Liga de Elite
Liga de Elite, previously known as Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol, is the top division of the Macau Football Association, created in 1973. The league is featuring local players and professional foreign players. Due to the lack of football fields in Macau, most matches are played at the Lin Fong Stadium. As with Hong Kong, the league is separate from the mainland Chinese football league system. The league is generally played between January and July of each calendar year.
History
In the inaugural 2014 edition, Lam Pak, Lam Ieng and Kuan Tai all forfeited from the First Division before the start of the competition. Lam Pak and Lam Ieng withdrew due to the lack of backing from sponsors and Kuan Tai cited budget issues and could no longer afford to pay some of its players. To solve the problem of three sudden vacancies, the Macau Football Association clarified that the two clubs that were relegated in 2013, Kei Lun and MFA Development, were invited to remain, and an additional third team would come from the Second Division. After careful consideration by the MFA, no team from the Second Division was picked, being deemed not competitive enough for the First Division.Previous Season
10 teams contested the 2019 Liga de Elite. Development and Tim Iec were promoted from last season's 2ª Divisão de Macau.Club | Year Founded | Shirt Sponsor | Position Last Season |
Polícia | -- | 8th | |
Cheng Fung | 1988 | Greater Bay Area Partnership | 4th |
Development | 2005 | Promoted | |
Hang Sai | 2009 | 7th | |
Ka I | 1985 | Windsor Arch | 5th |
Monte Carlo | 1984 | ISC | 6th |
Chao Pak Kei | 2008 | Dalpointe | 2nd |
Tim Iec | -- | Taismo | Promoted |
Benfica de Macau | 1951 | 1st | |
Sporting Clube de Macau | 1926 | 3rd |
Previous winners
Winners were:- 1949: Polícia de Segurança Pública
- 1950–72: unknown
- 1973: Polícia de Segurança Pública
- 1974–83: unknown
- 1984: Wa Seng
- 1985: unknown
- 1986: Hap Kuan
- 1987: Hap Kuan
- 1988: Wa Seng
- 1989: Hap Kuan
- 1990: Hap Kuan
- 1991: Sporting Clube de Macau
- 1992: Lam Pak
- 1993: Leng Ngan
- 1994: Lam Pak
- 1995: GD Artilheiros
- 1996: GD Artilheiros
- 1997: Lam Pak
- 1998: Lam Pak
- 1999: Lam Pak
- 2000: Polícia de Segurança Pública
- 2001: Lam Pak
- 2002: Monte Carlo
- 2003: Monte Carlo
- 2004: Monte Carlo
- 2005: Polícia de Segurança Pública
- 2006: Lam Pak
- 2007: Lam Pak
- 2008: Monte Carlo
- 2009: Lam Pak
- 2010: Windsor Arch Ka I
- 2011: Windsor Arch Ka I
- 2012: Windsor Arch Ka I
- 2013: Monte Carlo
- 2014: Benfica de Macau
- 2015: Benfica de Macau
- 2016: Benfica de Macau
- 2017: Benfica de Macau
- 2018: Benfica de Macau
- 2019: Chao Pak Kei
Top scorers