of football in Mexico made unstoppable progress. The stadiums were often sold out and new teams were being formed in many parts of the country where football had previously been a shadowy existence. Some of these new teams wanted to be accepted into the Primera División. But their capacities were limited due to the schedule alone. To make matters worse, at the expense of many clubs from the province, the fact that neither their teams nor their stadiums were suitable for the first division. In order to solve this contradiction - to integrate the new teams into the game operations and at the same time not to overwhelm them - a commission was formed on September 2, 1947, which was to work out the criteria for the creation of a second division. In the end, only those clubs were eligible that had a spectator capacity of at least 3,000 and had at least 300 members.
The founding members
On December 26, 1950, the Segunda División began playing with the following teams: Zacatepec (at the end of the opening season first champion and thus first athletic climber in the first division) and - according to the order in the final table - Zamora , Pachuca , Irapuato , Morelia , Toluca and Querétaro .
The second division champions of the Segunda División
In the period between 1950/51 and 1993/94 the Segunda División was not only named after the second division, but its respective winner was actually entitled to promotion to the first-class Primera División . The following teams won the second division championship of the old Segunda División:
- 1950/51 Zacatepec
- 1951/52 La Piedad
- 1952/53 Toluca
- 1953/54 Irapuato
- 1954/55 Atlas
- 1955/56 Monterrey
- 1956/57 Zamora
- 1957/58 Celaya FC
- 1958/59 Tampico
- 1959/60 Monterrey
- 1960/61 Nacional
- 1961/62 UNAM Pumas
- 1962/63 Zacatepec
- 1963/64 Cruz Azul
- 1964/65 Ciudad Madero
- 1965/66 Jabatos Nuevo León
- 1966/67 Pachuca
- 1967/68 CF Laguna
- 1968/69 Torreón
- 1969/70 Zacatepec
- 1970/71 San Luis
- 1971/72 Atlas
- 1972/73 Ciudad Madero
- 1973/74 UANL Tigres
- 1974/75 UAG Tecos
- 1975/76 San Luis
- 1976/77 Atlante
- 1977/78 Zacatepec
- 1978/79 Atlas
- 1979/80 Atletas Campesinos
- 1980/81 Atlético Morelia
- 1981/82 Oaxtepec
- 1982/83 Unión de Curtidores
- 1983/84 Zacatepec 1
- 1984/85 Irapuato
- 1985/86 Cobras Querétaro
- 1986/87 UAT Correcaminos
- 1987/88 Cobras Ciudad Juárez
- 1988/89 Potros Neza 2
- 1989/90 León
- 1990/91 atlante
- 1991/92 Pachuca
- 1992/93 UT de Neza
- 1993/94 Tampico-Madero
1 With a total of five titles in the seasons 1951, 1963, 1970, 1978 and 1984, the CD Zacatepec is the record champion of the old, second-rate Segunda Division.
2 Potros Neza sold his license before the beginning of the next season to CD Veracruz , who took their place in the first division in 1989/90.
The third division champions of the Segunda División
Master 1994/95 to 1996/97
Since 1994/95 the Segunda División is only the third highest division in Mexican club football. The following clubs have since become third division champions:
- 1994/95 Cruz Azul Hidalgo (branch team of the CD Cruz Azul )
- 1995/96 Tigrillos de la UANL ( UANL Tigres branch team )
- 1996/97 Bachilleres UdeG
Champion 1997/98 to 2001/02
Since the 1997/98 season there have been two champions per year (per half season):
- Winter 1997: Potros Zitácuaro
- Summer 1998: Gallos de Aguascalientes
- Winter 1998: Alacranes de Durango
- Summer 1999: Alacranes de Durango
- Winter 1999: CF Cuautitlán
- Summer 2000: Marte Morelos FC
- Winter 2000: Águilas de Tamaulipas
- Summer 2001: Potros Zitácuaro
- Winter 2001: Deportivo Cihuatlán
- Summer 2002: Astros de Ciudad Juárez
Champion 2002/03 to 2007/08
Since the 2002/03 season, the league has been divided into teams that are generally eligible for promotion and those that serve as pure talent sheds for higher-class teams and are not eligible for promotion. There are separate championships for the different teams.
Note: the link provided with the teams leads to the respective main club.
| season | Champion of the promotion league | Master of the branch teams |
|---|---|---|
| Apertura 2002 | Deportivo Tepic | Pachuca "B" |
| Clausura 2003 | Delfines de Coatzacoalcos | Necaxa "B" |
| Apertura 2003 | Lobos BUAP | CD Guadalajara "B" |
| Clausura 2004 | Pachuca Juniors | Santos Laguna "B" |
| Apertura 2004 | Académicos | CD Guadalajara "B" |
| Clausura 2005 | Académicos | CD Guadalajara "B" |
| Apertura 2005 | Delfines de Coatzacoalcos "B" | Atlas "B" |
| Clausura 2006 | Pegaso Anahuac | Santos Laguna "B" |
| Apertura 2006 | Pachuca Juniors | Chivas San Rafael |
| Clausura 2007 | Cruz Azul Jasso | America Coapa |
| Apertura 2007 | Pachuca Juniors | Monarca's Morelia "C" |
| Clausura 2008 | Universidad del Fútbol | CD Guadalajara "B" |
Master since 2008/09
Since the 2008/09 season, the Segunda División has been subdivided into the Liga Premier de Ascenso and the Liga de Ascenso de Nuevos Talentos, of which the latter was again played in two different liguillas in the 2008/09 season: the Liguilla de Ascenso and the Liguilla de Filiales. The one-time Liguilla de Filiales - and not mentioned separately in the following overview - was won by the reserve teams of the two large teams from Guadalajara : the Apertura 2008 from Atlas and the Clausura 2009 from Chivas.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. u. a. Overview of Mexican champions at RSSSF (English)
- ^ Carlos Calderón Cardoso: Por amor a la camiseta. Editorial Clio, Mexico 1998, ISBN 970-663-023-6 , p. 80 f.
- ^ Mexico - List of Final Tables Second Division (1950–1995) at RSSSF