The Marianas Soccer League 1 is the men's top level professional football competition of the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association. It is above the Marianas Soccer League 2, but there is no regular promotion/relegation between the two competitions.
The league has a special rule in place called the "skunk rule", which states that once a team is leading a match by 5 goals, the match continues but the score stops being recorded.
History The league began as an invitational event in the Northern Mariana Islands. The league has been operating since 2005 and grew to include eight teams in the 2008 season.Schöggl.H (2010) Northern Marianas 2010, Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, 11 August 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011.'MP United rules men's league' , Saipan Tribune, 27 July 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
On 2 August 2012 the competition was re-branded as the M-League, following the suit of many other AFC national competitions. In September 2012, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA) officially launched a two tier completion, usually without promotion and relegation. In the inaugural season there were 5 teams in Division 1 and 4 teams in generally amateur Division 2.
After the 2020 season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league was relaunched in Spring 2021 as the Marianas Soccer League.
Marianas Club Championship Since 2023, the winners of the Marianas Soccer League 1 and the Guam Soccer League compete against each other in the Marianas Club Championship.
Previous winners Winners so far are:
Northern Mariana Invitational Championship 2005: not held 2006–07: L&S/Kyung-Seung 2007: Fiesta Inter Saipan'Fiesta Inter takes football crown' , Saipan Tribune, 10 September 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2011. 2008 Spring: Inter Godfather's 2008 Fall: Inter Godfather's 2009: Inter Godfather's 2010: MP United 2011: Inter Godfather's'Inter Godfather's Bags Men's League Title', Marianas Variety, 19 December 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
M-League Division 1 2012 Spring: Wild Bills 2012 Fall: Tan Holdings 2013 Spring: Wild Bills 2013–14: Wild Bills 2014 Fall: MP United 2015 Spring: Tan Holdings 2015 Fall: not held 2016 Spring: Tan Holdings 2016 Fall: MP United 2017 Spring: MP United 2017 Fall: Tan Holdings 2018 Spring: MP United 2018 Fall: abandoned 2019 Spring: Teen Ayuyu 2019 Fall: All Blue 2020 Spring: abandoned 2020 Fall: not held
Marianas Soccer League 2021 Spring: Tan Holdings 2021 Fall: All Blue 2022 Spring: Eleven Tiger 2022 Fall: Tan Holdings 2023 Spring: Eleven Tiger 2023 Fall: Eleven Tiger 2024 Spring: Kanoa 2024 Fall: Matansa 2025 Spring: Kanoa 2025 Fall: Kanoa
Individual statistics Top goalscorers YearTop scorerTeamGoals2007 Masatoshi Otsuka Inter Saipan2009 Joe Wang Miller MP United23Schöggl.H (2010) Northern Marianas 2009, Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, 25 March 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011.2010 Joe Wang Miller MP United 152016 Martin Jambor Tan Holdings 142018 Sunjoon Tenorio MP United 152020 Spring Andrw Omelau82024 Spring Markus Toves Kanoa 132024 Fall Tanapon UnsaMatansa112025 Spring Paul LizamaKanoa14 Most time goalscorers 2 times. Joe Wang Miller (2009 and 2010). Most goals by a player in single season 23 goals. Joe Wang Miller (2009).
Hat-tricks multiple RankCountry Player Hat-tricks 1 Sunjoon Tenorio1
Women's League Top goalscorers SeasonPlayerTeamGoals 2006 Sarah HelbertEye Yeye122016 Fall Guinevere BorjaPaire18 Therize MillareShirley2019 Spring Katrina CostalesShirley112022 Fall Jannah Casarino232023 Spring Jannah Casarino142024 Spring Jannah CasarinoShirley162025 Spring Jannah CasarinoPaire9 Lalaine PagaraoKanoa
References