Association football in Puerto Rico

Association Football is one of the leading sports of Puerto Rico, ranking only behind baseball, basketball, boxing, and volleyball in national popularity and is the number one participation sport on the island (as it is on the mainland United States). There has been a significant growth in the sport in recent years, as traditionally football has played a very small role in Puerto Rico. The sport on the island is governed by the Puerto Rican Football Federation an affiliate of FIFA.

History of Football in Puerto Rico

Early Year (1900-1919)

It is said that the sport was played during Spanish colonial times, mostly by soldier in the field in front of El Morro. By 1904 games were being played there between sailor of foreign ships wail docked in San Juan Harbor. But it wasn't until 1911 that the first organized club was formed, Comercio Sporting Club which would organize games between members of the club, the club then formed two teams, Minerva and Mercurio, this two teams would take part in the first organized tournament in Puerto Rican history, Copa Porananmiz. In 1913 two more clubs where formed San Juan FC and Ponce Sporting Club. Up until then football was mostly played by the Hispanic population of the island wail the Americans would play sports like baseball, basketball and Rugby, but in 1914 the a group of Americans formed Celtics FC and the first rivalry of Puerto Rican football was born. Celtics composed of Americans and San Juan FC composed of Puerto Ricans and Spaniards, it brought up the tensions between Hispanics and Americans in the island during this period. Later in 1914 Celtics traveled to Ponce to face Ponce Sporting Club, in the first ever reported game between teams of different cities in Puerto Rico. [cite book | last = Reinaldo Álvarez| first = Luis Reinaldo Álvarez| coauthors = Toni Lorenti| title = Fútbol puertorriqueño: crónica de alegrías, sueños y desencantos Tomo I (1911-1949)| publisher = Museo Casa Roig| date = 2007| location = | pages = 45-56| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

National Team

Since its foundation the Puerto Rico national football team has been one of the weakest teams in the world. It did not even enter the qualification stage for the 2006 World Cup. Their highest FIFA ranking was 97 (March 1994) by using players from the USA, and lowest FIFA ranking was 202 (November 2004). Until 2008 Puerto Rico had not fielded a national team since 2004 when they lost to Grenada 5-2, the last time they had won a match was back in 1993 when they won 4-0 against the Cayman Islands.

From 2007 onwards there has been an apparent belief in the news and commentaries by the President of FPF, that it is possible to enter a FIFA World Cup in 4 to 8 years, this is in the midst of the foundation of a team that is a member of the United Soccer Leagues First Division, the second tier of the American Soccer.

After a four year absence, the Puerto Rican national team re-emerged on January 16 2008, with a 2-0 victory in a friendly against the Bermuda national team. This friendly was played in preparation for a World Cup Qualifier against the Dominican Republic scheduled for the 26th of March, 2008, which Puerto Rico won in a 1-0 victory.

Club football

Until recently club football had been a very limited affair involving a handful of amateur teams in several separate leagues. In recent years, as the domestic game has grown in popularity, this has started to change. The Puerto Rico Islanders now play in the USL First Division the second tier of football in the United States, and in 2008 the first ever unified competion the Puerto Rico Soccer League was established, marking a major landmark in the history of the game on the island. [cite web| url=http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/otros_accion/accion_deportiva/nace_una_liga_profesional/190272| title=Nace una liga profesional| author=Omar Marrero| publisher=Primera Hora| language=Spanish| date=2008-05-15| accessdate=2008-06-04] Many clubs of the island are now affiliated with larger teams in some of the worlds major football leagues.

Puerto Rican soccer leagues and associations

*Puerto Rico Soccer League
*Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol de Puerto Rico(defunct)
* Liga Mayor de Fútbol Nacional(defunct)
*Puerto Rican Football Federation

Puerto Rican teams

* Puerto Rico men's national football team
* Puerto Rico women's national football team

References