Professional Clubs
Football has been played professionally in Mexico since the early 1900s, with the first club being C.F. Pachuca. Since 1996, the country has played two split seasons instead of a traditional long season. There are two separate playoff and league divisions. This system is common throughout Latin America. After many years of calling the regular seasons as "Verano" (Summer) and "Invierno" (Winter); Liga MX (historically Primera División de México, Mexican First League Division) have changed the names of the competition, and has opted for a traditional name of "Apertura" (opening) and "Clausura" (closing) events. The Apertura division begins in the middle of Mexico's summer and ends before the official start of winter. The Clausura division begins during the New Year, and concludes in the spring season.
Mexican football has four divisions, beginning with Liga MX and followed by Ascenso MX, Segunda División de México, and Tercera División de México. The teams are promoted and relegated by the Mexican Football Federation (FMF). Relegation is a common practice in Mexican football. This means one club from the top league division moving down, and one side from the bottom league division moving up.
The relegation system does not punish clubs for having a bad season. Mexican clubs are assessed on their previous five campaigns. Points are accumulated for five seasons and divided by the number of matches played. The club with the lowest percentage after the Clausura season is relegated to the lower division.
Mexico's most successful clubs have been Guadalajara with 11 championships, América with 10, Toluca 10, and Cruz Azul 8. Mexico has hosted two FIFA World Cups, in 1970 and 1986. Stadiums include Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, Estadio Tecnológico in Monterrey and Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Estadio Azteca is the only stadium in the world to have hosted two World Cup finals and is one of the largest stadiums in the world.
Read more about this topic: Football In Mexico
Famous quotes containing the words professional and/or clubs:
“The relationship between mother and professional has not been a partnership in which both work together on behalf of the child, in which the expert helps the mother achieve her own goals for her child. Instead, professionals often behave as if they alone are advocates for the child; as if they are the guardians of the child’s needs; as if the mother left to her own devices will surely damage the child and only the professional can rescue him.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“Neighboring farmers and visitors at White Sulphur drove out occasionally to watch ‘those funny Scotchmen’ with amused superiority; when one member imported clubs from Scotland, they were held for three weeks by customs officials who could not believe that any game could be played with ‘such elongated blackjacks or implements of murder.’”
—For the State of West Virginia, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)