The Copa Luis Villarejo was an association football league in Puerto Rico. Created in 2016, it was open to all clubs that are affiliated with the Puerto Rican Football Federation. It was abolished in 2019.
History 2016 A new domestic cup tournament, the Copa Luis Villarejo, was inaugurated and involved teams from the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Puerto Rico (LNF), the second tier Puerto Rico Soccer League (PRSL), as well as Puerto Rico FC of the North American Soccer League (NASL), a second tier league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation.
On November 17, 2016, Puerto Rico FC escaped with a 1-0 win over Bayamón FC in the second leg to complete a 4–0 aggregate victory in the semifinal round of the First Luis Villarejo Cup, Senior Men's category, of the Puerto Rican Football Federation (FPF). The victory, sealed with a penalty goal by its captain, Cristiano Dias, in the 44th minute, gave the PRFC a ticket to the Cup championship game at Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel de Bayamón against the Criollos, who come from struggling, aggregate 5–4, to Metropolitan FC.
PRFC also joined the Criollos as teams with tickets secured to represent Puerto Rico in the 2017 Champions League Cup of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which qualifying for the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League.
On November 20, 2016, Puerto Rico FC defeated Criollos de Caguas FC 4–1 to become the cup's first ever champion, with 3 goals coming from Puerto Rican striker Hector Ramos, and one coming from Jorge Rivera to seal the deal in the 88th minute. 2017–2018 On August 16, 2017, the president of the Competitions Commission of the Puerto Rican Football Federation Alberto Santiago announced the 2nd edition of the Luis Villarejo Cup was scheduled to begin in mid-September of that year. Recalling that the PRFC also had administrative failings and that it had to pay a substantial fine to finally be able to compete. That year the FPF advanced the celebration of the cup to avoid those consequences. The format would remain the same as simple elimination in round-trip series.
On September 3, 2017, the Puerto Rican Football Federation announced it was ready to celebrate the annual Luis Villarejo Cup starting that September with 6 registered clubs, with the clubs being defending champion Puerto Rico FC, Bayamón FC, Caguas Sporting FC, Metropolitan Football Academy, Mayaguez FC, and newcomer to the tournament Club Deportivo Barbosa. The FPF would be holding the congress of the Cup on Wednesday, September 6, if there is no time against Hurricane Irma. Other clubs, such as Don Bosco FC (Puerto Rico), and others who did not submit everything required before the closing of the call could enter.
On September 29, the FBF announced the 2nd Luis Villarejo Cup was suspended, due to the devastation left by Hurricane Maria that had left the entire island powerless. The federation was looking to restart the cup in November, if all teams were available. However, the cup was not played in 2017 or 2018.
2019 On February 12, 2019, the Puerto Rico Football Federation announced that the cup was coming back for its second edition. Bayamón FC won that edition, defeating Metropolitan 3–1 in the final.
Past winners and results Yearly winner Year Winner Score Runner-up Venue Attendance Ref. 2016 Puerto Rico FC 4–1 Criollos de Caguas FC Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium 2019 Bayamón 3–1 Metropolitan FA Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium
Team results TeamWinnersRunners-upYears wonYears runners-up# of X participated Puerto Rico FC 1 0 2016 —2Criollos de Caguas FC 0 1 — 2016 1Don Bosco FC00 1Caguas Sporting FC00 2Metropolitan FA01—2019 2Bayamon FC102019— 2Mayagüez FC00 2Guayama FC00 1Club Deportivo Barbosa00 1
Players records Career goals + Top 10 goalscorers Last updated as of 6 September 2017 Player Period Club(s) Goals 1 Dale McDonald 2016 Criollos de Caguas FC 9 2 Karlos Ferrer 2016 Metropolitan FA 4 3 Davidson Marseille 2016 Criollos de Caguas FC 4 4 Héctor Ramos 2016 Puerto Rico FC 4 5 Darlin Aquino 2016 Metropolitan FA 3 6 Tyrone Harrison 2016 Criollos de Caguas FC 3 7 Josep Becerra 2016 Bayamon FC 3 8 Brian Bement 2016 Puerto Rico FC 2 9 Paul Simmons 2016 Mayagüez FC 2 10 Jorge Rivera 2016 Puerto Rico FC 2
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