Ascenso MX

This article is about the Mexican Second tier football division. For the Costa Rican Second tier football division, see Segunda División de Costa Rica.

Ascenso MX

Founded	1994;30 years ago (1994)
Folded	2020;4 years ago (2020)
Country	Mexico
Confederation	CONCACAF
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	Liga MX
Relegation to	Liga Premier Serie A
Domestic cup(s)	Copa MX SuperCopa MX
Last champions	Alebrijes de Oaxaca (2nd title) (Apertura 2019)
Most championships	León Irapuato Necaxa Sinaloa (4 titles)
Website	ascensomx.net
Current: 2019–20 Ascenso MX season

Ascenso MX was the second tier of professional football in Mexico of the Mexican football league system. ^[1] The champion of the competition was promoted to Liga MX (top-flight tier). The bottom team was relegated to Liga Premier (the third tier). It was sponsored by BBVA through its Mexican subsidiary BBVA, and was officially known as Ascenso BBVA MX.

Formerly known as Primera División A (First Division A) the league rebranded in 2009 its name and competition format to Liga de Ascenso. It was rebranded in 2012 as Ascenso MX. The major changes: clubs do not need a FMF certification to be promoted and that the competition no longer used group stages.

Ascenso MX was replaced by Liga de Expansión MX on April 17, 2020.

History

In 1994, to create a premier league, the Mexican Football Federation upgraded the Second Division to "Primera División A" (First Division A) to bring closer the level of play in the two tiers, Primera and Primera A. The project was under the direction of José Antonio García Rodríguez, then president of the then top-tier Primera Division. He envisioned the new division to be joined by the best teams of the Segunda and include teams from the United States (Los Angeles Salsa and San Jose Black Hawks expressed a desire to join). FIFA declined the integration but established a new league with the best Segunda División sides. The inaugural 1994-95 season began with 15 teams: Acapulco, Atlético Celaya, Atlético San Francisco, Atlético Yucatán, Caimanes de Tabasco, Coras de Tepic, Gallos de Aguascalientes, Halcones de Querétaro, Inter Tijuana, Irapuato, Reboceros de La Piedad, Marte, Pachuca, San Luis, and Zacatepec. Cobras de Ciudad Juárez declined to participate due to financial problems.

In 2006, the number of teams increased from 20 to 24, and geographically separated into two groups for preliminary competition (A and B).

In 2009, the major changes were: the name change from Primera División to Liga de Ascenso. The league was reduced to 17 teams and the groups were eliminated. Apertura 2010 had 18 teams participating. In 2012 the league was rebranded as Ascenso MX. ^[2] In 2013 Alebrijes de Oaxaca was the 16th team of Ascenso MX. Alebrijes was partly formed by consolidating Segunda División side Tecamachalco which had won promotion to Ascenso MX in 2012, but did not fulfill infrastructural requirements set by the Mexican Football Federation. In August 2013, Club Zacatepec was promoted to Ascenso MX in place of relegated Pumas Morelos. ^[3]

In Ascenso MX editions 2011–2016, no team was relegated to Segunda División de México Liga Premier de Ascenso. On June 6, 2016, returned to relegation to the Segunda División de México Liga Premier de Ascenso for the 2016–17 season. Loros UdeC and Murciélagos F.C. were relegated in the next two seasons. In 2018–19 season, Tampico Madero F.C. finished last in the relegation table, but remained in Ascenso MX after paying a bail. ^[4]

2020 abolition

On April 13, Liga MX and Ascenso MX President Enrique Bonilla announced the termination of the remainder of the Clausura 2020 season. Two reasons were the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic and the league's lack of financial resources. Its U17 and U20 youth systems and the Liga MX Femenil are also at risk. ^[5]

Clubs

The 2019–20 season had 14 clubs competing. ^[6] However, the Clausura 2020 tournament had only 12 teams competing after the dissolution of Potros UAEM and Loros UdeC.

Atlante

Celaya

Oaxaca

Sinaloa

Sonora

Tampico Madero

Chiapas

UdeG

UAT

Venados

Zacatecas

Zacatepec

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Location of teams in the 2019–20 Ascenso MX

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity
Atlante	Cancún, Quintana Roo	Andrés Quintana Roo	17,289
Celaya	Celaya, Guanajuato	Miguel Alemán Valdés	23,182
Chiapas	Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas	Víctor Manuel Reyna	29,001
Oaxaca	Oaxaca City, Oaxaca	Tecnológico de Oaxaca	14,598
Sinaloa	Culiacán, Sinaloa	Banorte	20,108
Sonora	Hermosillo, Sonora	Héroe de Nacozari	18,747
Tampico Madero	Tampico / Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas	Tamaulipas	19,667
UAT	Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas	Marte R. Gómez	10,520
UdeG	Guadalajara, Jalisco	Jalisco	55,020
Venados	Mérida, Yucatán	Carlos Iturralde	15,087
Zacatecas	Zacatecas City, Zacatecas	Carlos Vega Villalba	20,068
Zacatepec	Zacatepec, Morelos	Agustín "Coruco" Díaz	24,313

Champions

Club	Winners	Runner-Up	Winning Seasons
Sinaloa	4	6	Apertura 2003, Clausura 2007, Clausura 2015, Apertura 2016
León †	4	3	Verano 2003, Clausura 2004, Clausura 2008, Clausura 2012
Necaxa †	4	2	Apertura 2009, Clausura 2010, Apertura 2014, Clausura 2016
Irapuato ††	4	2	Invierno 1999, Verano 2000, Apertura 2002, Clausura 2011
Querétaro †	3	0	Clausura 2005, Clausura 2006, Apertura 2008
La Piedad ††	2	3	Verano 2001, Apertura 2012
Atlético San Luis †	2	1	Apertura 2018, Clausura 2019
Pachuca †	2	1	1995-96, Invierno 1997
San Luis ††††	2	1	Verano 2002, Apertura 2004
Puebla †	2	0	Apertura 2005, Apertura 2006
UANL †	2	0	Invierno 1996, Verano 1997
Oaxaca	2	0	Apertura 2017, Apertura 2019
Tijuana †	1	2	Apertura 2010
UAT	1	2	Apertura 2011
Juárez	1	2	Apertura 2015
Veracruz ††††	1	1	Invierno 2001
Toros Neza ††††	1	1	Clausura 2013
Indios ††††	1	1	Apertura 2007
Tigrillos UANL ††††	1	1	Verano 1998
BUAP †	1	1	Clausura 2017
UdeG	1	1	Apertura 2013
Venados	1	0	Clausura 2009
Tecos ††	1	0	Clausura 2013
Gallos Hidrocálidos de Aguascalientes ††††	1	0	Invierno 2000
Unión de Curtidores ††††	1	0	Verano 1999
Yucatán ††††	1	0	Invierno 1998
Atlético Celaya ††††	1	0	1994-1995
Tapachula	1	0	Clausura 2018
Cruz Azul Hidalgo ††	0	3
Zacatepec	0	3
Atlante	0	2
Tepic ††	0	1
Salamanca †††	0	1
Atlético Hidalgo ††††	0	1
Atlético Mexiquense ††††	0	1
Chivas Tijuana ††††	0	1
Cobras ††††	0	1
Gallos Blancos de Hermosillo ††††	0	1
Real Sociedad de Zacatecas ††††	0	1
Tapatío ††††	0	1

† Teams currently in the Liga MX
†† Teams currently in the Liga Premier
††† Teams currently in the Amateur Levels
†††† Defunct teams

Sponsorship

BBVA México was named the league's official sponsor in 2015. From 2019, the bank was rebranded as BBVA and the league was renamed

BBVA México was the league's sponsor, and used the brand name Ascenso BBVA MX. The official match ball is manufactured by Voit.

Promotion and relegation

Relegation and Promotion by Club Club Promotions Relegations Zacatepec 5 (1950–51, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1977–78, 1983–84) 1 (2013–14*) San Luis †††† 4 (1970–71, 1975–76, 2001–02, 2004–05) Querétaro † 4 (México 86, 1989–90, 2005–06, 2008–09) Pachuca † 4 (1966–67, 1991–92, 1995–96, 1997–98) Irapuato †† 4 (1953–54, 1984–85, 1999–2000*, 2002–03) 1 (2005–06) Atlas † 3 (1954–55, 1971–72, 1978–79) Puebla † 3 (1969–70, 1998–99, 2006–07) Unión de Curtidores †††† 3 (1973–74, 1982–83, 1998–99*) La Piedad †† 3 (1951–52, 2000–01, 2012–13*) Tampico Madero 3 (1958–59, 1964–65, 1972–73) Necaxa† 2 (2009–10, 2015–16) Sinaloa 2 (2003–04, 2014–15) UdeG 2 (1973–74, 2013–14) Veracruz † 2 (1963–64, 2001–02*) Zamora †† 2 (1954–55, 1956–57) Atlante 2 (1976–77, 1990–91) Monterrey † 2 (1955–56, 1959–60) Morelia † 2 (1956–57, 1980–81) UANL † 2 (1973–74, 1996–97) León † 2 (1989–90, 2011–12) Toros Neza †††† 2 (1988–89, 1992–93) Cobras †††† 2 (PRODE 1985, 1987–88) Atlético Celaya †††† 2 (1957–58, 1994–95) Ciudad Madero †††† 2 (1964–65, 1972–73) Atlético Potosino †††† 1 (1973–74) UAT 1 (1986–87) Indios de Ciudad Juárez †††† 1 (2007–08) UAG †† 1 (1974–75) Atlético Yucatán †††† 1 (1998–99) Toluca † 1 (1952–53) Cuautla †† 1 (1954–55) Nacional †††† 1 (1960–61) UNAM † 1 (1961–62) Cruz Azul † 1 (1963–64) Laguna †††† 1 (1967–68) Jabatos de Nuevo León †††† 1 (1965–66) Torreón †††† 1 (1968–69) Oaxtepec †††† 1 (1981–82) Potros Neza †††† 1 (1988–89) Atletas Campesinos †††† 1 (1979–80) Tijuana † 1 (2010–11) 1 (2007–08) Tepic †† 1 (2013–14) 1 (1995–96) BUAP † 1 (2016–17) Tapachula 1 (2017–18*) Atlético San Luis 1 (2018–19) Murciélagos †† 1 (2017–18) UdeC 1 (2016–17) Pumas Morelos †††† 1 (2012–13) Tabasco †††† 1 (1994–95) Inter Tijuana †††† 1 (1996–97) Marte †††† 1 (1997–98) Atlético San Francisco ††† 1 (1998–99) Gavilanes de Nuevo Laredo †††† 1 (2002–03) Trotamundos de Tijuana †††† 1 (2003–04) Altamira †††† 1 (2004–05) Dorados de Tijuana †††† 1 (2005–06) Monarcas Morelia "A" †††† 1 (2006–07) Halcones de Querétaro †††† 2 (1999–00, 2000–01) Jaguares de Tapachula †††† 2 (2003–04, 2008–09)

† Teams currently in the Liga MX
†† Teams currently in the Liga Premier
††† Teams currently in the Amateur Levels
†††† Defunct teams

Notes:

• 1976–77: Tampico Madero bought San Luis's spot in first division
• 1977–78: Deportivo Neza is bought Laguna and took its spot.
• 1981–82: Tampico Madero bought Atletas Campesinos and took over its spot
• 1983–84: Ángeles de Puebla bought Oaxtepec and took over its spot
• 1988–89: Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz bought Potros Neza and took over its spot
• 1992–93: U.T. Neza changes its name to Toros Neza
• 1998–99: Puebla bought U.D Curtidores and took over its spot
• 1999–00: Irapuato gained automatic promotion as they won both tournaments.
• 2001–02: Veracruz gained automatic promotion due to expansion in first division
• 2009-10: Necaxa gained automatic promotion as they won both tournaments.
• 2012–13: Veracruz bought La Piedad's spot in first division
• 2013–14: Zacatepec bought Cruz Azul Hidalgo's spot in Ascenso MX.
• 2017–18: Tapachula were not certified to be promoted to Liga MX.

Top scorers

Year	Name	Team	Goals
1994–95	Marco de Almeida	Marte	15
1995–96	Lorenzo Sáez	Pachuca	30
Invierno 96	Nílson Esidio Mora	UANL	11
Verano 97	Ángel Lemus Carlos Pavón	Irapuato UAT	12
Invierno 97	Niver Arboleda	Zacatepec	17
Verano 98	Daniel Fasciolli Carlos Morales Valtencir Gomes	UAT Pachuca Tigrillos UANL	12
Invierno 98	Cristián Ariel Morales	Irapuato	19
Verano 99	Ángel Lemus	San Luis	16
Invierno 99	Cristián Ariel Morales	Irapuato	17
Verano 2000	Carlos Muñoz Emmanuel Sacramento	BUAP	15
Invierno 2000	Christian Patiño	La Piedad	16
Verano 01	Héctor Giménez	Aguascalientes	16
Invierno 01	Héctor Álvarez	Tampico-Madero	16
Verano 02	Ariel González	Querétaro	15
Apertura 02	Héctor Álvarez	Zacatepec	23
Clausura 03	Héctor Álvarez	Zacatepec	16
Apertura 03	Héctor Álvarez	León	17
Clausura 04	Mauro Gerk Francisco Bravo	Celaya Zacatepec	18
Apertura 04	Ariel González	San Luis	16
Clausura 05	Rubén Darío Gigena	Cruz Azul Hidalgo	17
Apertura 05	Mauricio Romero	Sonora	16
Clausura 06	Diego Olsina	Coatzacoalcos	15
Apertura 06	Álvaro González	Puebla	14
Clausura 07	Álvaro González	Puebla	16
Apertura 07	Mauricio Romero	León	14
Clausura 08	Freddy Bareiro	León	17
Apertura 08	Mauro Gerk Raúl Enríquez	Querétaro Tijuana	14
Clausura 09	Sebastián Maz	Sinaloa	15
Apertura 09	Ariel González	Irapuato	11
Bicentenario 2010	Ariel González Carlos Casartelli	Irapuato León	11
Apertura 10	Eder Pacheco	Durango	13
Clausura 2011	Blas Pérez	León	14
Apertura 11	Nicolás Saucedo	UAT	11
Clausura 2012	Sebastián Maz	León	13
Apertura 12	Víctor Lojero Rodrigo Prieto	Necaxa Neza	11
Clausura 2013	Víctor Lojero	Necaxa	12
Apertura 2013	Gustavo Ramírez	Oaxaca	11
Clausura 2014	Roberto Nurse	UAT	12
Apertura 2014	Diego Jiménez Giancarlo Maldonado	BUAP Atlante	10
Clausura 2015	Roberto Nurse Leandro Carrijó	Sinaloa Atlético San Luis	10
Apertura 2015	Carlos Garcés	Atlante	10
Clausura 2016	Ismael Valadéz	Tapachula	10
Apertura 2016	Roberto Nurse	Zacatecas	16
Clausura 2017	Diego Jiménez	BUAP	10
Apertura 2017	Luis Madrigal	Oaxaca	12
Clausura 2018	Guillermo Martínez	Zacatecas	11
Apertura 2018	Nicolás Ibáñez Roberto Nurse	Atlético San Luis Zacatecas	8
Clausura 2019	Nicolás Ibáñez	Atlético San Luis	11
Apertura 2019	Víctor Mañón	U. de C.	8

References

1. "Nace la Liga de Ascenso". www.femexfut.org.mx. 2009-06-22. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
2. "Liga de Ascenso cambia nombre a Ascenso MX". Récord (in Spanish). 4 June 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
3. "Nacen los Guerreros de Oaxaca :: Deportes". televisadeportes.esmas.com.
4. Elenes, Iván (9 May 2019). "La 'Jaiba Brava' se queda en la Liga de Ascenso MX". ESPN Mexico (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 October 2023.
5. "Ascenso MX da por terminado el C2020 por falta de recursos ante el coronavirus". mediotiempo.com.
6. Die 18 Mannschaften in der Liga de Ascenso 2010/11 Archived 2012-03-24 at the Wayback Machine (Spanish; retrieved on May 27, 2010)

External links

• Official website