Primera División A (Méxican First A Division) is a Mexican football tournament. This season was composed of Invierno 2002 and Verano 2003. Irapuato was the winner of the promotion to First Division after winning León in the promotion playoff.
Changes for the 2002–03 season Due to the creation of Jaguares de Chiapas, Atlético Chiapas moved to Mérida and renamed Atlético Yucatán. Querétaro F.C. was promoted to First Division after bought the La Piedad franchise. To occupy the site left by Querétaro, the owners created a new Irapuato F.C. franchise. Toros Neza was bought by new owners, for that reason the team was relocated to Nuevo Laredo and its renamed Gavilanes de Nuevo Laredo. Potros Zitácuaro was relocated to Mexico City and renamed Potros DF, as an Atlante F.C. reserve team. Due to the lack of local economic support, Tampico Madero was sold, the new owners moved the team to La Piedad, to revive the local team that had lost its place in Liga MX. Gallos de Aguascalientes had to sell its franchise, because its stadium was demolished and the alternative presented by the club was not approved by the Femexfut. C.D. Guadalajara bought the team and refounded the C.D. Tapatío based in Guadalajara. Bachilleres was sold, the owners argue sports and administrative reasons. The new board relocated the team to Orizaba and renamed as Albinegros de Orizaba. Club León was relegated from First Division. Cihuatlán was promoted from Second Division.
Changes for the Verano 2003 tournament Potros DF was relocated to Tapachula and renamed to Jaguares de Tapachula. Albinegros de Orizaba was relocated to Villahermosa and renamed Lagartos de Tabasco. La Piedad was relocated to Celaya and renamed Celaya F.C. Gavilanes de Nuevo Laredo was disaffiliated by the FMF, for that reason, the team did not play in this tournament.
Stadiums and locations ClubStadiumCapacityCityAcapulcoUnidad Deportiva Acapulco13,000Acapulco, GuerreroAtlético MexiquenseNemesio Díez35,000Toluca, State of MexicoCihuatlánEl Llanito5,000Cihuatlán, JaliscoCobras JuárezOlímpico Benito Juárez22,000Ciudad Juárez, ChihuahuaCorrecaminos UATMarte R. Gómez20,000Ciudad Victoria, TamaulipasCruz Azul Hidalgo10 de Diciembre17,000Cruz Azul, HidalgoDurangoFrancisco Zarco15,000Durango, DurangoGavilanesUnidad Deportiva Benito Juárez6,500Nuevo Laredo, TamaulipasIrapuatoSergio León Chávez26,000Irapuato, GuanajuatoLa PiedadJuan N. López18,000La Piedad, MichoacánLeónNou Camp35,000León, GuanajuatoNacional TijuanaCerro Colorado12,000Tijuana, Baja CaliforniaOaxacaBenito Juárez15,000Oaxaca, OaxacaOrizabaSocum7,000Orizaba, VeracruzPotros DFCentro de Alto Rendimiento1,000Mexico CityRS ZacatecasFrancisco Villa18,000Zacatecas, ZacatecasTapatíoJalisco55,000Guadalajara, JaliscoTigrillosFrancisco I. Madero10,000Saltillo, CoahuilaYucatánCarlos Iturralde25,000Mérida, YucatánZacatepecAgustín Coruco Díaz18,000Zacatepec, Morelos
Clausura 2003 new teams ClubStadiumCapacityCityCelayaMiguel Alemán Valdés25,000Celaya, GuanajuatoLagartos de TabascoOlímpico de Villahermosa12,000Villahermosa, TabascoJaguares de TapachulaOlímpico de Tapachula10,000Tapachula, Chiapas
Invierno 2002 Group league tables Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
General league table
Results
Reclassification series
First leg
Second leg
Liguilla
(p.t.) The team was classified by its best position in the general table
Quarter-finals
First leg
Second leg
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Final
First leg
Second leg
Top scorers ScorerGoalsTeam Héctor Carlos Álvarez23Zacatepec Josias Ferreira15Irapuato Carlos Fretes15RS Zacatecas Cristian Ariel Morales13Oaxaca Martín Vilallonga12León Carlos Reyes12Nacional Tijuana
Verano 2003 Group league tables Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
General league table
Results
Reclassification series
First leg
Second leg
Liguilla
(p.t.) The team was classified by its best position in the general table
Quarter-finals
First leg
Second leg
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Final
First leg
Second leg
Top scorers ScorerGoalsTeam Julio César Yegros9León Héctor Carlos Álvarez8Zacatepec Adelino Batista7Correcaminos UAT Ulises Mendivil5Cihuatlán Valtencir Gómes5Tigrillos
Relegation table P Team Pts 1 León 66 37 2 Cihuatlán 65 37 3 Irapuato 188 113 4 Tapatío 184 113 5 Oaxaca 57 37 6 Celaya 115 75 7 Correcaminos UAT 173 113 8 Zacatepec 164 113 9 RS Zacatecas 153 113 10 Atlético Mexiquense 147 113 11 Acapulco 145 113 12 Nacional Tijuana 141 113 13 Durango 141 113 14 Tigrillos 137 113 15 Yucatán 137 113 16 Cruz Azul Hidalgo 135 113 17 Tabasco 134 113 18 Cobras Juárez 133 113 19 Jaguares de Tapachula 82 75 * Gavilanes 122 95
Campeón de Ascenso 2003 The promotion final faced Irapuato against León to determine the winner of the First Division Promotion. Irapuato was the winner. Before the celebration of the games a controversy was unleashed, because it was made believe that the board of the Club Leon had acquired the Irapuato. Subsequently, an armed command supposedly paid by the owners of the León occupied the Sergio León Chávez stadium, a few days later the fans recovered the building accompanied by police and military elements.
First leg
Second leg
References