Please note: to see my most-recent post on Mexican football (from January 2017), click on the following, category: Mexico/fútbol.
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The Mexican Clausura 2008 runs from January 18 to May 31. Current champion is recently transplanted club Atlante. Last summer, this poorly supported club from Mexico City moved 600 miles east, to the resort town of Cancun, on the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. Then they won the Apertura 2007, in December, beating UNAM Pumas 2-1, in the second leg of the playoffs final.
Teams are split into three groups. Clausura 2008 standings (general), click here. To see the Clausura 2008 groups, click here. Pacuca won the last Clausura (2007).
Here is a round-up of games played last weekend: {Click for http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/mexico }.
8 teams make the playoffs. The top 2 teams from each group make it to the playoffs (6 teams); the last 2 spots are determined by a sub-playoff between 7th through 10th place finishers. There is one team relegated after each Apertura or Clausura; and one team is promoted from the second division. Which team is relegated is decided on a three-year points average (like Argentina). This helps maintain the status quo, as a team just promoted has to finish much higher than second-from-last to avoid the drop. **{See this article, from the Guardian website, which goes into the complexities of the Mexican Pimera Division’s playoff system and relegation system.}
The Mexican Primera Division has no unified television contract; each team has their own TV deal. Like the relegation format, this also allows the bigger clubs to maintain their prominent status. The two big clubs in Mexico are Chivas Guadalajara (11 titles), and America (10 titles). Chivas last league title was the 2006 Apertura; America’s last title was the 2005 Clausura.
[Note: I was unable to find attendance figures for the teams in the Mexican Primera Division, but I did find a list (from October 2007) that has the Mexican league drawing around 22,000 per game. Click here, for the list. ]
