The 1981 Torneo Descentralizado was the sixty-fifth season of Peruvian football. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament. The season was divided into two phases. Melgar won its first national title and become the first club outside the Lima Region to win the title.Rsssf.org Peru 1981Melgar campeón en 1981: cuando el equipo arequipeño logró su primer título en el estadio NacionalMelgar 1981: El volcán que volcó la historiaMelgar, campéon nacional 1981: ¿Acaso nosotros no somos peruanos?A 36 AÑOS DEL PRIMER GRITO DE “CAMPEÓN”FBC Melgar recuerda a los campeones del 1981 y su primera estrella

Format The national league was divided into two phases. The first phase divided the sixteen teams into groups. Each team was placed into one of four groups depending on the region where the club was located. This dubbed regional tournament was contested in this season because the Peru national football team was using domestic players in preparation for the 1982 World Cup Qualifiers. In order to reduce the impact of the absence of these key players in the national league, the regional tournament was played in which the winner contested the second berth to the 1982 Copa Libertadores against the Descentralizado runner-up. The second phase of the league was the Descentralizado in which all sixteen teams competed in a single league table and its winner was crowned national champion while its runner-up faced the first phase winner for the second berth of the Copa Libertadores.

Teams Team changes Promoted from1980 Copa Perú Relegated from1980 Primera División León de Huánuco Juventud La Palma

Stadia locations

Team City Stadium Capacity Field Alfonso Ugarte Puno Enrique Torres Belón 20,000 Grass Alianza Lima La Victoria, Lima Alejandro Villanueva35,000 Grass ADT Tarma Unión Tarma 9,000 Grass Atlético Chalaco Callao Miguel Grau 15,000 Grass Atlético Torino Talara Campeonísimo8,000 Grass CNI Iquitos Max Augustín 24,000 Grass Coronel Bolognesi Tacna Jorge Basadre 19,850 Grass Deportivo Junín Huancayo Huancayo 20,000 Grass Deportivo Municipal Cercado de Lima Nacional 45,750 Grass Juan Aurich Chiclayo Elías Aguirre 24,500 Grass León de Huánuco Huánuco Heraclio Tapia 15,000 Grass Melgar Arequipa Mariano Melgar 20,000 Grass Sport Boys Callao Miguel Grau 15,000 Grass Sporting Cristal Rímac, Lima Nacional 45,750 Grass Unión Huaral Huaral Julio Lores Colan10,000 Grass Universitario Breña, Lima Nacional 45,750 Grass

Torneo Regional The Torneo Regional was divided into 4 groups. The groups of the North, South and Central had its group winners advance to a Provincial final group where the top two advanced to the semifinals of the regional tournament. In the Metropolitan group, the top two advanced directly to the semifinals.

Group stage The North, Central, and South followed these rules: 2 points were given for a win; 1 point for a draw; No points for a loss.

Grupo Norte

Grupo Central

Grupo Sur

Final Provincial

Grupo Metropolitano This group had special rules. Matches ending in draws were decided by a penalty shootout. 3 points were given for a win; 2 points were given for a win after a penalty shootout; 1 point for a draw; No points for a loss or loss after a penalty shootout. In addition, the top two of this group advanced to the semifinals.

Team1Universitario1052031310+319 8.0 27Fase Eliminatoria2Deportivo Municipal106013138+518 7.5 25.53Alianza Lima1061031310+320 2.5 22.54Atlético Chalaco103016812 −49 4.5 13.55Sport Boys1031151215 −311 1.0 126Sporting Cristal1021251014 −48 2.5 10.5

Alianza Lima did not advance to the semifinals due to a parallel reserve tournament that was favorable to Universitario (champion) and Deportivo Municipal (runner-up).

Results

Fase Eliminatoria

Semifinals First leg

Second leg

Final

*No winner after two matches. Play-off was contested to determine winner.

Torneo Descentralizado Standings

Results

Copa Libertadores play-off Since Melgar was declared league champion, a runner-up playoff match had to be played between the second-place teams of the Torneo Regional and the Torneo Descentralizado to determine the qualifier for the 1982 Copa Libertadores.

*No winner after two matches. Play-off was contested to determine winner.

References

See also 1981 Copa Perú

External links RSSSF Peru 1981