2015–16 Premier League of Belize explained

Competition:Premier League of Belize
Season:2015–16
Dates:15 August 2015 – 30 April 2016
Winners:Opening:
Police United
Closing:
Belmopan Bandits
Continentalcup1:Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Police United
Matches:72
Total Goals:211
League Topscorer:Opening:
Deon McCaulay (10)
Closing:
Devon Makin (6)
Biggest Home Win:Police United 7–0 Wagiya
(8 November 2015)
Biggest Away Win:Wagiya 0–4 Belmopan Bandits
(31 October 2015)
Highest Scoring:Placencia Assassins 5–2 Wagiya
(3 October 2015)
Belize Defence Force 3–4 Belmopan Bandits
(21 October 2015)
Police United 7–0 Wagiya
(8 November 2015)
Police United 4–3 Placencia Assassins
(14 February 2016)
Longest Wins:Belize Defence Force
Belmopan Bandits
Police United (3)
Longest Unbeaten:Police United (8)
Longest Winless:Wagiya (13)
Longest Losses:Wagiya (11)
Prevseason:2014–15
Nextseason:2016–17

The 2015–16 Premier League of Belize (also known as The Belikin Cup) was the fifth season of the highest competitive football league in Belize, after it was founded in 2011. There were two seasons which were spread over two years, the opening was played towards the end of 2015 and the closing was played at the beginning of 2016.

Team information

TeamCityStadium
Belize Defence ForceBelize CityMCC Grounds
Belmopan BanditsBelmopanFFB Stadium
Placencia AssassinsIndependence
Police UnitedSan IgnacioNorman Broaster Stadium
VerdesSan IgnacioNorman Broaster Stadium
WagiyaIndependenceMichael Ashcroft Stadium

Opening season

From the 2014–15 Premier League of Belize season, 6 out of the 9 teams continued to play in the opening season of 2015–16. FC Belize, King Energy/Freedom Fighters and San Ignacio United were the absentees.

There would be one league consisting of the 6 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The opening season commenced on 15 August 2015.[1]

League table

Results

Round 1

[2]

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Round 2

[3]

------------

Round 3

[4]

------------

Round 4

[5]

------------

Round 5

[6]

------------

Round 6

[7] [8]

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Round 7

[9]

------------

Round 8

[10] [11]

------------

Round 9

[8] [11]

------------

Round 10

[12]

------------

Playoffs

Semi-finals

----Game One[13]

--------

Game Two[14]

Verdes won 3–1 on aggregate----

Police United won 3–2 on aggregate----

Finals

----Game One[15]

----

Game Two[16]

Police United won 1–0 on aggregate----

Season Statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerTeamGoals
1 Deon McCaulayVerdes10
2 Alexander PetersPlacencia Assassins7
Harrison RochesPolice United
4 James FloresBelize Defence Force5
Jeromy JamesBelmopan Bandits
Elroy SmithBelmopan Bandits
Luis TorresPlacencia Assassins
8 Eugene MartinezWagiya4
9 Shane FloresBelize Defence Force3
Orlando JimenezPolice United
Devon MakinPolice United
Darren MyersPolice United
Paul NunezBelize Defence Force

Includes playoff goals.

Hat-tricks

PlayerFor !Against Result Date
3–2 (A)
James Flores 5–0 (H)
5–0 (H)

Awards

In the post-game ceremonies of the final game of the season, the individual awards were announced.[16]

AwardRecipientTeam
Golden Boot Deon McCaulayVerdes
MVP (Regular Season) Luis TorresPlacencia Assassins
MVP (Playoff) Trevor LennanPolice United
Best Young Player Darren MyersPolice United
Best Midfielder Denmark Casey Jr.Belmopan Bandits
Best Defender Dalton EileyPlacencia Assassins
Golden Glove Jaime BrooksPolice United
Best Coach Hilberto MuschampPolice United

Closing season

All 6 teams that participated in the opening season will participate in the closing season.

The format will be the same as the opening season with one league consisting of the 6 teams, who will play each other twice, with the top 4 teams advancing to the end of season playoffs. The closing season commenced on 23 January 2016.

League table

Results

Round 1

[17]

------------

Round 2

[18]

------------

Round 3

[17]

------------

Round 4

[19]

------------

Round 5

[20]

------------

Round 6

[21]

------------

Round 7

[22]

------------

Round 8

[23]

------------

Round 9

[24]

------------

Round 10

------------

Playoffs

Semi-finals

Game One[25]

--------

Game Two[26]

Belmopan Bandits won 3–2 on aggregate.

----

Series tied 5–5 on aggregate. Placencia Assassins won 8–7 on penalties.----

Finals

Game One

----

Game Two[27]

Belmopan Bandits won 2–0 on aggregate.----

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerTeamGoals
1 Devon MakinPolice United6
2 Harrison TasherBelize Defence Force5
3 Kervin JohnsonBelmopan Bandits4
Harrison RochesPolice United
Elroy SmithBelmopan Bandits
Luis TorresPlacencia Assassins
7 Jarret DavisVerdes3
Osmar DuranBelize Defence Force
Daniel JimenezPolice United
Deon McCaulayVerdes
Marlon MezaBelmopan Bandits
Ricky RickettsBelize Defence Force
Ashley TorresPlacencia Assassins

Includes playoff goals.

Awards

In the post-game ceremonies of the final game of the season, the individual awards were announced.

AwardRecipientTeam
Golden Boot (Regular Season) Devon MakinPolice United
Harrison TasherBelize Defence Force
Golden Boot (Overall) Devon MakinPolice United
MVP (Regular Season) Dalton EileyPlacencia Assassins
MVP (Playoff) Elroy SmithBelmopan Bandits
Best Young Player Jordy PolancoBelmopan Bandits
Best Midfielder Denmark Casey Jr.Belmopan Bandits
Best Defender Dalton EileyPlacencia Assassins
Golden Glove Shane OrioBelmopan Bandits
Best Manager Alford GrinagePolice United
Best Coach Robert MuschampPlacencia Assassins

Notes and References

  1. News: Opening Season kicks off this weekend. 13 August 2015. Amandala. 11 August 2015.
  2. News: Wagiya opens Premier League Opening Season on the right foot. 25 August 2015. The Guardian. 20 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024032/http://www.guardian.bz/all-sports/10041-wagiya-opens-premier-league-opening-season-on-the-right-foot. 24 September 2015. dead. dmy-all.
  3. News: PLB Opening Season Week 2 results, standings, schedule. 31 August 2015. Amandala. 28 August 2015.
  4. News: Two draws and a shocker. 8 September 2015. Amandala. 1 September 2015.
  5. News: Deon on a tear; Verdes leads PLB standings, tackles Queretaro tonight. 22 September 2015. Amandala. 18 September 2015.
  6. News: Football "games," blunder or sabotage at MCC. 10 October 2015. Amandala. 6 October 2015.
  7. News: Bodybuilding Champions…James Adderley with Sports News. 20 November 2015. Channel 5. 26 October 2015.
  8. News: PLB update, 2 mid-week back matches have serious playoff implications. 27 November 2015. Amandala. 24 November 2015.
  9. News: BDF clips Verdes, 2-1; race to PLB playoffs heats up. 20 November 2015. Amandala. 3 November 2015.
  10. News: Police lead at Week 8 of PLB 2015-2016 Opening Season. 20 November 2015. Amandala. 10 November 2015.
  11. News: Bandits 1:1 Verdes; Police United 1:0 BDF. 27 November 2015. Amandala. 27 November 2015.
  12. News: Belmopan Bandits top seed into Premier League of Belize playoffs. 7 December 2015. The Guardian. 3 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211120/http://www.guardian.bz/all-sports/10553-belmopan-bandits-top-seed-into-premier-league-of-belize-playoffs. 4 March 2016. dead. dmy-all.
  13. News: The Bandits’ nightmare. 21 December 2015. Amandala. 12 December 2015.
  14. News: Verdes survives the Bandits. 21 December 2015. Amandala. 19 December 2015.
  15. News: Leechi strikes again, Police 1-nil over Verdes in PLB finals game 1. 30 December 2015. Amandala. 24 December 2015.
  16. News: Police are champions. 5 January 2016. Amandala. 31 December 2015.
  17. News: PLB update – Week 3 and 2 back matches completed, 1 back match remaining. 13 February 2016. Amandala. 9 February 2016.
  18. News: 2 games only in Week 2 of PLB Closing Season 2015-2016. 13 February 2016. Amandala. 2 February 2016.
  19. News: Police United maintains lead in Premier League Closing Season. 20 February 2016. The Guardian. 19 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160223111601/http://www.guardian.bz/all-sports/10925-police-united-maintains-lead-in-premier-league-closing-season. 23 February 2016. dead. dmy-all.
  20. News: Police United continues mastery of Premier League competition. 9 March 2016. The Guardian. 25 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160309134330/http://www.guardian.bz/all-sports/10972-police-united-continues-mastery-of-premier-league-competition. 9 March 2016. dead. dmy-all.
  21. News: Belmopan Bandits new leaders of the Closing Season competition. 9 March 2016. The Guardian. 3 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160309140159/http://www.guardian.bz/all-sports/11005-belmopan-bandits-new-leaders-of-the-closing-season-competition. 9 March 2016. dead. dmy-all.
  22. News: Belize Defence Force blank the Belmopan Bandits. 24 March 2016. The Guardian. 10 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405060316/http://www.guardian.bz/all-sports/11051-belize-defence-force-blank-the-belmopan-bandits. 5 April 2016. dead. dmy-all.
  23. News: PLB Week 8 – 4 teams poised to make playoffs. 24 March 2016. Amandala. 15 March 2016.
  24. News: Belize Defence Force new leaders in Closing Season tournament. 24 March 2016. The Guardian. 23 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405022538/http://www.guardian.bz/all-sports/11122-belize-defence-force-new-leaders-in-closing-season-tournament. 5 April 2016. dead. dmy-all.
  25. News: Bandits and Police win PLB semifinals Game 1. 27 April 2016. Amandala. 12 April 2016.
  26. News: Bandits drop BDF; Assassins shock Police. 27 April 2016. Amandala. 19 April 2016.
  27. News: Belmopan Bandits FC is the PLB 2015-2016 Closing Season Champion. 13 May 2016. Amandala. 7 May 2016.