The 2018–19 Liga FPD season, also known as Campeonato Banco Popular for sponsorship reasons, is the 98th since its establishment. The tournament is the second since the 2006–07 season to use the Apertura and Clausura names to their short tournaments, marking a departure from the Invierno and Verano tournaments.
The Voit Lummo is the official match ball of the tournament. Deportivo Saprissa are the defending champions, after defeating Herediano in the Clausura 2018 tournament.
Teams and Structure Changes A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 11 sides from the 2017–18 season, one team promoted from the Liga de Ascenso.
San Carlos were promoted for the first time to the Liga FPD after defeating Jicaral in the Liga de Ascenso final, thus replacing Liberia in the Liga FPD.
For this season, the league has changed the playoff format. The top 4 teams in the regular season will progress to a two-legged knockout tournament. If the same team that wins the regular season wins the playoff, that team wins the season championship immediately. Should a different team win the playoff than won the regular season, those two teams will meet in a two-legged Grand Final for the season championship.
Personnel, kits and Stadia
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s) Stadium Capacity Alajuelense Luis Diego Arnáez Kelme Claro Alejandro Morera Soto Carmelita Mario Víquez Monarca Almacenes Decavisa Estadio Rafael Bolaños Cartaginés Martin Arriola Joma Bancrédito "Fello" Meza Municipal Grecia Walter Centeno Living Sports Super Rosvil Estadio Allen Riggioni Guadalupe F.C. Geiner Segura Pirma Papa John's Pizza Estadio José Joaquín "Coyella" Fonseca Herediano Jaime de la Pava Umbro kölbi Eladio Rosabal Cordero Limón Ricardo Allen Thomas Sportek APM Terminals Estadio Juan Gobán Pérez Zeledón José Giacone Textiles JB kölbi Municipal de Pérez Zeledón San Carlos Martin Cardetti ARN Dos Pinos Estadio Carlos Ugalde Álvarez Santos Johnny Chaves Capelli Sport Grupo Colono Ebal Rodríguez Saprissa Vladimir Quesada Kappa Bimbo, Ibérico Ricardo Saprissa UCR Minor Díaz Saeta TBD Estadio Jorge Hernán "Cuty" Monge
Managerial changes
Before the start of the season
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyReplaced byDate of appointmentPosition in table CF Universidad de Costa Rica TBD Resigned June 2018 Octavio Bermúdez July 2018 TBD (2017–2018) Herediano TBD Resigned June 2018 Jaime de la Pava July 2018 TBD (2017–2018) Cartaginés TBD Resigned June 2018 Paulo Wanchope July 2018 TBD (2017–2018)
During the Apertura season Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Limón F.C. Horacio Esquivel Resigned September 2018 Ricardo Allen Thomas September 2018 12th (Apertura 2018) Herediano Jaime de la Pava Sacked September 2018 Jafet Soto September 2018 th (Apertura 2018) C.S. Cartaginés Paulo Wanchope Resigned September 2018 Martin Arriola September 2018 th (Apertura 2018) Limón F.C. Ricardo Allen Thomas Moved to assistant coach September 2018 Marvin Solano September 2018 th (Apertura 2018) UCR Octavio Bermúdez Sacked October 2018 Minor Díaz October 2018 12th (Apertura 2018) Herediano Jafet Soto Sacked October 2018 Paulo Wanchope October 2018 th (Apertura 2018) Carmelita Mario Víquez Sacked October 2018 Luis José Herra y Luis Carlos Mejías October 2018 th (Apertura 2018)
Between the Apertura and Clausura season Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Herediano Jafet Soto Sacked December 2018 Hernan Medford December 2018 12th (Apertura 2018)
During the Clausura season Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table San Carlos Martin Cardetti Sacked January 2019 Luis Marin January 2019 th (Apertura 2018) Alajuelense Luis Diego Arnáez Sacked January 2019 Hernán Torres January 2019 th (Apertura 2018) Herediano Hernan Medford Sacked March 2019 Jafet Soto March 2019 th (Apertura 2018) Limon Marvin Solano Sacked February 2019 Ricardo Allen February 2019 th (Apertura 2018)
Apertura The Apertura tournament will be played in the second half of 2018, starting on 21 July.
Regular season The regular season began on 21 July 2018 and ended on 11 November 2018.
On 17 October 2018, the match between Limón and Grecia was suspended in the 25th minute due to a waterlogged pitch. The remaining 65 minutes were played the next day.
Standings
Results
Playoffs
Semifinals First legs
Second legs
Finals First leg
Second leg
Grand final If the regular season winners are unable to win the playoffs, a double-legged final will be played against the playoffs winner in order to determine the champions of the Apertura tournament. The team with the better accumulated record over the regular season and playoffs will host the second leg.
First leg
Second leg
Clausura Regular season The regular season began on 12 January 2019 and will end of 28 April 2019.
Standings
Results
Playoffs
Semifinals First legs
Second legs
San Carlos progress 4–3 on aggregate.
Saprissa progress 3–2 on aggregate.
Finals First leg
Second leg
1–1 on aggregate. San Carlos wins 1–0 on away goals.
Grand final If the regular season winners are unable to win the playoffs, a double-legged final will be played against the playoffs winner in order to determine the champions of the Clausura tournament. The team with the better accumulated record over the regular season and playoffs will host the second leg. For this tournament, San Carlos won both the regular season and playoffs, so they were declared champions without a grand final.
Aggregate table
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 Costa Rica national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace
A new rule was introduced this season, that clubs can have four foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or a player is released and it's before the close of the season transfer window.
Alajuelense Abdiel Arroyo Alexander López Luis Garrido Roger Rojas Henry Figueroa Maalique Foster Facundo Zabala
Carmelita Amir Waithe Jonathan Camio
Cartaginés Hernán Fener Nelson Barahona Julio Cruz González Juan Felipe Delgadillo Marcel Hernández Campanioni
Grecia Paulo Cézar Byron Bonilla Víctor Pérez Lucas Giovagnoli
Herdiano Aldo Magaña Omar Arellano Édgar Gerardo Lugo Antonio Pedroza
Guadalupe Lautaro Ayala Sebastián González Alejandro Abasolo Moisés Arce
Limón Carlos Palacios Ronald Benavides Junior Murillo Richard Dixon Humberto Ward Javier Clavijo
Pérez Zeledón Leandro Gastón Rodríguez Javier Liendo Pablo Azcurra Lauro Cazal Lucio Barroca
San Carlos Manuel González Ismael Gómez Fabrizio Ronchetti Jonathan Soto Claudio Daniel Pérez
Santos de Guápiles Francisco Flores Victor Griffith Ronaldo Dinolis Fabrizio Ronchetti
Deportivo Saprissa Mariano Torres Alejandro Cabral Tássio Maia Aubrey David Rubilio Castillo
Universidad Andres Riascos Jhon Ibargüen Fernando Cárdenas Daniel Ocampo Sebastián Bermúdez Román Calvo Luis Rodríguez
(player released during the Apertura season) (player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons) (player released during the Clausura season)
External links (CR Hoy -Spanish) (Nacion – Spanish) (Everardo herrera – Spanish)
References