2019–20 Premier League of Belize

The 2019–20 Premier League of Belize was the ninth season of the Premier League of Belize, the highest competitive football league in Belize, after it was founded in 2011. There were two seasons which were spread over two years.

Premier League of Belize
Season2019–20
Dates27 July 2019 – 11 March 2020
ChampionsOpening:
Verdes
Closing:
Season cancelled
CONCACAF LeagueVerdes
Matches played89
Goals scored296 (3.33 per match)
Top goalscorerOpening:
Mariano Landero (14)
Closing:
Georgie Welcome (8)
Biggest home winBelmopan Bandits 11-0 Placencia Assassins
(11 January 2020)
Biggest away winValley Pride Freedom Fighters 1-10 Verdes
(6 October 2019)
Highest scoringValley Pride Freedom Fighters 1-10 Verdes
(6 October 2019)
Belmopan Bandits 11-0 Placencia Assassins
(11 January 2020)
Longest winning run San Pedro Pirates (4)
Longest unbeaten runVerdes (15)
Longest winless runValley Pride Freedom Fighters (10)
Longest losing runValley Pride Freedom Fighters (7)

Teams
Team City Stadium Manager Captain
Altitude Independence Michael Ashcroft Stadium Belize Hilberto Muschamp Belize Jose Urbina
Belize Defence Force Belize City MCC Grounds Belize Jerome Serano Belize Osmar Duran
Belmopan Bandits Belmopan Isidoro Beaton Stadium Costa Rica Leroy Sherrier Lewis Belize Dalton Eiley
Placencia Assassins Placencia Placencia Football Field Belize Robert Muschamp Belize Ashley Torres
San Pedro Pirates San Pedro Ambergris Stadium Brazil Jorge Nunez Belize Jesse Smith
Valley Pride Freedom Fighters[lower-alpha 1] Dangriga Carl Ramos Stadium Belize Gerson Voss Belize Jacinto Bermudez
Verdes San Ignacio Norman Broaster Stadium Peru Cesar Martin Dall'Orso Belize Woodrow West
Wagiya Dangriga Carl Ramos Stadium Belize Francis Flores
  1. Valley Pride Freedom Fighters did not compete in the closing season.

Opening season

From the 2018–19 Premier League of Belize closing season, 7 teams continued to play in the opening season of 2019–20, with Placencia Assassins returning to the league to replace Police United. Freedom Fighters were also rebranded to Valley Pride Freedom Fighters and relocated to Dangriga from Punta Gorda.

There would be one league consisting of the 8 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The opening season commenced on 27 July 2019.[1]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Verdes 14 10 3 1 45 15 +30 33 Advance to Playoffs
2 Belmopan Bandits 14 8 4 2 35 13 +22 28
3 San Pedro Pirates 14 5 8 1 24 18 +6 23
4 Altitude 14 6 3 5 22 26 −4 21
5 Wagiya 14 5 4 5 22 16 +6 19
6 Belize Defence Force 14 5 4 5 21 21 0 19
7 Placencia Assassins 14 1 3 10 15 36 −21 6
8 Valley Pride Freedom Fighters 14 1 1 12 14 53 −39 4
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away ALT BDF BEL PLA SPE VAL VER WAG
Altitude 2–0 2–2 3–1 0–0 4–2 0–1 1–0
Belize Defence Force 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–3 3–1 3–3 2–1
Belmopan Bandits 3–1 2–0 6–0 0–0 6–2 1–4 3–1
Placencia Assassins 2–3 0–1 0–1 2–3 3–1 2–3 1–4
San Pedro Pirates 1–1 3–3 0–2 0–0 3–0 2–1 2–2
Valley Pride Freedom Fighters 2–4 0–4 0–7 3–2 1–2 1–10 0–1
Verdes 5–1 2–1 0–0 7–1 3–3 3–0 2–0
Wagiya 6–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 0–1
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs
Semifinals Finals
          
1 Verdes 1 5 6
4 Altitude 1 3 4
1 Verdes 1 2 3
2 Belmopan Bandits 1 0 1
2 Belmopan Bandits (a) 2 0 2
3 San Pedro Pirates 1 1 2

Semifinals

Game One[2]

23 November 2019 Altitude 1 – 1 Verdes Michael Ashcroft Stadium, Independence
19:30 Andres Orozco 6' Everal Trapp 90+3'
23 November 2019 San Pedro Pirates 1 – 2 Belmopan Bandits Ambergris Stadium, San Pedro
19:30 Jesse Smith 84' Roberto Silva de Lima 20'
Nahjib Guerra 58'

Game Two[3]

30 November 2019 Belmopan Bandits 0 – 1
(2 – 2 (a) agg.)		 San Pedro Pirates Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
20:00 Mailson Moura 83'
1 December 2019 Verdes 5 – 3
(6 – 4 agg.)		 Altitude Norman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio
16:00 Elroy Smith 10' (pen.)
Krisean Lopez 19', 77'
Trimayne Harris 47', 83'		 Andres Orozco 4'
Everal Trapp 31' (o.g.)
Elroy Coe 90+5'

Finals

Game One[4]

8 December 2019 Belmopan Bandits 1 – 1 Verdes Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Belmopan
19:00 Daniel Jimenez 45+1' Krisean Lopez 35' Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador)

Game Two[5]

15 December 2019 Verdes 2 – 0
(3 – 1 agg.)		 Belmopan Bandits Norman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio
15:30 Jeromy James 6'
Elroy Smith 89' (pen.)		 Referee: Bryan Lopez Castellanos (Guatemala)

Top scorers
Rank Player Team Goals*
1 Mexico Mariano Landero Verdes 14
2 Colombia Andres Orozco Altitude 11
3 Belize Krisean Lopez Verdes 9
4 Brazil Roberto Silva de Lima Belmopan Bandits 8
5 Argentina Facundo Garnier San Pedro Pirates 7
Mexico Edwin Villeda Verdes
7 Belize Jesse August Belize Defence Force 6
8 Belize Carlos Lino Valley Pride Freedom Fighters 5
Belize Trimayne Harris Verdes
Colombia Henry Vivas San Pedro Pirates
Honduras Georgie Welcome Belmopan Bandits
12 Colombia Anderson Cordoba San Pedro Pirates 4
Colombia Miguel Garcia Altitude
Belize Jaren Lambey Belize Defence Force
Belize Camilo Sanchez Belize Defence Force
Belize Ashton Torres Placencia Assassins

* Includes playoff goals.

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Mexico Mariano LanderoVerdesAltitude5–1 (H)15 September 2019
Mexico Mariano LanderoVerdesBelize Defence Force3–3 (A)22 September 2019
Belize Carlos GonzalezBelmopan BanditsValley Pride Freedom Fighters7–0 (A)10 November 2019

Awards

At an awards ceremony on 4 January 2020, the individual awards were announced.[6]

Award Recipient Team
Golden Boot Mexico Mariano Landero Verdes
MVP (Regular Season) Mexico Edwin Villeda Verdes
MVP (Playoff) Belize Krisean Lopez Verdes
Best Young Player Belize Jesse August Belize Defence Force
Best Midfielder Belize Jordy Polanco Verdes
Best Defender Belize Elroy Smith Verdes
Golden Glove Belize Shane Orio Belmopan Bandits
Best Coach Peru Cesar Martin Dall'Orso Verdes
Best Manager Belize Lorin Frazer Verdes

Closing season

7 of the 8 teams that participated in the opening season will participate in the closing season, with Valley Pride Freedom Fighters not competing, as they were unable to meet their commitments.[7]

The format will be the same as the opening season with one league consisting of the 7 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The closing season commenced on 11 January 2020.[8]

On 18 April 2020 a virtual meeting was held by the Premier League of Belize, and it was unanimously agreed by club owners to cancel the remainder of the closing season due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The league also stated that the safety of players, officials, fans and stakeholders had to be taken into consideration. It was also agreed that Verdes would represent Belize at the 2020 CONCACAF League. According to the league, the decision to allow Verdes to represent Belize was based on the fact that the club had won the 2019–20 opening season, and was the aggregate point leader with a total of 51 points at the initial juncture, when the season was suspended.[9]

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Verdes 8 5 3 0 14 4 +10 18 Advance to Playoffs
2 Belmopan Bandits 7 4 1 2 26 4 +22 13
3 San Pedro Pirates 8 3 3 2 13 11 +2 12
4 Altitude 8 2 5 1 8 7 +1 11
5 Placencia Assassins 8 2 2 4 7 19 −12 8
6 Wagiya 8 1 3 4 7 18 −11 6
7 Belize Defence Force 7 1 1 5 6 18 −12 4
Updated to match(es) played on 11 March 2020. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away ALT BDF BEL PLA SPE VER WAG
Altitude 1–1 – – 2–2 0–0 2–2
Belize Defence Force – 0–5 2–1 1–2 – –
Belmopan Bandits 0–1 – 11–0 – – 5–0
Placencia Assassins 0–1 3–0 0–3 – 1–1 –
San Pedro Pirates 1–1 – 3–2 1–2 – 2–0
Verdes 1–0 3–1 0–0 – 2–1 2–1
Wagiya – 3–1 – 0–0 1–1 0–5
Updated to match(es) played on 11 March 2020. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers
Rank Player Team Goals*
1 Honduras Georgie Welcome Belmopan Bandits 8
2 Argentina Facundo Garnier Belmopan Bandits 7
Belize Jesse Smith San Pedro Pirates
4 Belize Krisean Lopez Verdes 3

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Honduras Georgie WelcomeBelmopan BanditsPlacencia Assassins11–0 (H)11 January 2020
Argentina Facundo GarnierBelmopan BanditsWagiya5–0 (H)8 February 2020

References
  1. "PLB 2019-2020 Opening Season kicks off this weekend". Amandala. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  2. "Bandits Sport one step closer to Premier League finals". The Guardian. 29 November 2019. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  3. "PLB semifinals over; Bandits vs Verdes for Opening Season Championship". Amandala. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  4. "Bandits – Verdes, 1-1 in PLB Finals Game 1; Game 2 "for all the marbles" this weekend". Amandala. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. "Verdes FC are PLB 2019-2020 Opening Season Champions". Amandala. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  6. "Premier League of Belize 2019-2020 Opening Season Awardees". Amandala. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  7. "Tight contests in Week 2 of PLB 2019-2020 Closing Season". Amandala. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  8. "PLB on a stumbling start to 2019-2020 Closing Season". Amandala. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  9. "Belize's semi-pro basketball and football leagues cancelled due to COVID-19". San Pedro Sun. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
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