2018–19 Premier League of Belize

Premier League of Belize
Season	2018–19
Dates	22 July 2018 – 18 May 2019
Champions	Opening:; Belmopan Bandits; Closing:; San Pedro Pirates
CONCACAF League	Belmopan Bandits
Matches played	124
Goals scored	399 (3.22 per match)
Top goalscorer	Opening:; Georgie Welcome (17); Closing:; Elroy Smith (11)
Biggest home win	Verdes 7-0 Wagiya ; (29 July 2018)
Biggest away win	Freedom Fighters 0-6 Police United ; (19 August 2018)
Highest scoring	Freedom Fighters 4-5 Altitude ; (30 September 2018)
Longest winning run	Verdes (6)
Longest unbeaten run	Belmopan Bandits (12)
Longest winless run	Belize Defence Force ; Freedom Fighters ; Police United ; Wagiya (6)
Longest losing run	Belize Defence Force ; Freedom Fighters (6)
	← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 Premier League of Belize was the eighth season of the Premier League of Belize, the highest competitive football league in Belize, after it was founded in 2011. There were two seasons which were spread over two years, the opening was played towards the end of 2018 and the closing was played at the beginning of 2019.

Team information

Team	City	Stadium	Head coach	Captain
Altitude	Independence	Michael Ashcroft Stadium	Wilmer Garcia	Ashley Torres
Belize Defence Force	Belize City	MCC Grounds	Charlie Slusher	Blake Tejada
Belmopan Bandits	Belmopan	Isidoro Beaton Stadium	Shane Orio	Dalton Eiley
Freedom Fighters	Punta Gorda	Victor Sanchez Union Field	Charles Gutierrez	Evan Mariano
Police United	Belmopan	Isidoro Beaton Stadium	Dale Pelayo Sr.	Andres Makin Jr.
San Pedro Pirates	San Pedro	Ambergris Stadium	Jorge Nunez	Jesse Smith
Verdes	San Ignacio Santa Elena	Norman Broaster Stadium Santa Elena Sporting Complex	Marvin Ottley	Elroy Smith
Wagiya	Dangriga	Carl Ramos Stadium	Dennis Serano	Erwin Middleton

Opening Season

From the 2017–18 Premier League of Belize closing season, 7 teams continued to play in the opening season of 2018–19, with Altitude taking over the franchise of Placencia Assassins.

There would be one league consisting of the 8 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The opening season commenced on 22 July 2018.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Belmopan Bandits	14	10	3	1	39	9	+30	33	Advance to Playoffs
2	Verdes	14	11	0	3	37	13	+24	33
3	San Pedro Pirates	14	7	1	6	24	18	+6	22
4	Police United	14	5	3	6	22	28	−6	18
5	Altitude	14	6	0	8	20	34	−14	18
6	Freedom Fighters	14	4	2	8	30	43	−13	14
7	Wagiya	14	4	1	9	20	35	−15	13
8	Belize Defence Force	14	3	2	9	16	28	−12	11

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Home \ Away	ALT	BDF	BEL	FRE	POL	SPE	VER	WAG
Altitude		2–1	0–3	3–2	2–3	0–4	1–2	2–1
Belize Defence Force	0–1		0–0	2–3	2–0	1–2	2–4	0–3
Belmopan Bandits	4–0	5–0		4–1	4–4	0–1	1–0	5–0
Freedom Fighters	4–5	2–2	2–5		0–6	3–4	3–0	3–1
Police United	2–1	1–3	0–3	2–2		1–0	0–5	1–1
San Pedro Pirates	6–1	0–1	0–0	1–3	0–1		1–2	2–1
Verdes	1–0	2–1	0–1	5–0	3–0	3–1		7–0
Wagiya	1–2	3–1	1–4	3–2	2–1	1–2	2–3

Updated to match(es) played on 25 November 2018. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

Semifinals					Finals

1	Belmopan Bandits	1	1	2

4	Police United	1	0	1
					1	Belmopan Bandits	4	1	5

					2	Verdes	2	2	4
2	Verdes	4	1	5

3	San Pedro Pirates	1	2	3

Semifinals

Game One^[2]

8 December 2018	San Pedro Pirates	1 – 4	Verdes	Ambergris Stadium, San Pedro
19:30	Eduardo Chavira 84'		Darwin Bermudez 4', 32' Nahjib Guerra 21' Elroy Kuylen 75'

9 December 2018	Police United	1 – 1	Belmopan Bandits	Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
16:00	Carlton Thomas 61' (pen.)		Jeromy James 26'

Game Two

12 December 2018	Verdes	1 – 2 (5 – 3 agg.)	San Pedro Pirates	Norman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio
19:30	Elroy Smith 57'		Eduardo Oliva 11' Pablo Mendizabal 15'

13 December 2018	Belmopan Bandits	1 – 0 (2 – 1 agg.)	Police United	Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
20:00	Jeromy James 90+3'

Finals

Game One^[3]

16 December 2018	Verdes	2 – 4	Belmopan Bandits	Norman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio
16:00	Elroy Kuylen 45' Nahjib Guerra 68'		Kevin Vicente 3' Georgie Welcome 16', 64' Trimayne Harris 73'	Referee: Wálter López Castellanos (Guatemala)

Game Two^[4]

22 December 2018	Belmopan Bandits	1 – 2 (5 – 4 agg.)	Verdes	Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
20:00	Jeromy James 80'		Desmond Wade 22' Trevor Lennen 35' (o.g.)	Referee: Mario Escobar Toca (Guatemala)

2018–19 Opening Season champions
Belmopan Bandits 9th title

Season Statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals^*
1	Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits	17
2	Eduardo Chavira	San Pedro Pirates	12
2	Alexander Peters	Freedom Fighters	12
4	Nahjib Guerra	Verdes	9
5	Jeromy James	Belmopan Bandits	7
	Krisean Lopez	Verdes
	Highking Roberts	Wagiya
8	Jonard Castillo	Wagiya	6
	Trimayne Harris	Belmopan Bandits
	Jaren Lambey	Freedom Fighters
11	Darwin Bermudez	Verdes	4
	Jarret Davis	Verdes
	Evan Mariano	Freedom Fighters
	Pablo Mendizabal	San Pedro Pirates
	Roberto Silva de Lima	Verdes
	Carlton Thomas	Police United

^* Includes playoff goals.

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Nahjib Guerra	Verdes	Wagiya	7–0 (H)	29 July 2018
Eduardo Chavira⁴	San Pedro Pirates	Altitude	4–0 (A)	19 August 2018
Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits	Police United	3–0 (A)	26 August 2018
Highking Roberts	Wagiya	Freedom Fighters	3–2 (H)	26 August 2018
Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits	Freedom Fighters	5–2 (A)	2 September 2018
Eduardo Chavira	San Pedro Pirates	Altitude	6–1 (H)	20 October 2018
Jeromy James	Belmopan Bandits	Wagiya	4–1 (A)	21 October 2018
Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits	Freedom Fighters	4–1 (H)	3 November 2018

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Awards

In the post-game ceremonies of the final game of the season, the individual awards were announced.^[4]

Award	Recipient	Team
Golden Boot	Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits
MVP (Regular Season)	Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits
MVP (Playoff)	Jeromy James	Belmopan Bandits
Best Young Player	Krisean Lopez	Verdes
Best Midfielder	Kevin Vicente	Belmopan Bandits
Best Defender	Dalton Eiley	Belmopan Bandits
Golden Glove	Shane Orio	Belmopan Bandits
Best Coach	Kent Gabourel	Belmopan Bandits
Best Manager	Emeliano Rivero	San Pedro Pirates

Closing Season

All 8 teams that participated in the opening season will participate in the closing season.

The format will be the same as the opening season with one league consisting of the 8 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The closing season commenced on 12 January 2019.^[5]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	San Pedro Pirates	14	8	2	4	23	15	+8	26	Advance to Playoffs
2	Belmopan Bandits	14	7	4	3	25	15	+10	25
3	Verdes	14	6	6	2	19	9	+10	24
4	Belize Defence Force	14	6	4	4	19	15	+4	22
5	Police United	14	6	1	7	21	28	−7	19
6	Altitude	14	5	2	7	18	21	−3	17
7	Freedom Fighters	14	3	4	7	15	23	−8	13
8	Wagiya	14	2	3	9	13	27	−14	9

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Home \ Away	ALT	BDF	BEL	FRE	POL	SPE	VER	WAG
Altitude		2–2	1–3	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–3	4–1
Belize Defence Force	1–2		2–0	4–1	1–2	0–1	1–0	1–0
Belmopan Bandits	3–1	1–1		3–1	4–1	4–2	1–1	0–0
Freedom Fighters	0–1	0–0	1–2		3–1	1–1	0–0	5–3
Police United	1–0	2–2	1–3	3–1		1–2	1–2	3–2
San Pedro Pirates	2–1	1–2	2–1	3–1	0–1		1–1	4–1
Verdes	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–0	5–0	1–0		1–1
Wagiya	1–2	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–3	0–3	0–1

Updated to match(es) played on 28 April 2019. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

Semifinals					Finals

1	San Pedro Pirates	1	6	7

4	Belize Defence Force	0	1	1
					1	San Pedro Pirates	0	2	2

					2	Belmopan Bandits	1	0	1
2	Belmopan Bandits	4	0	4

3	Verdes	3	0	3

Semifinals

Game One^[6]

28 April 2019	Belize Defence Force	0 – 1	San Pedro Pirates	MCC Grounds, Belize City
16:00			Anderson Cordoba 85' (pen.)

28 April 2019	Verdes	3 – 4	Belmopan Bandits	FFB Stadium, Belmopan
16:00	Elroy Smith 22' (pen.), 89' (pen.) Elroy Kuylen 50'		Trimayne Harris 12' Georgie Welcome 57' (pen.), 68', 71'

Game Two^[7]

4 May 2019	San Pedro Pirates	6 – 1 (7 – 1 agg.)	Belize Defence Force	Ambergris Stadium, San Pedro
19:30	Facundo Garnier 19', 61', 68', 71' Jesse Smith 34' Anderson Cordoba 74' (pen.)		Camilo Sanchez 51' (pen.)

4 May 2019	Belmopan Bandits	0 – 0 (4 – 3 agg.)	Verdes	Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
20:00

Finals

Game One^[8]

11 May 2019	Belmopan Bandits	1 – 0	San Pedro Pirates	Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
20:00	Humberto Requena 5'			Referee: Bryan Lopez Castellanos (GUA) Assistant referees: Marvin Diaz (GUA) & Ricardo Ake (BLZ) Fourth official: José Colindres (BLZ)

Game Two^[9]

18 May 2019	San Pedro Pirates	2 – 0 (2 – 1 agg.)	Belmopan Bandits	Ambergris Stadium, San Pedro
19:30	Facundo Garnier 67' Mailson Moura 76'			Referee: Sergio Reyna (GUA) Assistant referees: Pablo Ramirez (GUA) & Ricardo Ake (BLZ) Fourth official: Elfren Guy (BLZ)

2018–19 Closing Season champions
San Pedro Pirates 1st title

Season Statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals^*
1	Elroy Smith	Verdes	11
2	Camilo Sánchez	Belize Defence Force	10
3	Andres Orozco	Altitude	9
3	Highking Roberts	Wagiya	9
5	Facundo Garnier	San Pedro Pirates	8
6	Trimayne Harris	Belmopan Bandits	7
6	Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits	7
8	Jaren Lambey	Freedom Fighters	5
8	Harrison Roches	Police United	5
10	Anderson Cordoba	San Pedro Pirates	4
	Jerry Palacios	Belmopan Bandits
	Carlton Thomas	Police United
	Luis Valdez	San Pedro Pirates

^* Includes playoff goals.

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Trimayne Harris	Belmopan Bandits	Altitude	3–1 (A)	19 January 2019
Camilo Sanchez	Belize Defence Force	Freedom Fighters	4–1 (H)	7 April 2019
Highking Roberts	Wagiya	Freedom Fighters	3–5 (A)	14 April 2019
Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits	Verdes	4–3 (A)	28 April 2019
Facundo Garnier⁴	San Pedro Pirates	Belize Defence Force	6–1 (H)	4 May 2019

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Awards

In the post-game ceremonies of the final game of the season, the individual awards were announced.^[9]

Award	Recipient	Team
Golden Boot (Regular Season)	Andres Orozco	Altitude
	Highking Roberts	Wagiya
	Camilo Sanchez	Belize Defence Force
	Elroy Smith	Verdes
Golden Boot (Overall)	Elroy Smith	Verdes
MVP (Regular Season)	Georgie Welcome	Belmopan Bandits
MVP (Playoff)	Facundo Garnier	San Pedro Pirates
Best Young Player	Warren Moss	Wagiya
Best Midfielder	Jesse Smith	San Pedro Pirates
Best Defender	Dalton Eiley	Belmopan Bandits
Golden Glove	Rodrigo Vasquez	Verdes
Best Coach	Jorge Nunez	San Pedro Pirates
Best Manager	Tony Maldonado	San Pedro Pirates

Aggregate table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Belmopan Bandits (Q)	28	17	7	4	64	24	+40	58	CONCACAF League preliminary round^[a]
2	Verdes	28	17	6	5	56	22	+34	57
3	San Pedro Pirates	28	15	3	10	47	33	+14	48
4	Police United	28	11	4	13	43	56	−13	37
5	Altitude	28	11	2	15	38	55	−17	35
6	Belize Defence Force	28	9	6	13	35	43	−8	33
7	Freedom Fighters	28	7	6	15	45	66	−21	27
8	Wagiya	28	6	4	18	33	62	−29	22

Source: Soccerway Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:

^ As champions with better aggregate record (BLZ1)

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in the 2018–19 season. The following players:

Have played at least one game for the respective club.
Have not been capped for the Belize national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace.

Each team can have a maximum of five foreign players in their roster.

Altitude

Miguel Garcia
Andres Orozco
Darwin Sarmiento
Ronaldo Vergara

Belize Defence Force

Jose Tinoco

Belmopan Bandits

Rony Flores
Inri Gonzaga
Jeffrie James
Hector Martinez
Jerry Palacios
Rilwan Salawu
Kevin Vicente
Georgie Welcome

Police United

Jehoshaphat Nnadi

San Pedro Pirates

Eduardo Chavira
Facundo Garnier
Pablo Mendizabal
Mailson Moura
Anderson Cordoba
Carlos Pertuz
Selvin Zeron Sagastume

Verdes

Darwin Bermudez
Dilmer Castillo
Edlin Gutierrez
Alan Leandro
Selvin Zeron Sagastume
Roberto Silva de Lima
Yoras Silva
Rodrigo Vasquez
Edwin Villeda

Wagiya

Cristhian Cruz

(player released during the Opening season) (player released between the Opening and Closing seasons) (player released during the Closing season)

References

^ "Premier League Opening Season kickoff, and upcoming international matches". Amandala. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
^ "Verdes FC eyes Premier League finals". The Guardian. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
^ "Bandits, 4-2, over Verdes in 1st leg of PLB Championship Finals". Amandala. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Belmopan Bandits SC, champions; Verdes FC, sub-champions of PLB 2018-2019 Opening Season". Amandala. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
^ "Southern teams stand strong in Week 1 of PLB 2018-2019 Closing Season". Amandala. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
^ "Road teams, Bandits and Pirates gain 1st leg victories in PLB semifinals". Amandala. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
^ "Bandits vs Pirates to clash in PLB Closing Season finals". Amandala. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
^ "The Big Dance! Pirates host Bandits in 2nd leg of PLB Championship final on Saturday in San Pedro". Amandala. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
^ ^a ^b "San Pedro Pirates are first time National Football Champions of Belize". Amandala. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.

[table_note_res_CL0.41440714775324-10] As champions with better aggregate record (BLZ1)

[1] "Premier League Opening Season kickoff, and upcoming international matches". Amandala. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.

[2] "Verdes FC eyes Premier League finals". The Guardian. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.

[3] "Bandits, 4-2, over Verdes in 1st leg of PLB Championship Finals". Amandala. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.

[playoffs_and_awards-4] "Belmopan Bandits SC, champions; Verdes FC, sub-champions of PLB 2018-2019 Opening Season". Amandala. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.

[5] "Southern teams stand strong in Week 1 of PLB 2018-2019 Closing Season". Amandala. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.

[6] "Road teams, Bandits and Pirates gain 1st leg victories in PLB semifinals". Amandala. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[7] "Bandits vs Pirates to clash in PLB Closing Season finals". Amandala. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[8] "The Big Dance! Pirates host Bandits in 2nd leg of PLB Championship final on Saturday in San Pedro". Amandala. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

[closing_playoffs_and_awards-9] "San Pedro Pirates are first time National Football Champions of Belize". Amandala. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.

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