2017–18 Liga Panameña de Fútbol season

The 2017–18 Liga Panameña de Fútbol season (also known as the Liga Cable Onda) was the 28th season of top-flight football in Panama. The season began on 17 July 2017 and was scheduled to end in May 2018. Ten teams competed throughout the entire season.

Liga Panameña de Fútbol
Season2017–18
ChampionsApertura: Chorrillo (3rd title)
Clausura: Independiente (1st title)
Champions LeagueIndependiente
CONCACAF LeagueChorrillo
Árabe Unido
Tauro
Matches played65
Goals scored134 (2.06 per match)
Biggest home winPlaza Amador 3-0 Chorrillo
Chorrillo 3-0 Atletico Veraguense
Highest scoringSan Francisco 2-3 Atletico Veraguense

Teams edit

Atlético Nacional finished in 10th place in the overall table last season and were relegated to the Liga Nacional de Ascenso. Taking their place for this season are the overall champions of last season's Liga Nacional de Ascenso, Independiente.

Club Home city Stadium
Alianza Panama City Cancha de Entranamiento Luis Tapia
Árabe Unido Colón Armando Dely Valdes
Atletico Veraguense Santiago de Veraguas Aristocles "Toco" Castillo
Chorrillo Panama City Estadio Maracaná
Independiente La Chorrera Estadio Maracaná
Plaza Amador Panama City Estadio Maracaná
San Francisco La Chorrera Estadio Agustín Sánchez
Santa Gema Arraiján Estadio Agustín Sánchez
Sporting San Miguelito San Miguelito Cancha de Entrenamiento Luis Tapia
Tauro Panama City Estadio Rommel Fernandez

Managerial changes edit

Before the start of the season edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
TBD   TBD Sacked May 2017   TBD May 2017 th (TBD)
Alianza   Mario Anthony Torres Sacked May 2017   Juan Carlos Cubilla May 2017 th (TBD)
Atletico Veraguense   Andres Dominguez Resigned June 2017   Edgar Ramos June 2017 th (TBD)
Santa Gema   Leopoldo Lee Sacked June 2017   José Mario Anthony Torres June 2017 th (TBD)
Independiente   Sacked May 2017   Jorge Dely Valdés May 2017 th (TBD)
San Francisco   Pascual Moreno Interimship moved to full time coach May 2017   Pascual Moreno May 2017 th (TBD)

During the Apertura season edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
San Francisco   Pascual Moreno Sacked August 2017   Andres Dominguez August 2017 10th (Apertura 2017)
Alianza   Juan Carlos Cubilla Sacked August 2017   Daniel Valencia August 2017 10th (Apertura 2017)
Sporting San Miguelito   Javier Miller Sacked August 2017   Víctor René Mendieta August 2017 10th (Apertura 2017)

Between Apertura and Clausura seasons edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Plaza Amador   Jair Palcios Contract finished November 2017   Juan Carlos García December 2017 12th (Apertura 2017)
Alianza   Daniel Valencia Moved back to Assistant coach November 2017   Jair Palacios November 2017 12th (Apertura 2017)
Atletico Veraguense   Edgar Ramos Moved back to Assistant coach November 2017   Marcos Pimentel November 2017 12th (Apertura 2017)
Independiente   Jorge Dely Valdés Sacked November 2017   Donaldo Gonzales November 2017 12th (Apertura 2017)
Arabe Unidos   Sergio Guzman Sacked December 2017   Carlos Ruiz January 2018 12th (Apertura 2017)

During the Clausura season edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Atletico Veraguense   Marcos Pimentel Sacked February 2018   Javier Reales February 2018 10th (Clausura 2018)
Sporting San Miguelito   Victor Rene Mendieta Sacked February 2018   Noel Guiterrez February 2018 10th (Clausura 2018)
Chorillo   Richard Resigned March 2018   Óscar Upegui March 2018 10th (Clausura 2018)

2017 Apertura edit

Personnel and sponsoring (2017 Apertura) edit

Team Chairman Head Coach Kitmaker Shirt sponsor
Alianza   TBD   Daniel Valencia x keuka Balboa
Árabe Unido   TBD   Juan Sergio Guzmán x kelme Pizza Hut
Atletico Veraguense   TBD   Edgar Ramos x keuka EGS, NCO
Chorrillo     Richard Parra x adidas McDonald's, Cremoso
Independiente     Jorge Dely Valdés x adidas
Plaza Amador   TBD   Jair Palacios x umbro Páguela Facil, Frosquito, Mercana
Santa Gema     Jose Mario Torres x kelme ShowPro
San Francisco  Julio Quijano   Andres Dominguez x puma KFC, Canon, Banco General
Sporting San Miguelito   TBD   Javier Miller x keuka Kenwood, Hyundai
Tauro   TBD   Rolando Palma x Patrick Publica Amarias, Dominos, Estrella Azul, Argos, Capital Bank

Standings edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Tauro 18 9 7 2 25 13 +12 34 Qualified to the Final Round
2 Plaza Amador 18 9 6 3 22 12 +10 33
3 Árabe Unido 18 8 9 1 21 11 +10 33
4 Chorrillo 18 6 8 4 21 17 +4 26
5 Atletico Veraguense 18 7 4 7 22 27 −5 25
6 Independiente 18 6 4 8 11 18 −7 22
7 San Francisco 18 5 5 8 23 24 −1 20
8 Sporting San Miguelito 18 3 8 7 17 22 −5 17
9 Santa Gema 18 3 6 9 14 21 −7 15
10 Alianza 18 3 5 10 12 23 −11 14
Updated to match(es) played on 1 October 2017. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results edit

Home \ Away ALI ÁRU ATV CHO IND PA SAN SF SSM TAU
Alianza 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–2 2–2 0–0
Árabe Unido 2–1 4–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–0
Atletico Veraguense 3–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 1–2
Chorrillo 2–1 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–0
Independiente 1–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–3 1–0 2–1 0–0 0–2
Plaza Amador 0–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0
Santa Gema 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–3 0–0
San Francisco 3–0 0–2 2–3 1–1 0–1 2–1 2–3 1–0 1–2
Sporting San Miguelito 1–3 0–0 2–2 0–2 2–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–2
Tauro 2–0 0–0 4–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 4–3 1–0
Updated to match(es) played on 1 October 2017. Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second stage edit

Semifinals Final
        
1 Tauro 0 1 1
4 Chorrillo 0 2 2
Chorrillo 5
Árabe Unido 1
2 Plaza Amador 1 0 1(4)
3 Árabe Unido 0 1 1(5)

Semifinals edit

First legs
Chorrillo0 – 0Tauro
None None

Tauro1 – 2Chorrillo
Jose Gomez   58' Roberto Blackburn   28'   45'
Second legs
Árabe Unido0 – 1Plaza Amador
None Ernesto Sinclair   60'

Plaza Amador(4)0 – 1(5)Árabe Unido
None Nelson Barahona   46'

Finals edit

Grand Final
Chorrillo5 – 1Árabe Unido
Alfredo Stephens   7'   27'
Samir Ramirez   63'
Rolando Blackburn   82'
Luis Hurtado   87'
Enrico Small   pen.' (73)
Estadio Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez
Referee: Ameth Sanchez


 Apertura 2017 champions 
Chorrillo
3rd title

2018 Clausura edit

Personnel and sponsoring (2018 Clausura) edit

Team Chairman Head Coach Kitmaker Shirt sponsor
Alianza   TBD   Jair Palacios x Lotto Balboa
Árabe Unido   TBD   Carlos Ruiz Velásquez x Puma Pizza Hut
Independiente F.C.     Donaldo Gonzalez x Lotto Subway
Atletico Veraguense   TBD   Javier Reales x GEMS EGS, NCO
Chorrillo     Óscar Upegui x Lotto McDonald's, Cremoso
Plaza Amador   TBD   Juan Carlos García x Diadora Páguela Facil, Frosquito, Mercana
Santa Gema     José Mario Anthony "Chalate" Torres x Mitre ShowPro
San Francisco  Julio Quijano   Andrés Domínguez x Lotto KFC, Canon, Banco General
Sporting San Miguelito   TBD   Noel Guiterrez x Joma Kenwood, Hyundai
Tauro   TBD   Sergio Angulo x Patrick Publicar Páginas Amarillas

Standings edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Árabe Unido 18 8 6 4 23 16 +7 30 Qualified to the Final Round
2 Independiente 18 8 5 5 28 21 +7 29
3 San Francisco 18 7 8 3 19 12 +7 29
4 Tauro 18 7 7 4 25 21 +4 28
5 Alianza 18 7 6 5 21 13 +8 27
6 Chorrillo 18 5 8 5 15 17 −2 23
7 Sporting San Miguelito 18 5 7 6 22 26 −4 22
8 Santa Gema 18 4 9 5 11 13 −2 21
9 Plaza Amador 18 5 4 9 16 20 −4 19
10 Atletico Veraguense 18 2 4 12 13 34 −21 10
Updated to match(es) played on season start. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results edit

Home \ Away ALI ÁRU ATV CHO IND PA SAN SF SSM TAU
Alianza 2–1
Árabe Unido 2–0
Atletico Veraguense
Chorrillo 1–0
Independiente
Plaza Amador
Santa Gema 1–1
San Francisco
Sporting San Miguelito
Tauro
Updated to match(es) played on season start. Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second stage edit

Semifinals Final
        
1 Árabe Unido 0 2 2
4 Tauro 2 2 4
Tauro 0
Independiente 1
2 Independiente 0 3 3
3 San Francisco 1 1 2

Semifinals edit

First legs
Tauro2 – 0Árabe Unido
Marcos Sanchez   24'
Adalberto Carrasquilla   90'
None

Árabe Unido2 – 2Tauro
Carlos Small   15'
Joseph Cox   80'
Enrico Small   103'   106'
Second legs
San Francisco1 – 0Independiente
Cristian Zuniga   39' None

Independiente3 – 1San Francisco
Jose Fajardo   56'   66'
Eric Vasquez (o.g.)
Julian Verlarde   24'

Finals edit

Grand Final
Tauro0 – 1Independiente
None Omar Browne   pen.' (39)


 Clausura 2018 champions 
Independiente
1st title

List of foreign players in the league edit

This is a list of foreign players for the 2017-2018. The following players:

  1. have played at least one game for the respective club.
  2. have not been capped for the Panama national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace

  (player released mid season)

Aggregate table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Árabe Unido 36 16 15 5 44 27 +17 63 2018 CONCACAF League
2 Tauro 36 16 14 6 51 34 +17 62
3 Plaza Amador 36 14 10 12 38 32 +6 52
4 Independiente 36 14 9 13 39 39 0 51 2019 CONCACAF Champions League
5 San Francisco 36 12 13 11 42 36 +6 49
6 Chorrillo 36 11 16 9 37 35 +2 49 2018 CONCACAF League
7 Alianza 36 10 11 15 33 36 −3 41
8 Sporting San Miguelito 36 8 15 13 39 49 −10 39
9 Santa Gema 36 7 15 14 25 34 −9 36
10 Atletico Veraguense 36 9 8 19 35 61 −26 35 Relegation to 2018–19 Liga de Ascenso
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

External links edit