Jump to content

Copa Simón Bolívar (Bolivia)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Copa Simón Bolívar
Founded1957
1958–1976 (as Division One)
1989–2010 and 2016– (as Division Two)
Number of teams29 (2020)
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toBolivian Primera División
Relegation toBolivian Football Regional Leagues
Current championsGV San José (1st title)
(2023)
Most championshipsEnrique Happ (3 times)
Websiteascensobolivia.blogspot.com
Current: 2024

The old 2nd tier in the Bolivian Football pyramid consists of 9 regional leagues (one for each department), the number of participants varies depending on the department, It usually has between 8 and 12 teams. Both winner and runner-up of each league compete in the Copa Simón Bolívar, with the winner of such tournament gaining promotion to the 1st Division, and the runner-up playing a play-off match with the 11th placed team in the 1st Division. Until 1976 all 8 regional championships (Pando didn't have an organized tournament back then) were the top in the national football pyramid, with the winner of the Copa Simón Bolívar being crowned as national champion. In 2011, and for five seasons, the Copa Simón Bolívar was replaced by the Liga Nacional B, until 2016 when it was reinstated as Bolivia's second-tier football championship.

The oldest regional championship is the one played in La Paz, it started in 1914 and it was considered for many years as the top Bolivian league, even more when it turned into a semi-pro tournament in 1950 and started including teams from Oruro and Cochabamba.

Copa Simón Bolívar

[edit]

The tournament started in 1960, initially only champions from La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro and Santa Cruz participated, on later years teams from other associations started joining the cup, and the tournament eventually had also runner-up's participating.

Until 1976, due to the lack of a nationwide league, the cup determined the national champion and representative teams for the Copa Libertadores. With the creation of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano, the Bolivian FA stopped organizing the tournament.

Finally in 1989 the tournament was resurrected, with the same format of having both champions and runner-up from each association, but this time each regional league was the 2nd tier on the football pyramid so the champion was supposed to be awarded a place in the professional league. Previously the last placed team in the 1st division was replaced by the regional champion of its departament. However that practice was kept until 1993 when finally the champion was awarded a spot in the top league.

The competition format changes frequently, in 2008, the team were divided in 3 groups of 6 teams each, to save costs, geographically close teams were teamed up and played on a home-away round-robin basis, with group 1 consisting of teams from La Paz, Oruro and Cochabamba; group 2 with teams from Potosí, Chuquisaca and Tarija, and group 3 with teams from Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando. The top 2 placed teams advanced to the next round, now playing play-offs on home-away basis, the 3 winners and the best loser advanced to the semifinals and then the final.

List of Champions

[edit]
Ed. Season Champion (title count) Runner-up
1
1989 Enrique Happ Universidad Cruceña
2
1990 Universidad Cruceña Naval Mamoré
3
1991 Enrique Happ Guabirá
4
1992 Enrique Happ Universidad Católica
5
1993 Real Santa Cruz Estudiantes Frontanilla
6
1994 Stormers Always Ready
7
1995 Deportivo Municipal Chaco Petrolero
8
1996 Blooming Universidad Cruceña
9
1997 Real Potosí Universitario de Cochabamba
10
1998 Union Central Atlético Pompeya
11
1999 Atlético Pompeya Mariscal Braun
12
2000 Iberoamericana Aurora
13
2001 San José Primero de Mayo
14
2002 Aurora Fancesa
15
2003 La Paz Real Santa Cruz
16
2004 Destroyers Primero de Mayo
17
2005 Universitario de Sucre Guabirá
18
2006 Municipal Real Mamoré Ciclón
19
2007 Guabirá Nacional Potosí
20
2008 Nacional Potosí Primero de Mayo
21
2009 Guabirá Ciclón
22
2010 Nacional Potosí Real América
2011–2016 The Liga Nacional B was played.
23
2016–17 Aurora Destroyers
24
2017 Royal Pari Deportivo Kala
25
2018 Always Ready Avilés Industrial
26
2019 Municipal Vinto Real Santa Cruz
27
2020 Real Tomayapo Independiente Petrolero
28
2021 Universitario de Vinto Universitario de Sucre
29
2022 Vaca Díez Libertad Gran Mamoré
30
2023 GV San José San Antonio Bulo Bulo
31
2024
  • Note that:

NB: Enrique Happ (full name Escuela Enrique Happ) from Cochabamba were never promoted to the first division in spite of winning the cup three time, apparently because they are a special footballing school (like the better known Academia Tahuichi in Santa Cruz).

Titles by club

[edit]
Club Titles Seasons won
Enrique Happ 3 1989, 1991, 1992
Aurora 2 2002, 2016–17
Guabirá 2 2007, 2009
Nacional Potosí 2 2008, 2010
Always Ready 1 2018
Atlético Pompeya 1 1999
Blooming 1 1996
Deportivo Municipal 1 1995
Destroyers 1 2004
GV San José 1 2023
Iberoamericana 1 2000
La Paz 1 2003
Municipal Real Mamoré 1 2006
Municipal Vinto 1 2019
Real Potosí 1 1997
Real Santa Cruz 1 1993
Royal Pari 1 2017
San José 1 2001
Stormers 1 1994
Unión Central 1 1998
Universidad Cruceña 1 1990
Universitario de Sucre 1 2005
Universitario de Vinto 1 2021
Vaca Díez 1 2022

References

[edit]
[edit]