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2021–22 FFB Top League

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FFB Top League
Season2021–2022
Dates23 October 2021 – 24 April 2022
ChampionsOpening:
Verdes
Closing:
Verdes
CONCACAF LeagueVerdes
Matches played60
Goals scored181 (3.02 per match)
Top goalscorerOpening:
Krisean Lopez
Junior Vargas
Sean Young
(7 goals)
Closing:
Juan Carlos Lopez
Krisean Lopez
Andres Orozco
(5 goals)
Longest winning runOpening:
9 matches
Verdes
Closing:
9 matches
Verdes
Longest unbeaten runOpening:
10 matches
Verdes
Closing:
10 matches
Verdes
Longest winless runOpening:
10 matches
Caesar Ridge
Closing:
8 matches
Caesar Ridge
Longest losing runOpening:
6 matches
Caesar Ridge
Closing:
6 matches
Caesar Ridge

The 2021–22 FFB Top League was the inaugural and only season of the FFB Top League, sanctioned by the Football Federation of Belize (FFB), taking over from the Premier League of Belize (PLB) as the highest competitive football league in Belize. There were two seasons spread over two years, the opening (played towards the end of 2021) and the closing (played at the beginning of 2022).

The FFB Top League was put in place by the FFB due to the PLB being subject to restrictions mandated by the Supreme Court of Belize.[1] The formation of the league will fulfil the requirement made by FIFA to restart football in Belize, as well as protecting the participating berth for the FFB for the 2022 CONCACAF League.[2]

The FFB expected to only administer the 2021–22 tournament, providing that the PLB legal matters will be resolved during this time.[3]

Teams

[edit]

Six teams were successful in meeting all of the requirements to compete in the inaugural season. From the 2019–20 Premier League of Belize closing season, four teams joined the opening season of the FFB Top League. These were Altitude, San Pedro Pirates, Verdes and Wagiya. The additional two teams were made up of Caesar Ridge from Belize City, who previously competed in amateur level competitions in the country, and Garden City, a newly formed team from Belmopan.[4]

On 17 October 2021 the most successful team in the PLB era, Belmopan Bandits, released a statement confirming that they will not participate in the FFB Top League. The Bandits refused to sign a participation agreement created by the FFB, citing several reasons.[5]

For the opening season, all games were played at the Isidoro Beaton Stadium in Belmopan with no fans in attendance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] For the closing season, games were played at various stadiums around the country, including the FFB Stadium in Belmopan. 500 fully vaccinated fans were allowed to attend per game.[6]

Team City
Altitude Independence
Caesar Ridge Belize City
Garden City Belmopan
San Pedro Pirates San Pedro
Verdes San Ignacio
Wagiya Dangriga

Opening season

[edit]

The team that accumulates the most points at the end of the ten rounds of games will be crowned as the opening season champion. The opening season commenced on 23 October 2021.[7]

League table

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Verdes (C) 10 9 1 0 34 8 +26 28 Qualification for the 2022 CONCACAF League
2 Altitude 10 6 2 2 20 9 +11 20
3 San Pedro Pirates 10 4 3 3 11 9 +2 15
4 Garden City 10 4 1 5 14 15 −1 13
5 Wagiya 10 1 3 6 12 19 −7 6
6 Caesar Ridge 10 0 2 8 9 40 −31 2
Source: Soccerway
(C) Champions

Results

[edit]
Home \ Away ALT CAE GAR SPE VER WAG
Altitude 5–2 2–0 1–0 0–2 2–1
Caesar Ridge 0–6 2–3 1–2 0–3 1–3
Garden City 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–3 5–2
San Pedro Pirates 0–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 0–0
Verdes 3–2 13–1 1–0 3–0 3–2
Wagiya 0–0 1–1 0–2 2–3 1–2
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

[edit]

Top scorers

[edit]
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Belize Krisean Lopez Verdes 7
Paraguay Junior Vargas Verdes
Belize Sean Young Caesar Ridge
4 Colombia Dayro Gomez Wagiya 5
Belize Jordy Polanco Verdes
Belize Ashley Torres Altitude
Belize Luis Torres Altitude
Mexico Edwin Villeda Verdes

Hat-tricks

[edit]
Player For Against Result Date
Paraguay Junior Vargas Verdes Caesar Ridge 13–1 (H) 24 October 2021
Belize Krisean Lopez4
Notes

4 Player scored 4 goals

Awards

[edit]

The individual awards for the opening season were announced after the final game on 19 December 2021.[8]

Award Recipient Team
Most Goals Belize Krisean Lopez Verdes
Paraguay Junior Vargas Verdes
Belize Sean Young Caesar Ridge
MVP Belize Krisean Lopez Verdes
Best Young Player Belize Wilfredo Galvez Garden City
Best Forward Belize Sean Young Caesar Ridge
Best Midfielder Belize Jordy Polanco Verdes
Best Defender Belize Asrel Sutherland San Pedro Pirates
Best Goalkeeper Belize Woodrow West Verdes
Best Coach Spain David Pérez Asensio Verdes
Best Manager Belize Lorin Frazer Verdes

Closing season

[edit]

The format will be the same as the opening season, with the team that accumulates the most points at the end of the ten rounds of games being crowned as the closing season champion. The closing season commenced on 5 February 2022.[6]

League table

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Verdes (C) 10 9 1 0 28 2 +26 28 Qualification for the 2022 CONCACAF League
2 Altitude 10 5 3 2 15 8 +7 18
3 San Pedro Pirates 10 5 2 3 15 7 +8 17
4 Garden City 10 2 3 5 7 19 −12 9
5 Caesar Ridge 10 2 1 7 9 26 −17 7
6 Wagiya 10 1 2 7 7 19 −12 5
Updated to match(es) played on 24 April 2022. Source: Soccerway
(C) Champions

Results

[edit]
Home \ Away ALT CAE GAR SPE VER WAG
Altitude 1–1 2–0 4–2 0–0 3–0
Caesar Ridge 0–2 0–1 0–3 0–7 4–3
Garden City 2–2 1–2 0–0 0–4 1–1
San Pedro Pirates 1–0 1–0 6–0 0–1 1–1
Verdes 2–0 5–1 2–1 1–0 5–0
Wagiya 0–1 2–1 0–1 0–1 0–1
Updated to match(es) played on 24 April 2022. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

[edit]

Top scorers

[edit]
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Mexico Juan Carlos Lopez Verdes 5
Belize Krisean Lopez Verdes
Colombia Andres Orozco Altitude
4 Belize Jovaunn Ramos Verdes 4
5 Belize Horace Avila San Pedro Pirates 3
Belize Mario Chimal San Pedro Pirates
Belize Moises Hernandez San Pedro Pirates
Belize Warren Moss Wagiya
Mexico Edwin Villeda Verdes
Belize Sean Young Garden City

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Football strife; Bandits not happy with FFB". Amandala. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  2. ^ "New national football competition begins this weekend; SP Pirates FC plays home away game". The San Pedro Sun. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Football Federation of Belize announces Top League Tournament 2021/2022". Breaking Belize News. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  4. ^ "FFB Top League under way at Isidoro Beaton Stadium". Amandala. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Belmopan Bandits issues press release". Amandala. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Fans to be allowed as Football Federation Top League Tournament kicks off on Saturday". Breaking Belize News. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  7. ^ "San Pedro Pirates FC beat Garden City FC at opening of FFB Top League tournament". The San Pedro Sun. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Verdes undefeated Top League champs; Altitude sub-champs". Amandala. 25 December 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.