Puerto Rico Soccer League Information & Puerto Rico Soccer League Links at HealthHaven.com

Puerto Rico Soccer League
Countries	Puerto Rico
Confederation	CONCACAF
Founded	2008
Number of teams	9
Relegation to	Liga Nacional
Level on pyramid	Level 1
Domestic cup(s)	Puerto Rico Soccer League PlayOff Cup; Puerto Rico Soccer League Regular Season Cup
International cup(s)	CFU Club Championship; CONCACAF Champions League
Current champions	Bayamon FC PlayOff Campion ,; River Plate Ponce League Champion (2009)
Most championships	Sevilla FC Puerto Rico, Bayamon FC (1)
TV partners	WAPA TV, OneLink
Website	http://www.prsoccer.org

The Puerto Rico Soccer League or PRSL is an association football league in Puerto Rico. It is the first unified football league in the island's history, and has a total of 9 teams. Football has been growing in popularity in recent years, and this is an attempt to further develop the game on the island. The previous highest football league in the country was the Campeonato Nacional de Futbol de Puerto Rico. Now the relegation to the league is the Liga Nacional.

[edit] History

The league was founded in 2008 with 8 teams. The first president of the league was Mike Roca. In 2009 the league added another team (Bayamon FC) to make 9 teams in the league. Also in 2009 FIFA donated $150,000 to the country of Puerto Rico through the "Win with CONCACAF" program. The donations will most likely go to building more capable stadiums, and other such necessities.^[1]. Over the past few years soccer has grown throughout the island and is among the top sports in Puerto Rico, behind Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, and Volleyball. The winner of the League gets a bid to play in the CFU Club Championship as well as the CONCACAF Champions League.

[edit] Creation and preparation

The league was created on May 14, 2008, and held its first tournament in 2008, from June until October. The league will play a total of 56 games. The league will develop a Second Division, which will feature 18 teams, and will start relegation and promotion for the 2011-2012 season. The federation's president also said they will create a Third Division for amateurs and a Fourth Division for U-17 teams.

The League will start in 2009 with an "Apertura" and "Clausura" system like the one used in Argentina and Mexico. The Apertura will be played from September to December, while the Clausura from January to April.^[2] However the league did not use the system for 2009, instead pushing it back a year for the 2010 season.

Many of the member clubs are affiliated to larger clubs in more established football leagues around the globe. The teams in the league receive promotion from several international clubs, including Club Atlético River Plate, Fluminense Football Club, Sevilla FC and C.F. Pachuca^[3] The league's president Miguel Roca has stated that there is a possibility that one more team will be included in the 2009 season.^[4] That proved to be accurate as the league introduced Bayamon FC to the league. 2010 is also said to bring a new team, although that has yet to be confirmed.

**Puerto Rico Soccer League Playoff Champions and PRSL regular season champions**
Season	PlayOff Champion	Regular Season Champion
2008	Sevilla FC Puerto Rico	Sevilla FC Puerto Rico
2009	Bayamon FC	River Plate Ponce

[edit] 2008 Season

The inaugural year featured 8 teams (all of which are still in the league). The 2008 season was won by Sevilla FC which played in Bayamon at the time. They finished the league with 32 points and second place River Plate Ponce had 28 points. The Championship was also won by Sevilla FC. Sevilla FC beat River Plate Ponce in the regular season by 4 points and then beat River Plate Ponce in the Championship game of the Playoffs with a score of 2-1.

[edit] 2009 season

The expansion team is Bayamon FC. Sevilla FC moved from Bayamon to Juncos thus adding Juncos to their name which is now Sevilla FC-Juncos, or Sevilla FC Puerto Rico. The first game of the season was played on May 21, 2009 in Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The contest was between Bayamon FC and defending champions Seviila FC Puerto Rico. Sevilla FC took the advantage in the new rivalry by winning 1-0. River Plate Ponce won 1st place in the league and has secured the top seed for the Playoffs. For the first time the Playoffs will have a home leg and away leg with the winner of the aggregate advancing to the Final. The Final game will also be in the Aggregate format. The champions of the playoffs were Bayamon FC as they won the aggregate 3-2 over Atletico de San Juan FC.

[edit] 2010 season

The 2010 season will mark the league's use of the Apertura-Clausura system. They will begin in April and end in November.^[5]

[edit] First Division teams and stadiums

The map of Puerto Rico with all First Divition Teams Locations..

All the stadiums (with the exception of the converted Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium) used in the league are primarily baseball stadiums, modified for football. There are long-term plans for construction of football specific stadiums.

**Puerto Rico Soccer League Current Teams 2009**
Team	City	Stadium	Founded	Coach	Notes
Academia Quintana	San Juan	Hiram Bithorn Stadium	1969	Víctor Hugo Barros
San Juan Atlético	San Juan	Hiram Bithorn Stadium	2008	Antonio Carlos Viera.
Bayamon FC	Bayamon	Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium	2009	Jack Stefanowski	Affiliated to Islanders
Caguas Huracan	Caguas	Yldefonso Sola Morales Stadium	1991	Pedro Amstrong	Play in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Carolina Gigantes	Carolina	Roberto Clemente Stadium	2008	Ricardo Romano	Affiliated with Boca Juniors.
Guaynabo Fluminense	Guaynabo	Sixto Escobar Stadium	2002	Gilberto Lopes de Figueredo	Affiliated to the Brazilian Fluminense
River Plate Ponce	Ponce	Francisco Montaner Stadium	2007	Walter Zermatten	Affiliated to the Argentinian River Plate Current League Champion.
Juncos Sevilla	Juncos	Sevilla FC Stadium	2006	Henry Perales Jr.	Affiliated to the Spaniard Sevilla FC. The first to win, League and playOff champion.
Tornados de Humacao	Humacao	Nestor Morales Stadium	1994	Eloy Ubaldo Martínez Soto	Affiliated to the Mexican Pachuca.

**Puerto Rico Soccer League Expasion Team 2010**
Team	City	Stadium	Founded	Coach	Notes
Indios de Mayaguez FC	Mayaguez	Isidoro García Baseball Stadium	2009	Carlos Avedissian	expasion team expected to make debut in 2010.

**All-time top scorers in the Puerto Rico Soccer League**
**(PRSL goals only)**
Rank	Player	Goals
1	Julio Cesar Maya Cruz	22
2	Lester More	11
3	Roberto Rojas	10
As of 25 August 2009 (Bold denotes players still playing in the League).^[6]

[edit] Players

Players come from different countries, the main one being of course Puerto Rico and the USA. Other countries that see a lot of players in the league are Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil this being due to the fact that these countries have teams in their respective leagues that sponsor the PRSL Teams. The next country would be Cuba. There are also Middle-Eastern and South American countries with players in the league.

[edit] Top Scorers

The top scorers in the league can be seen in box to the right with the leader being Julio Cesar Maya Cruz.

[edit] Second Division

The Second Division is divided in 2 Groups of 8 teams each. Relegation and promotion between the First and Second Divisions is expected to start in 2011. The Second Division is called Liga Nacional de Futbol de Puerto Rico. In 2009 the Second Division changed from the 2008 season and officially became a league with 16 teams. The League is split into 2 groups of 8 teams.

[edit] Media coverage

Through the inaugural year there was no coverage whatsoever, however after a successful first year the league found themselves being covered on local TV stations WAPA-TV and also on OneLink. The league is also covered by local newspapers such as El Nuevo Dia.

[edit] Presidents

Mike Roca 2008-current

[edit] References

^ http://www.fedefutbolpr.com/noticias/feb09.html
^ Puerto Rico Soccer League
^ "Equipos jugarán con emblemas del Sevilla, River Plate, Fluminense y Pachuca" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2008-06-10. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/otros/acciondeportiva/equipos_jugaran_con_emblemas_del_sevilla,_river_plate,_fluminense_y_pachuca/199179. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
^ Jorge J. Muñiz Ortiz (2008-06-27). "Comienza Liga profesional de fútbol en Puerto Rico" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/otros/acciondeportiva/comienza_liga_profesional_de_futbol_en_puerto_rico/205213. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
^ http://futbolboricua.blogspot.com/2009/08/analizando-la-prsl-y-la-liguilla.html
^ http://prsoccer.org/index.php?option=com_joomleague&func=eventsstats&p=4&evid=2&Itemid=1

[edit] External links

[0] ttp://www.fedefutbolpr.com/noticias/feb09.html

[1] Puerto Rico Soccer League

[2] "Equipos jugarán con emblemas del Sevilla, River Plate, Fluminense y Pachuca" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2008-06-10. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/otros/acciondeportiva/equipos_jugaran_con_emblemas_del_sevilla,_river_plate,_fluminense_y_pachuca/199179. Retrieved 2008-06-12.

[3] Jorge J. Muñiz Ortiz (2008-06-27). "Comienza Liga profesional de fútbol en Puerto Rico" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/otros/acciondeportiva/comienza_liga_profesional_de_futbol_en_puerto_rico/205213. Retrieved 2008-06-27.

[4] ttp://futbolboricua.blogspot.com/2009/08/analizando-la-prsl-y-la-liguilla.html

[5] ttp://prsoccer.org/index.php?option=com_joomleague&func=eventsstats&p=4&evid=2&Itemid=1

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