The Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association (English: Mexican Amateur Association Football League), later known as the Campeonato de Primera Fuerza (English: First Force Championship), was an amateur football league founded in Mexico in 1902 with five clubs: Orizaba AC, Pachuca AC, Reforma AC, Mexico Cricket Club and British Club. It was organized by the Asociación de Aficionados de México en la Liga de Football (English: Mexican Fan Association in the Football League) from 1902 to 1922. Orizaba won the league in its inaugural year. A total of 36 teams took part in this league from 1902 until 1943, when the league's professional era began.
| Founded | 1902 1922 (as Campeonato de Primera Fuerza) |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1943 (as Liga Mayor) |
| Country | Mexico |
| Number of teams | 36 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Copa Tower (1907-1922) Copa Eliminatoria (1920-1928) Copa México (1932-1942) |
| Most championships | Real España (11 titles) |
History
editPrior to the Liga MX (at that time called Liga Mayor), there was no national football league in Mexico and 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 considered the first "Mexican football league". 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 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 separation of the two leagues in the 1920-21 season specific; Liga Nacional included América, Real España, 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. Immediately after the founding of the first football federation, the clubs fought for two years to form a single competition in August 1922 that they called Campeonato de Primera Fuerza. That is, both tournaments were unified and the first direct antecedent of the current Liga MX was born. Serious this league, whose members prompted the creation of the first national team, which would dispute its first match in 1923.[2]
In 1930-31, the season was suspended after 2 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 refounded under the name Liga Mayor (English: Major League), 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 1938-39 season, Club 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]
In 1940-41, Selección Jalisco joined to Liga Mayor, 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, however that season they integrated indefinitely as a club of Liga Mayor.
Participating clubs
edit
| Club | Years of activity |
|---|---|
| América/Centro Unión1 | 1917-1943 |
| Asturias | 1919-1943 |
| Atlante | 1927-1943 |
| Atlas | 1921-22 |
| Aurrerá | 1923-1929 |
| British Club/British-Popo2 | 1902-1913 |
| Club Euzkadi3 | 1938-39 |
| Club Leonés | 1931-1933 |
| Club México | 1912-1918, 1919-1930, 1932-1934 |
| Club Morelos | 1920-1922 |
| Deportivo Español | 1915-1917, 1918-1920 |
| Deportivo Internacional | 1920-21 |
| España Veracruz4 | 1918-1920 |
| Germania | 1915-1917, 1918-1933 |
| Guadalajara | 1921-22 |
| Iberia de Córdoba | 1921-22 |
| L'Amicale Française | 1914-15, 1921-22 |
| Luz y Fuerza5 | 1921-1923 |
| Guerra y Marina/Son-Sin6 | 1922-1924 |
| Marte | 1928-1932, 1937-1943 |
| Mexico Cricket Club/San Pedro GC/Mexico Country Club7 | 1902-1908 |
| México FC | 1907-08 |
| Moctezuma | 1940-1943 |
| Necaxa | 1923-1943 |
| Orizaba/ADO8 | 1902-1904 |
| Pachuca9 | 1902-1920 |
| Popo Park | 1909-10 |
| Puebla AC10 | 1904-05, 1906-07 |
| España FC/Real España11 | 1912-1930, 1932-1943 |
| España FC "B" | 1915-1918 |
| Reforma | 1902-1915, 1921-22, 1923-24 |
| Rovers | 1912-1914 |
| Selección Jalisco | 1940-1943 |
| Junior Club/Tigres México12 | 1917-1920 |
| Tranvias5 | 1922-23 |
| Veracruz Sporting | 1921-22, 1931-1933 |
- Notes
- América changed its name to Centro Unión (1918-1920).
- British Club changed its name to British-Popo in the 1910-11 season.
- Club 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.
- Iberia de Veracruz joined the league in the 1918-19 season, and changed its name to España Veracruz.
- Luz y Fuerza and Tranvías were merged in 1923 and created Necaxa.
- Founded by the Marines in Mexico under the name Guerra y Marina, one year later changed its name to Son-Sin, a short name for the states of Sonora (Son) and Sinaloa (Sin).
- Mexico Cricket Club changed its name to San Pedro Golf Club in the 1904-05 season, and then changed its name to Mexico Country Club (1905-1907).
- Orizaba changed its name to Asociación Deportiva Orizabeña in 1916.
- The current 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.
- España FC changed its name to Real Club España in 1920.
- Junior Club changed its name to Tigres México in 1918.
Amateur era champions
edit- 1902-1922: Organized by the "Asociación de Aficionados de México en la Liga de Football".
- 1922-23: Organized by the "Federación de Foot-ball 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association | |||
| 1902-03 | Orizaba | Reforma |  Duncan Macomish
|
| 1903-04 | Mexico Cricket Club | Reforma |  Claude M. Butlin
|
| 1904-05 | Pachuca | British Club |  Charles Grenfell
|
| 1905-06 | Reforma | Mexico Country Club | Thomas R. Phillips
|
| 1906-07 | Reforma | British Club | Thomas R. Phillips
|
| 1907-08 | British Club | México FC | Percy Clifford
|
| 1908-09 | Reforma | Pachuca | Thomas R. Phillips
|
| 1909-10 | Reforma | Popo Park | Thomas R. Phillips
|
| 1910-11 | Reforma | Pachuca | Thomas R. Phillips
|
| 1911-12 | Reforma | Pachuca | Thomas R. Phillips
|
| 1912-13 | Club México | Pachuca |  Antonio Sierra
|
| 1913-14 | España FC | Rovers |  Francisco G. Ubierta
|
| 1914-15 | España FC | Pachuca | Francisco G. Ubierta
|
| 1915-16 | España FC | Pachuca | Francisco Arias
|
| 1916-17 | España FC | Pachuca | Francisco G. Ubierta
|
| 1917-18 | Pachuca | Deportivo Español | William Penguely
|
| 1918-19 | España FC | Centro Unión | Francisco Arias
|
| 1919-20 | Pachuca | Germania | Alfred C. Crowle
|
| 1920-21 | Unrecognized season and champions, due to the separation into Liga Mexicana and Liga Nacional
| ||
| 1921-22 | Unrecognized season and champions, due to the separation into Liga Mexicana and Liga Nacional
| ||
| Campeonato de Primera Fuerza | |||
| 1922-23 | Asturias | Germania | Gerald Brown
|
| 1923-24 | Real España | América | Francisco Arias
|
| 1924-25 | América | Necaxa |  Rafael Garza Gutiérrez
|
| 1925-26 | América | Asturias | Rafael Garza Gutiérrez
|
| 1926-27 | América | Real España | Percy Clifford
|
| 1927-28 | América | Asturias | Percy Clifford
|
| 1928-29 | Marte | Real España |  Servando Vargas
|
| 1929-30 | Real España | América |  Emérico Pozsonyi
|
| 1930-31 | The tournament was not held
| ||
| Liga Mayor | |||
| 1931-32 | Atlante | Necaxa |  Miguel Tovar Mariscal
|
| 1932-33 | Necaxa | Atlante |  Ernesto Pauler
|
| 1933-34 | Real España | Asturias | Jesza Poszony
|
| 1934-35 | Necaxa | América | Ernesto Pauler
|
| 1935-36 | Real España | América | Jesza Poszony
|
| 1936-37 | Necaxa | Atlante | Ernesto Pauler
|
| 1937-38 | Necaxa | Asturias | Ernesto Pauler
|
| 1938-39 | Asturias | Club Euzkadi | José Ramón Ballina
|
| 1939-40 | Real España | Necaxa | Ramón Torralba
|
| 1940-41 | Atlante | Selección Jalisco | Luis Grocz
|
| 1941-42 | Real España | Atlante | Nemesio Tamayo
|
| 1942-43 | Marte | Atlante |  José Gómez
|
Champions
edit| Club | Champions | Runners-up | Winning years |
|---|---|---|---|
| España FC/Real España | 11 | 2 | 1913-14, 1914-15, 1915-16, 1916-17, 1918-19, 1923-24, 1929-30, 1933-34, 1935-36, 1939-40, 1941-42 |
| Reforma | 6 | 2 | 1905-06, 1906-07, 1908-09, 1909-10, 1910-11, 1911-12 |
| América/Centro Unión | 4 | 5 | 1924-25, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1927-28 |
| Necaxa | 4 | 3 | 1932-33, 1934-35, 1936-37, 1937-38 |
| Pachuca | 3 | 7 | 1904-05, 1917-18, 1919-20 |
| Asturias | 2 | 4 | 1922-23, 1938-39 |
| Atlante | 2 | 4 | 1931-32, 1940-41 |
| Marte | 2 | 0 | 1928-29, 1942-43 |
| British Club | 1 | 2 | 1907-08 |
| Mexico Cricket Club/Country Club | 1 | 1 | 1903-04 |
| Orizaba | 1 | 0 | 1902-03 |
| Club México | 1 | 0 | 1912-13 |
| Germania | 0 | 2 | – |
| México FC | 0 | 1 | – |
| Popo Park | 0 | 1 | – |
| Rovers | 0 | 1 | – |
| Deportivo Español | 0 | 1 | – |
| Club Euzkadi | 0 | 1 | – |
| Selección Jalisco | 0 | 1 | – |
