Campeonato de Primera Fuerza (English: First Force Championship), later known as Liga Mayor (English: Major League), was an amateur football league founded by the first football governing body formed in Mexico after the merger of the Liga Mexicana and Liga Nacional, it was called Federación Mexicana de Football Asociación (English: Mexican Association Football Federation). Asturias FC won the inaugural season and CD Marte were the last champions. It had the total participation of 18 teams, of which only 2 teams played their matches outside of Mexico City. The league was held from 1922 to 1943, when the first true national and professional league was started.
| Founded | 1922 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1943 |
| Country | Mexico |
| Number of clubs | 18 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Copa México (1932–1942) |
| Most championships | RC España (6 titles) |
History
editPrior to the Liga MX (at that time called Liga Mayor), there was no true national football league in Mexico and all football competitions were held within relatively small geographical regions. The winners of the Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association, a local league consisting of teams in and around Mexico City, was the first amateur football league played in Mexico from 1902 to 1922. There were other regional leagues such as the Liga Amateur de Veracruz, Liga Occidental De Jalisco and Liga del Bajío that also had notable clubs. Many club owners were not keen on the idea of establishing a professional league, despite paying players under the table. With the increasing demand for football, there was a sense of urgency to unite all the local amateur leagues in Mexico to progress as a football nation. The first professional national league was finally established in 1943.[1]
The people who pushed football in Mexico were Percy C. Clifford and Robert J. Blackmoore. This brought the rules of play and the first regulatory balls. English Alfred Crowle, who played for Pachuca since 1908, also had considerable influence on the sport. In 1910, Club México is founded, the first team formed by Alfredo B. Cuellar headed Mexican, Jorge Alberto Gomez de Parada and Sierra, then promoted by other foreign colonies: L'Amicale Française in 1911, Rovers FC and Real Club España in 1912, Centro Deportivo Español in 1914, Germania FV in 1915, Catalonia in 1917, Asturias FC in 1918, and CF Aurrerá in 1919.
Club América (at that time called Centro Unión), founded on the union of two Marist College in 1916, was the first important team composed of Mexicans in the capital city and achieved to win four consecutive championships between 1924 and 1928. In 1918, Sinaloa was founded and changed several times its name, first to Lusitania in 1919, then to U-53 in 1920, then to Atlántico in 1921 but due to the colloquial use of that word it was derived to Atlante, whose components were proletarian extraction; their leaders were the Trinidad and Refugio Martinez brothers. While between 1918 and 1920 the teams Cuenta y Administración, Guerra y Marina y Son-Sin resulted in the Club Esparta, which was then rebranded as CD Marte, brilliant team that never became popular, and even in the professional era and would move to Cuernavaca.
Regularly attended clubs outside the Mexico City as Pachuca AC, Puebla AC, Veracruz SC, Iberia de Córdoba, Moctezuma de Orizaba, Orizaba AC, Tigres México, España Veracruz, these being the most successful of them, Pachuca was crowned in seasons 1904–05, 1917–18 and 1919–20. In 1920 there was a split in the Mexican amateur league, shortly before the start of the season. Real España and España Veracruz in solidarity with the expulsion of Tigres México, withdrew from the league and founded its own league called the Liga Nacional. As this idea went nowhere, Orizaba scheduled a series of friendly matches to remain active, with so many rivals like España Veracruz who was defeated 9–0 on 20 October 1919, or their wins 4–0 and 2–0 against Tigres México, 2–0 on the Río Blanco and the achievements of Copa Alfonso XIII in a three-game series against Reforma and the Copa Elche in two games against Asturias. The power and influence of the Hispanic teams was such that the press of the time chose to cover their sports facilities to those meetings. Spain interference on means, suitable to be published little news about the Liga Mexicana.
The 1920–21 season was played separately with the creation of the Liga Nacional founded by Real Club España and later joined América, Luz y Fuerza, L'Amicale Française and Reforma. Meanwhile, the Liga Mexicana had the participation of Asturias, Deportivo Internacional, Club México, Club Morelos and Germania. Only two seasons were played before both leagues merged to form the first Mexican football federation.
The first football federation was founded in Mexico on August 1922, it was called Federación Mexicana de Football Asociación. They immediately organized to create the Campeonato de Primera Fuerza on August 28, 1922. It was considered the first direct antecedent of the current Liga MX. The members of the new league promoted the creation of the first national team, which would dispute its first match in 1923.[2]
The 1930–31 season was suspended after two days, when Asturias, Atlante, Germania, Club Mexico and Marte requested permission to remodel Campo Asturias (not to be confused with the Parque Asturias, built until 1936) which was in poor condition, to make their home games there; to the disagreement of Real España, Necaxa (both who owned their own parks) and América. This coupled with the conflict arose with the Real Federación Española de Fútbol, which had asked the FMF to disable Gaspar Rubio who had signed for Real España. It got to the point of suspension of the three clubs who unsuccessfully tried to make a parallel tournament and the Federation decided to suspend the season to definitively resolve administrative problems. After months of conflict, smoothed asperities and the competition were renamed as Liga Mayor, to organize two competitions: the Campeonato Preferente consisted of six teams, and the Primera Ordinaria, that served as a promotion division. This competition had durability and grew to cluster up to 16 teams.
Club Necaxa, founded by members of Compañía de Luz y Fuerza del Centro, was an unforgettable dynasty in the decade 1930–40 known as the "11 brothers"; the first team to win promotion, won four league titles and the Copa México twice, becoming the first "Campeonísimo" in Mexico. Among the ranks of the "11 brothers" also arises a top Mexican football legends: Horacio Casarín.
In the 1931–32 season, Veracruz SC were invited and also played the following season, although all their matches were played in Mexico City. In the 1938–39 season, CD Euzkadi was included when it was formed because the Basque Country national football team was refused permission by FIFA to play with affiliated teams. In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the first Basque President José Antonio Aguirre, had decided to send a Basque football club abroad in order to raise funds for the civil war that was taking place in Spain. When their homeland was captured by their enemies the players dared not return home. The Basques, under the name Club Deportivo Euzkadi, were allowed into the league and developed a fierce rivalry with traditional all Hispanic teams (Real España and Asturias) and despite winning 13 of the 17 games played, they came out of the tournament as runners-up to Asturias. At the end of the season, the team disbanded and the players became part of the Liga Mayor teams or other leagues.[3]
The 1940–41 season was the first with matches played outside of Mexico City, after Selección Jalisco and Moctezuma de Orizaba joined the league. Selección Jalisco formed by elements of Guadalajara, Atlas, Nacional, y Oro. This team had played a series of friendly matches between 1926 and 1930 as part of promotional tours by Liga Occidental de Jalisco.
Precursor amateur leagues
editLiga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association
edit
The Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association was the first amateur football league created in Mexico by football fans and company workers on July 19, 1902. It was completely amateur level since it was played only by football fans and foreign immigrant workers, and also the organizing body was an association of football fans called Asociación de Aficionados de México en la Liga de Football (English: The Mexico Amateur Association in the Football League). It had the total participation of 22 teams between 1902 and 1922, although mostly from Mexico City. The founding clubs were Orizaba AC, Pachuca AC, Reforma AC, Mexico Cricket Club and British Club.
| Club | Years participating |
|---|---|
| América/Centro Unión1 | 1917–1920 |
| Asturias FC | 1919–1922 |
| British Club/British FC/British-Popo2 | 1902–1913 |
| Club México | 1912–1918, 1919–1922 |
| Club Morelos | 1920–21 |
| Deportivo Español | 1915–1917, 1918–1920 |
| Deportivo Internacional | 1920–21 |
| España Veracruz3 | 1918–1920 |
| Germania FV | 1915–1917, 1918–1922 |
| Iberia de Córdoba | 1921–22 |
| L'Amicale Française | 1914–15 |
| Mexico Cricket Club/San Pedro GC/Mexico Country Club4 | 1902–1908 |
| México FC | 1907–08 |
| Orizaba AC | 1902–1904 |
| Pachuca AC5 | 1902–1920 |
| Popo Park FC | 1909–10 |
| Puebla AC6 | 1904–05, 1906–07 |
| España FC | 1912–1920 |
| España FC "B" | 1915–1918 |
| Reforma AC | 1902–1915 |
| Rovers FC | 1912–1914 |
| Junior Club/Tigres México7 | 1917–1920 |
- Notes
- América changed its name to Centro Unión (1918–1920), between 1920 to 1922 participated in the Liga Nacional.
- British Club changed its name to British FC (1909–10 and 1911–12 seasons) and then British-Popo (1910-11 season).
- Iberia de Veracruz joined the league in the 1918–19 season, and changed its name to España Veracruz.
- Mexico Cricket Club changed its name to San Pedro Golf Club (1904–05 season) and then Mexico Country Club (1905–1907).
- The current CF Pachuca founded in 1892 as Pachuca Football Club and changed its name to Pachuca Athletic Club in 1895.
- Founded in 1892 as Puebla Football Club and changed its name to Puebla AC in 1894. It has no relation with Club Puebla, which was founded in 1944.
- Junior Club changed its name to Tigres México in 1918.
| Club | Champions | Runners-up | Winning seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reforma AC | 6 | 2 | 1905–06, 1906–07, 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1911–12 |
| España FC | 5 | 0 | 1913–14, 1914–15, 1915–16, 1916–17, 1918–19 |
| Pachuca AC | 3 | 7 | 1904–05, 1917–18, 1919–20 |
| British Club | 1 | 2 | 1907–08 |
| Mexico Cricket Club/Country Club | 1 | 1 | 1903–04 |
| Asturias FC | 1 | 1 | 1920–21 |
| Germania FV | 1 | 1 | 1921–22 |
| Orizaba AC | 1 | 0 | 1902–03 |
| Club México | 1 | 0 | 1912–13 |
| México FC | 0 | 1 | – |
| Popo Park FC | 0 | 1 | – |
| Rovers FC | 0 | 1 | – |
| Deportivo Español | 0 | 1 | – |
| América/Centro Unión | 0 | 1 | – |
| Deportivo Internacional | 0 | 1 | – |
Liga Nacional
editThe Liga Nacional was created by Real Club España in 1920, after its withdrawal from the Liga Mexicana. Only two seasons were played prior to the merger of the leagues, the first season had 5 participating teams (Real España, América, Reforma, Luz y Fuerza and L'Amicale Française), and the second season only two teams played a playoff match to define the title (Real España and América).
| Season | Champions | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1920–21 | RC España | América |
| 1921–22 | RC España | América |
| Club | Champions | Runners-up | Winning seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| RC España | 2 | 0 | 1920–21, 1921–22 |
| América | 0 | 2 | – |
Participating clubs
edit| Club | Years participating |
|---|---|
| América | 1922–1943 |
| Asturias FC | 1922–1943 |
| Atlante | 1927–1943 |
| CF Aurrerá | 1923–1929 |
| CD Euzkadi1 | 1938–39 |
| Club Leonés | 1931–1933 |
| Club México | 1922–1930, 1932–1934 |
| Germania FV | 1922–1933 |
| Luz y Fuerza2 | 1922–23 |
| Guerra y Marina/Son-Sin3 | 1922–1924 |
| CD Marte | 1928–1932, 1937–1943 |
| Moctezuma de Orizaba | 1940–1943 |
| Necaxa | 1923–1943 |
| RC España | 1922–1930, 1932–1943 |
| Reforma AC | 1923–24 |
| Selección Jalisco | 1940–1943 |
| Tranvías2 | 1922–23 |
| Veracruz SC | 1931–1933 |
- Notes
- CD Euzkadi was formed due to the FIFA's ban on the Basque Country national football team from playing with affiliated teams after the Spanish Civil War.
- Luz y Fuerza and Tranvías were merged in 1923 and created Necaxa.
- Founded by the Marines in Mexico under the name Guerra y Marina and the following season changed its name to Son-Sin.
Results
edit- 1922–23: Organized by the Federación Mexicana de Football Asociación.
- 1923–1927: Organized by the Federación Central de Fútbol.
- 1927–1943: Organized by the current Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF).
| Season | Champions | Runners-up | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campeonato de Primera Fuerza | |||
| 1922–23 | Asturias FC | Germania FV |  Gerald Brown
|
| 1923–24 | RC España | América |  Francisco Arias
|
| 1924–25 | América | Necaxa |  Rafael Garza Gutiérrez
|
| 1925–26 | América | Asturias FC | Rafael Garza Gutiérrez
|
| 1926–27 | América | RC España |  Percy Clifford
|
| 1927–28 | América | Asturias FC | Percy Clifford
|
| 1928–29 | CD Marte | RC España |  Servando Vargas
|
| 1929–30 | RC España | América |  Emérico Pozsonyi
|
| 1930–31 | The season was suspended
| ||
| Liga Mayor | |||
| 1931–32 | Atlante | Necaxa |  Miguel Tovar Mariscal
|
| 1932–33 | Necaxa | Atlante |  Ernesto Pauler
|
| 1933–34 | RC España | Asturias FC | Jesza Poszony
|
| 1934–35 | Necaxa | América | Ernesto Pauler
|
| 1935–36 | RC España | América | Jesza Poszony
|
| 1936–37 | Necaxa | Atlante | Ernesto Pauler
|
| 1937–38 | Necaxa | Asturias FC | Ernesto Pauler
|
| 1938–39 | Asturias FC | CD Euzkadi | José Ramón Ballina
|
| 1939–40 | RC España | Necaxa | Ramón Torralba
|
| 1940–41 | Atlante | Selección Jalisco | Luis Grocz
|
| 1941–42 | RC España | Atlante | Nemesio Tamayo
|
| 1942–43 | CD Marte | Atlante |  José Gómez
|
Champions
edit| Club | Champions | Runners-up | Winning seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| RC España | 6 | 2 | 1923–24, 1929–30, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1939–40, 1941–42 |
| América | 4 | 4 | 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28 |
| Necaxa | 4 | 3 | 1932–33, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38 |
| Asturias FC | 2 | 4 | 1922–23, 1938–39 |
| Atlante | 2 | 4 | 1931–32, 1940–41 |
| CD Marte | 2 | 0 | 1928–29, 1942–43 |
| Germania FV | 0 | 1 | – |
| CD Euzkadi | 0 | 1 | – |
| Selección Jalisco | 0 | 1 | – |
