The 2019–20 Premier League of Belize was the ninth 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.
Season | 2019–20 |
---|---|
Dates | 27 July 2019 – 11 March 2020 |
Champions | Opening: Verdes Closing: Season cancelled |
CONCACAF League | Verdes |
Matches played | 89 |
Goals scored | 296 (3.33 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Opening: Mariano Landero (14) Closing: Georgie Welcome (8) |
Biggest home win | Belmopan Bandits 11-0 Placencia Assassins (11 January 2020) |
Biggest away win | Valley Pride Freedom Fighters 1-10 Verdes (6 October 2019) |
Highest scoring | Valley Pride Freedom Fighters 1-10 Verdes (6 October 2019) Belmopan Bandits 11-0 Placencia Assassins (11 January 2020) |
Longest winning run | San Pedro Pirates (4) |
Longest unbeaten run | Verdes (15) |
Longest winless run | Valley Pride Freedom Fighters (10) |
Longest losing run | Valley Pride Freedom Fighters (7) |
← 2018–19 2022–23 → |
Teams
editTeam | City | Stadium | Manager | Captain |
---|---|---|---|---|
Altitude | Independence | Michael Ashcroft Stadium | ||
Belize Defence Force | Belize City | MCC Grounds | ||
Belmopan Bandits | Belmopan | Isidoro Beaton Stadium | ||
Placencia Assassins | Placencia | Placencia Football Field | ||
San Pedro Pirates | San Pedro | Ambergris Stadium | ||
Valley Pride Freedom Fighters[a] | Dangriga | Carl Ramos Stadium | ||
Verdes | San Ignacio | Norman Broaster Stadium | ||
Wagiya | Dangriga | Carl Ramos Stadium |
- ^ Valley Pride Freedom Fighters did not compete in the closing season.
Opening season
editFrom the 2018–19 Premier League of Belize closing season, 7 teams continued to play in the opening season of 2019–20, with Placencia Assassins returning to the league to replace Police United. Freedom Fighters were also rebranded to Valley Pride Freedom Fighters and relocated to Dangriga from Punta Gorda.
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 27 July 2019.[1]
League table
edit
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Verdes | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 45 | 15 | +30 | 33 | Advance to Playoffs |
2 | Belmopan Bandits | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 35 | 13 | +22 | 28 | |
3 | San Pedro Pirates | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 24 | 18 | +6 | 23 | |
4 | Altitude | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 26 | −4 | 21 | |
5 | Wagiya | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 16 | +6 | 19 | |
6 | Belize Defence Force | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 19 | |
7 | Placencia Assassins | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 36 | −21 | 6 | |
8 | Valley Pride Freedom Fighters | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 53 | −39 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Results
editPlayoffs
editSemifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
1 | Verdes | 1 | 5 | 6 | |||||||||
4 | Altitude | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
1 | Verdes | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||
2 | Belmopan Bandits | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
2 | Belmopan Bandits (a) | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
3 | San Pedro Pirates | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Semifinals
editGame One[2]
23 November 2019 | Altitude | 1 – 1 | Verdes | Michael Ashcroft Stadium, Independence |
19:30 | Andres Orozco |
Everal Trapp |
23 November 2019 | San Pedro Pirates | 1 – 2 | Belmopan Bandits | Ambergris Stadium, San Pedro |
19:30 | Jesse Smith |
Roberto Silva de Lima Nahjib Guerra |
Game Two[3]
30 November 2019 | Belmopan Bandits | 0 – 1 (2 – 2 (a) agg.) | San Pedro Pirates | Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan |
20:00 | Mailson Moura |
1 December 2019 | Verdes | 5 – 3 (6 – 4 agg.) | Altitude | Norman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio |
16:00 | Elroy Smith Krisean Lopez Trimayne Harris |
Andres Orozco Everal Trapp Elroy Coe |
Finals
editGame One[4]
8 December 2019 | Belmopan Bandits | 1 – 1 | Verdes | Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan |
19:00 | Daniel Jimenez |
Krisean Lopez |
Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador) |
Game Two[5]
15 December 2019 | Verdes | 2 – 0 (3 – 1 agg.) | Belmopan Bandits | Norman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio |
15:30 | Jeromy James Elroy Smith |
Referee: Bryan Lopez Castellanos (Guatemala) |
Season statistics
editTop scorers
editRank | Player | Team | Goals* |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Verdes | 14 | |
2 | Altitude | 11 | |
3 | Verdes | 9 | |
4 | Belmopan Bandits | 8 | |
5 | San Pedro Pirates | 7 | |
Verdes | |||
7 | Belize Defence Force | 6 | |
8 | Valley Pride Freedom Fighters | 5 | |
Verdes | |||
San Pedro Pirates | |||
Belmopan Bandits | |||
12 | San Pedro Pirates | 4 | |
Altitude | |||
Belize Defence Force | |||
Belize Defence Force | |||
Placencia Assassins |
* Includes playoff goals.
Hat-tricks
editPlayer | For | Against | Result | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Verdes | Altitude | 5–1 (H) | 15 September 2019 | |
Verdes | Belize Defence Force | 3–3 (A) | 22 September 2019 | |
Belmopan Bandits | Valley Pride Freedom Fighters | 7–0 (A) | 10 November 2019 |
Awards
editAt an awards ceremony on 4 January 2020, the individual awards were announced.[6]
Award | Recipient | Team |
---|---|---|
Golden Boot | Verdes | |
MVP (Regular Season) | Verdes | |
MVP (Playoff) | Verdes | |
Best Young Player | Belize Defence Force | |
Best Midfielder | Verdes | |
Best Defender | Verdes | |
Golden Glove | Belmopan Bandits | |
Best Coach | Verdes | |
Best Manager | Verdes |
Closing season
edit7 of the 8 teams that participated in the opening season will participate in the closing season, with Valley Pride Freedom Fighters not competing, as they were unable to meet their commitments.[7]
The format will be the same as the opening season with one league consisting of the 7 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The closing season commenced on 11 January 2020.[8]
On 18 April 2020 a virtual meeting was held by the Premier League of Belize, and it was unanimously agreed by club owners to cancel the remainder of the closing season due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The league also stated that the safety of players, officials, fans and stakeholders had to be taken into consideration. It was also agreed that Verdes would represent Belize at the 2020 CONCACAF League. According to the league, the decision to allow Verdes to represent Belize was based on the fact that the club had won the 2019–20 opening season, and was the aggregate point leader with a total of 51 points at the initial juncture, when the season was suspended.[9]
League table
edit
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Verdes | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 18 | Advance to Playoffs |
2 | Belmopan Bandits | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 4 | +22 | 13 | |
3 | San Pedro Pirates | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 12 | |
4 | Altitude | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 11 | |
5 | Placencia Assassins | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 8 | |
6 | Wagiya | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 6 | |
7 | Belize Defence Force | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 18 | −12 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Results
editSeason statistics
editTop scorers
editRank | Player | Team | Goals* |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Belmopan Bandits | 8 | |
2 | Belmopan Bandits | 7 | |
San Pedro Pirates | |||
4 | Verdes | 3 |
Hat-tricks
editPlayer | For | Against | Result | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Belmopan Bandits | Placencia Assassins | 11–0 (H) | 11 January 2020 | |
Belmopan Bandits | Wagiya | 5–0 (H) | 8 February 2020 |
References
edit- ^ "PLB 2019-2020 Opening Season kicks off this weekend". Amandala. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ "Bandits Sport one step closer to Premier League finals". The Guardian. 29 November 2019. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- ^ "PLB semifinals over; Bandits vs Verdes for Opening Season Championship". Amandala. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- ^ "Bandits – Verdes, 1-1 in PLB Finals Game 1; Game 2 "for all the marbles" this weekend". Amandala. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Verdes FC are PLB 2019-2020 Opening Season Champions". Amandala. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Premier League of Belize 2019-2020 Opening Season Awardees". Amandala. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ "Tight contests in Week 2 of PLB 2019-2020 Closing Season". Amandala. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
- ^ "PLB on a stumbling start to 2019-2020 Closing Season". Amandala. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Belize's semi-pro basketball and football leagues cancelled due to COVID-19". San Pedro Sun. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.