Founded | 1957 |
---|---|
Country | Ecuador |
Confederation | CONMEBOL |
Number of teams | 16 |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Relegation to | Serie B |
Domestic cup(s) | Copa Ecuador Supercopa Ecuador |
International cup(s) | Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana Recopa Sudamericana |
Current champions | LDU Quito (12th title) |
Most championships | Barcelona (16 titles) |
Most appearances | Carlos Javier Caicedo (670) |
Top goalscorer | Ermen Benítez (191) |
Website | www |
Current: 2024 Serie A season |
The Liga Pro Bet593, simply known as the Liga Pro, or the Serie A, is a professional football league in Ecuador. At the top of the Ecuadorian football league system, it is the country's premier football competition. Contested by sixteen clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Serie B, the lower level of the Primera Categoría. The season runs from February to December and is usually contested in multiple stages.
While initially not a league, the Serie A has its roots in the national championship between the top teams of Ecuador's two regional leagues. For the first nine editions, teams from Guayaquil and Quito qualified to the competition through their professional regional leagues. It abandoned the qualification format to form a proper league in 1967. Since the first edition in 1957, the tournament has been held annually (except 1958 and 1959); the 2005 season had two champions. It was ranked by IFFHS as the 11th strongest football league in the world for 2022, and the 4th strongest league in South America. [1]
Eleven clubs have been crowned Ecuadorian champions, but four teams have a combined total of 55 championships. The most successful club is Barcelona with sixteen titles. LDU Quito are the defending champions.
The format for the Serie A national championship changes consistently. The most common format is a two-stage tournament, in which teams qualify to a mini-league (Spanish : Liguilla) to determine the champion. The current format was introduced for the 2010 season and consists of three stages. The First and Second Stages each follow the double round-robin format. The winners of each stage play against each other in the Third Stage for the championship. A third-place match also takes place in the Third Stage between the next two-best teams in the aggregate table. If the same team wins both the First and Second Stage, they are automatically the champion. In this case, the second and third best teams in the aggregate table play against each other for runner-up.
Relegation takes place after the Second Stage and is determined using an aggregate table of the first two stages. As well as playing to win the championship and avoid relegation teams also compete for places in the following season's Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.
All football in Ecuador was played at amateur level until 1950 when the Guayas Football Association (Spanish : Asociación de Fútbol del Guayas [AFG]) turned professional and held its first professional tournament for affiliated clubs (for clubs in Guayaquil). The Professional Football Championship of Guayaquil (Spanish : Campeonato Professional de Fútbol de Guayaquil) was first held in 1951 and was won by Río Guayas. In 1954, the football association in Pichincha (current the Asociación de Fútbol No Amatur de Pichincha [AFNA]) decided to turn professional and hold a professional tournament of their own for their affiliated clubs (for clubs in Quito and Ambato). The first Inter-Andean Professional Championship (Spanish : Campeonato Professional Interandino) was held in 1954 and was won by LDU Quito.
The two tournaments were the top-level football leagues in Ecuador, but the champion of each could not claim to be the national champion. That changed in 1957 when a national football tournament was organized for the winners the two leagues. The first Ecuadorian Football Championship was contested between the champion and runner-up of the 1957 Campeonato Professional de Fútbol de Guayaquil of (Emelec and Barcelona, respectively) and the champion and runner-up of the 1957 Campeonato Professional Interandino (Deportivo Quito and Aucas, respectively). Emelec won the tournament and became the first national champions of football in Ecuador.
No championship was held in 1958 and 1959. The tournament returned in 1960 using the same format as in 1957. This time the field grew from four teams to eight teams. This format continued until 1967 when a number of changes occurred: 1) the regional tournaments were discontinued after the 1967 season; 2) teams contesting the national championship from 1968 onwards were now part of the Primera Categoría; and 3) a second level of Ecuadorian football (Segunda Categoría) was put into play and a system of relegation and promotion began in 1967.
In 1971, the Primera Categoría was divided into two Series: Serie A & Serie B. Serie A was to be the top level of club football, while Serie B was the second, and Segunda the third. Between, 1983–1988, Serie B was merged into the Segunda, but the Serie A continued. Serie B was brought back in 1989, and has stayed as the second level since.
In 2005, the Campeonato Ecuatoriano was divided into two tournaments to crown two champions in one year. The two tournaments were called Apertura and Clausura. The tournament returned to its year-long format in 2006.
A total of 55 clubs have competed in the Serie A since the first season in 1957. Although Barcelona is the only club to have never been relegated, no club has ever played in every season. This anomaly is due to the fact that for the 1964 competition, teams from Guayaquil (including Barcelona and Emelec) declined to participate in the national championship.
The following sixteen clubs will compete in the Serie A during the 2023 season.
Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
Aucas | Quito | Gonzalo Pozo Ripalda | 21,689 |
Barcelona | Guayaquil | Monumental Banco Pichincha | 57,267 |
Cumbayá | Quito | Olímpico Atahualpa | 35,258 |
Delfín | Manta | Jocay | 17,834 |
Deportivo Cuenca | Cuenca | Banco del Austro Alejandro Serrano Aguilar | 18,549 |
El Nacional | Quito | Olímpico Atahualpa | 35,258 |
Emelec | Guayaquil | Banco del Pacífico Capwell | 40,020 |
Gualaceo | Azogues | Jorge Andrade Cantos | 14,000 |
Guayaquil City | Guayaquil | Christian Benítez Betancourt | 10,152 |
Independiente del Valle | Sangolquí | Banco Guayaquil | 12,000 |
LDU Quito | Quito | Rodrigo Paz Delgado | 41,575 |
Libertad | Loja | Reina del Cisne | 14,935 |
Mushuc Runa | Ambato | COAC Mushuc Runa | 8,200 |
Orense | Machala | 9 de Mayo | 16,456 |
Técnico Universitario | Ambato | Bellavista Universidad Indoamérica | 16,467 |
Universidad Católica | Quito | Olímpico Atahualpa | 35,258 |
Barcelona has won 16 championships, followed by Emelec with 14 titles, El Nacional with 13, LDU Quito with 12 titles, Deportivo Quito with 5 titles, and Deportivo Cuenca, Olmedo, Delfin, Everest and Independiente del Valle with one title each. All the clubs that have won multiple titles have won back-to-back titles at least once. El Nacional and Emelec are the only two clubs to have won three titles in a row, El Nacional has done twice from 1976–1978 and 1982–1984, and C.S. Emelec from 2013-2015.
Rank | Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning years | Runners-up years |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Barcelona | 16 | 13 | 1960, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2012, 2016, 2020 | 1957, 1962, 1968, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2005 Apertura, 2014, 2022 |
2 | Emelec | 14 | 15 | 1957, 1961, 1965, 1972, 1979, 1988, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 | 1960, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2021 |
3 | El Nacional | 13 | 7 | 1967, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1996, 2005 Clausura, 2006 | 1964, 1972, 1974, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001 |
4 | LDU Quito | 12 | 6 | 1969, 1974, 1975, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005 Apertura, 2007, 2010, 2018, 2023 | 1977, 1981, 2008, 2015, 2019, 2020 |
5 | Deportivo Quito | 5 | 3 | 1964, 1968, 2008, 2009, 2011 | 1985, 1988, 1997 |
6 | Deportivo Cuenca | 1 | 5 | 2004 | 1975, 1976, 2005 Clausura, 2007, 2009 |
Independiente del Valle | 1 | 2 | 2021 | 2013, 2023 | |
Olmedo | 1 | 1 | 2000 | 2004 | |
Delfín | 1 | 1 | 2019 | 2017 | |
Everest | 1 | — | 1962 | — | |
Aucas | 1 | — | 2022 | — |
Province | Nº of titles | Clubs |
---|---|---|
Pichincha | 32 | El Nacional (13), LDU Quito (12), Deportivo Quito (5), Independiente del Valle (1), Aucas (1) |
Guayas | 31 | Barcelona (16), Emelec (14), Everest (1) |
Azuay | 1 | Deportivo Cuenca (1) |
Manabi | 1 | Delfín (1) |
Chimborazo | 1 | Olmedo (1) |
Ecuadorian Ermen Benítez is the league's all-time top-scorer, having scored 191 goals over 15 season. He is also holds the record for scoring the most goals for one team. The top active goalscorer is Ebelio Ordóñez. [3]
Rank | Player | Club(s) | Years | Goals | Total goals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ermen Benítez | El Nacional | 1980–90 | 154 | 191 |
Barcelona | 1991–92 | 19 | |||
LDU Quito | 1993 | 1 | |||
Green Cross | 1994 | 12 | |||
LDU Portoviejo | 1995 | 5 | |||
2 | Jorge Ron | El Nacional | 1972–79 | 94 | 181 |
Universidad Católica | 1980–84 | 73 | |||
Macará | 1986 | 6 | |||
Aucas | 1987 | 8 | |||
3 | Ebelio Ordóñez | Técnico Universitario | 1996 | 13 | 159 |
El Nacional | 1997–2004; 2006–07 | 137 | |||
Emelec | 2005 | 0 | |||
Deportivo Quito | 2008; 2010 | 9 | |||
4 | Ángel Liciardi | Emelec | 1970–71 | 8 | 154 |
Deportivo Cuenca | 1972; 1974–77 | 132 | |||
Barcelona | 1978 | 14 | |||
5 | Fabián Paz y Miño | El Nacional | 1972–88 | 153 | 153 |
Barcelona Sporting Club is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. Internationally known as Barcelona de Guayaquil, in Ecuador it is simply referred as Barcelona, El Idolo (BSC) or Los Canarios. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of football in the country, and hold the distinction of being the only club in the Ecuadorian top flight to not have played in the Serie B.
Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Second Category of Pichincha.
Liga Deportiva Universitaria, often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their home games at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, more commonly referred to as Casa Blanca. Rival clubs include Quito-based clubs El Nacional, Deportivo Quito, Aucas and Universidad Católica.
Jayro Rolando Campos León is an Ecuadorian former football defender.
The 2009 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A was the 51st season of the Serie A, Ecuador's premier football league. The season began on January 31 and ended on December 7. Deportivo Quito successfully defended their title for their fourth overall.
Association football is the most popular sport in Ecuador, in line with the majority of South America.
The 2010 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A was the 52nd season of the Serie A, Ecuador's premier football league. It ran from February 7 to December 12.
The 1969 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol was the 11th national championship for football teams in Ecuador. LDU Quito won their first national title.
The 1967 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol was the 9th national championship for football teams in Ecuador. This season marked the first time the national championship was contested as a league and not as a tournament in which teams had to qualified for. With the creation of the Segunda Categoria this same season, a system of promotion and relegation was also implemented.
The 1974 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A was the 16th national championship for football teams in Ecuador. LDU Quito won their second national title.
The 2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A was the 53rd season of the Serie A, Ecuador's premier football league. The season began on January 30 and ended on December 18, with a break in July for the 2011 Copa América. LDU Quito is the defending champion.
Barcelona Sporting Club's 2011 season was the club's 86th year of existence, the 58th year in professional football, and the 53rd in the top level of professional football in Ecuador. In the first stage of the Serie A, Barcelona finished 8th and failed to qualify to the season-ending finals. In the Second Stage, the club finished 2nd and failed again to qualify to the season-ending finals because of the overall board.
The 2012 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A was the 54th season of the Serie A, Ecuador's premier football league. The season began on February 3 and ended in December 2012. Deportivo Quito was the defending champion. They were succeeded by Barcelona, who won their record-breaking 14th title.
The 2018 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A was the 60th season of the Serie A, Ecuador's top tier football league. Emelec were the defending champions. First stage winners LDU Quito defeated second stage winners and defending champions Emelec 2–1 on aggregate in the final to win their eleventh domestic title.
The 2019 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A was the 61st season of the Serie A, Ecuador's top tier football league, and the first under the management of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol del Ecuador. LDU Quito were the defending champions, but were defeated in the finals by Delfín following a scoreless draw on aggregate score after two legs and a penalty shootout, in which the latter team won their first league title.
The 2019 Copa Ecuador was the first edition of the Copa Ecuador, Ecuador's domestic football cup. It began with the first round on 10 November 2018 and concluded with its double-legged final on 10 and 16 November 2019. LDU Quito were the winners, beating Delfín on away goals after tying 3–3 on aggregate score. They would have qualified for the 2020 Copa Sudamericana, but since they had already qualified for international competition through their league performance as well as the runners-up and both semifinalists, the berth was reallocated to the ninth-placed team of the league, El Nacional.
The 2020 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A was the 62nd season of the Serie A, Ecuador's top tier football league, and the second under the management of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol del Ecuador. Delfín were the defending champions. Barcelona won their 16th domestic league title after defeating LDU Quito 3–1 on penalties following a 1–1 draw on aggregate score in the finals.
The 2022 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, known as the LigaPro Betcris 2022 for sponsoring purposes, was the 64th season of the Serie A, Ecuador's top tier football league, and the fourth under the management of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol del Ecuador. The season began on 18 February and ended on 13 November 2022.
Janner Hitcler Corozo Alman is an Ecuadorian footballer who plays mainly as a right winger for Ecuadorian club Barcelona S.C. on loan from Pachuca and the Ecuador national team.
The 2022 Copa Ecuador was the second edition of the Copa Ecuador, Ecuador's domestic football cup. It began on 6 May 2022 and ended with the single-legged final on 8 November 2022.