Liga MX Femenil

Liga MX Femenil

Organising body	Mexican Football Federation
Founded	December 5, 2016; 4 years ago (2016-12-05)
Country	Mexico
Confederation	CONCACAF
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	Copa MX Femenil
Current champions	UANL (4th title) (Guard1anes 2021)
Most championships	UANL (4 titles)
TV partners	ESPN[1] Fox Sports[2] Televisa[3] TVC Deportes[4] TV Azteca[5] TVP
Website	Website
Current: 2021–22 Liga MX Femenil season

The Liga BBVA MX Femenil is the highest division of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, this professional league has 18 teams, each coinciding with a Liga MX squad.^[6] Following the same schedule as the men's league, each season has two halves: an apertura tournament, which takes place from July to December, and a clausura tournament, which takes place from January to May. The league's first official competitions took place in May 2017 via the Copa MX Femenil, while the inaugural season began in July 2017.^[7] Liga MX CEO Enrique Bonilla stated the league was created in order to nurture the stars of the Mexico women's national football team and build an infrastructure for women's football nationwide.^[8]

The current champions are Tigres UANL who defeated Guadalajara 7–4 on aggregate in the Guard1anes 2021 final on 31 May 2021.

History[]

Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil[]

In 2007, there was an attempt to professionalize women's football in Mexico via the Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil. While the league did foster some success, particularly when Mexico's national team beat the United States for the first time in 2010,^[9] it did not have a major sponsorship and lacked media coverage. Likewise, major clubs, such as Chivas de Guadalajara, pulled their support. As a result, the league was relegated to semi-professional status.^{[citation needed]}

NWSL[]

In 2012, the United States Soccer Federation, the Canadian Soccer Association, the Mexican Football Federation, the USL W-League, and the Women's Premier Soccer League met to form the National Women's Soccer League. With its inaugural season in 2013, during which Mexican player Renae Cuéllar scored the first ever goal for the league, Mexico allocated players in an effort to build talent in North America. However, by 2016, the Mexican Football Federation announced it would no longer allocate players, which foreshadowed the Liga MX Femenil.

First team[]

Marbella Ibarra was an enthusiastic football advocate interceded with Xolos of Tijuana to persuade them to create a women's team in 2014. Andrea Rodebaugh, former national team player and U-20 women's national team coach, took the helm during the program's stint in the Women's Premier Soccer League^[10]

A New Mexican League[]

Preparation[]

In December 2016, during a general assembly meeting with all Liga MX club owners in the new Mexican Football Federation headquarters, Liga MX CEO Enrique Bonilla announced the formation of the new Liga MX Femenil.^[11] In an effort to grow and build talent within Mexico, he announced that 16 Liga MX clubs (excluding Puebla and Chiapas due to financial problems) would field U-23 rosters with four U-17 players and up to two overage players.^[11]

Before the inaugural season the teams took part in a domestic cup called Copa MX Femenil in May 2017.^[12] The tournament took place between 3 May and 6 May 2017 with only 12 of the 16 teams participating due to four not having a team ready.^[13] Pachuca won the final 9–1 against Club Tijuana.^[14]

First season[]

The first Apertura matches were played on 28 July 2017. The Chivas won the league championship on November 24, 2017, defeating Pachuca in the last match of a two-match playoff. The two matches drew record-setting crowds of 28,955 and 32,466 spectators, respectively.^[15][16]

Commentator Glenn Moore declared the Liga MX Femenil to have concluded a "very successful debut campaign."^[17]

Regulations[]

During the inaugural season, teams were expected to field U-23 rosters; four slots were reserved for U-17 players, while two were for overage players. All players had to be born in Mexico. Additionally, the sixteen teams were split into two groups. Teams in each group played each other twice per season. The top two teams from each group advanced to the playoffs, which would be a semifinal of two matches (home and away) followed by a final, also of two matches.

After the first season, the rules mostly stayed the same. However, the U-23 limit was raised to U-24. As for the playoffs, they were expanded to eight teams. The top four teams from each group moved on to the liguilla, with the top team from one group playing the fourth ranked team from the other in the quarterfinals.

For the third season, the age limit was raised to 25, but each team was allowed to field up to 6 overage players at a time. In addition, the groups were undone, so each team would play each other at least once during the season. Foreign-born Mexican players were also allowed to play, with up to six allowed per team. This decision brought in more players from the NCAA as well as from the NWSL and Spain's Primera División. Previously, only Alejandría Godínez, Pachuca's goalkeeper, represented the NCAA as an alumna of DePaul.

For the fifth season, Liga MX Femenil allows each team to field two foreign-born non-Mexican players. On 25 June 2021, Tigres UANL became the first league side to do make use of this option, by signing Stefany Ferrer, a Spaniard of Brazilian descent who had started her career in her native Spain and had also played in the United States. On the other hand, Guadalajara is the only team that does not resort to this type of signings, following the club Mexican-nationalist policy.

Although Liga MX Femenil serves to improve the performance of their players of Mexican citizenship in the face of eventual call-ups for the Mexico women's national team, they (both born in as outside Mexico) can also choose other national team they were eligible. Thus, Mexican-born Tijuana midfielder Valentina Oviedo has played for Colombia at under–20 level, while foreign-born Santos Laguna forward Linda Frías has played for El Salvador at senior level.

Notable Results[]

The league set history as the final between Monterrey and Tigres was the highest attended club match in women's soccer history, with a total of 51,211 fans attending the match played at the Estadio BBVA. After the Spanish final of 2019, that record was broken, but Mexico still holds 7 out of the 10 highest attendance records for club games. This is in addition to Mexico's record for highest attendance of any women's sporting event, which took place during the 1971 Women's World Cup Final in the Estadio Azteca.

On October 5, 2019, the Liga MX Femenil and the NWSL hosted their first ever international friendly. Tigres hosted their fellow CONCACAF rivals the Houston Dash in the Estadio Universitario. Tigres won that match 2–1. The following year, Houston won the inaugural Challenge Cup, while Tigres finished second in the Apertura 2019.

Club Changes[]

During the inaugural season, 16 out of 18 of the Liga MX teams fielded a women's squad. Chiapas and Puebla were given a pass given their financial struggles. However, by the second season, all 18 teams fielded a squad. By then, Chiapas had been relegated to Ascenso MX, while Lobos BUAP had been promoted to the top division. As such, Lobos BUAP and Puebla both had women's squads.

For the third season, the field expanded to 19 teams, as Atlético San Luis was promoted to Liga MX while no team was relegated. Their promotion also introduced Atlético San Luis Femenil. Additionally, Lobos BUAP was bought by then-second division FC Juárez, so the women's team moved from Puebla to Juárez to form FC Juárez Femenil. After the Apertura 2019, Veracruz folded, and with it meant the Tiburonas were now a defunct club as well, bringing the league back down to 18 teams.

Sponsorships[]

Just before the third season, BBVA México announced that it would sponsor the Liga MX Femenil in addition to Liga MX and Ascenso MX. With the sponsorship, which is slated for at least three years, the league's name was changed to Liga BBVA MX Femenil in June 2019. Each club also has sponsors for their jerseys, salaries, TV rights, and other factors.

Lower Divisions[]

In addition to the Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil, which facilitates the SuperLiga and the segunda división, Mexico is also home to the Liga Mayor Femenil. Most players in the Liga MX Femenil previously played in either of these existing leagues, as well as in various Mexican or US college teams and the WPSL.

Teams[]

The following 18 clubs will compete in the Liga MX Femenil during the 2020–21 season.

Guadalajara
Atlas

Atl. San Luis

León

UANL
Monterrey

Mazatlán

Necaxa

Pachuca

Puebla

Querétaro

Juárez

Santos Laguna

Tijuana

Toluca

Location of the 2020–21 Liga MX Femenil teams

América

UNAM

Cruz Azul

Location of the 2019–20 Liga MX Femenil teams in Greater Mexico City

Format[]

For the 2019 Apertura, teams were in one group of nineteen, while for the Clausura they were in a group of eighteen. After playing each other, the top eight teams advance to the "liguilla," the league's version of the playoffs. However, due to COVID-19, both the men's and women's leagues were suspended, and no champion was recognized.

Champions[]

Titles per club[]

Media coverage[]

• (*) All match times are Mexico City Time UTC−06:00 in January - Saturday before 1st Sunday in April and last Sunday in October - December; UTC-05:00 from 1st Sunday in April - Saturday before last Sunday in October.

Attendance[]

The attendance for the first regular season for the 16 teams was 307,202 for 112 matches, an average of 2,743 per match. The attendance for the 6 post-season matches was 104,804. The total attendance for 118 matches was 412,006, and average of 3,492 per match.^[37]

The league has set various attendance records for women's club soccer. The Tigres vs. Monterrey final in May 2018 saw over 51,000 attendees; this occupied the top spot in the world for nearly a year. Prior to this match, Mexico's other finals and rivalry games had also set new records or made it into the top 10 attendance records.^[38]

Managers[]

The current managers in the Liga MX Femenil are:

Nat.	Name	Club	Appointed	Time as manager
		Atlas	12 July 2018	3 years, 68 days
	Roberto Medina	UANL	31 May 2019	2 years, 110 days
	Carla Rossi	Querétaro	11 June 2020	1 year, 99 days
	Miguel Javid Hernández	Mazatlán	18 June 2020	1 year, 92 days
	Édgar Mejía	Guadalajara	31 July 2020	1 year, 49 days
		Toluca	22 September 2020	361 days
		León	9 December 2020	283 days
		Juárez	14 December 2020	278 days
	Carlos Roberto Pérez	Cruz Azul	22 December 2020	270 days
	Jorge Campos	Santos Laguna	19 January 2021	242 days
	Juan Carlos Cacho	Puebla	10 February 2021	220 days
	Jesús Palacios	Necaxa	26 May 2021	115 days
	Fabiola Vargas	Tijuana	31 May 2021	110 days
	Craig Harrington	América	4 June 2021	106 days
		UNAM	7 June 2021	103 days
	Eva Espejo	Monterrey	13 June 2021	97 days
		Atlético San Luis	18 June 2021	92 days
	Jaime Correa	Pachuca	13 August 2021	36 days

Top scorers[]

Tournament	Player	Club	Goals
Apertura 2017	Lucero Cuevas	América	15
Clausura 2018	Lucero Cuevas	América	15
Apertura 2018	Desirée Monsiváis	Monterrey	13
Clausura 2019	Fabiola Ibarra	Atlas	7
		Santos Laguna
Apertura 2019	Desirée Monsiváis	Monterrey	17
	Viridiana Salazar	Pachuca
Guardianes 2020	Katty Martínez	UANL	18
Guardianes 2021	Alison González	Atlas	18

References[]

External links[]

• Official website