The Liga MX Femenil, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX Femenil for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, this professional league has 18 teams, each coinciding with a Liga MX club.
Following the same schedule as the men's league, each season consist of two tournaments: an Apertura tournament, which takes place from July to December, and a Clausura tournament, which takes place from January to May.
The league's first official domestic cup competition took place in May 2017 via the Copa MX Femenil, a now discontinued tournament that was created with the objective of preparing the teams for the inaugural season of the league which began in July 2017. Former Liga MX President, Enrique Bonilla, stated that the league was created in order to nurture the stars of the Mexico women's national football team and to build an infrastructure for women's football in Mexico.
Tigres UANL has won the league a record five times, followed by C.D. Guadalajara, C.F. Monterrey, and Club América with two titles each. In all, only these four clubs have won the Liga MX Femenil title.
The current champions are Club América who defeated Pachuca with a 4–2 aggregate score in the Clausura 2023 final in June 2023.
History
Background
Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil
In 2007, there was an attempt to professionalize women's football in Mexico via the Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil. While the league did foster some success, it did not have major sponsorships and lacked media coverage as well as fan support. Therefore, major clubs such as Chivas, pulled their support.
NWSL
In 2012, the United States Soccer Federation, Canadian Soccer Association, Mexican Football Federation, USL W-League, and the Women's Premier Soccer League agreed to form the National Women's Soccer League. From 2013 to 2016, the Mexican Football Federation allocated Mexican players to NWSL clubs in an effort to develop Mexican talent in the United States. However, in early 2016, the Mexican Football Federation announced that it would no longer continue allocating players to the NWSL due to the lack of playing time that the allocated players were receiving, foreshadowing the creation of Liga MX Femenil.
First professional women's team
Marbella Ibarra was an enthusiastic women's football advocate that persuade Club Tijuana to create a professional women's team in 2014. Former Mexico women's national football team player, Andrea Rodebaugh, took the helm as manager during the program's stint in the Women's Premier Soccer League.
A new mexican league
Announcement and preparation
In December 2016, during a general assembly meeting with all Liga MX club owners, former Liga MX President, Enrique Bonilla, announced the formation of the new Liga MX Femenil in an effort to grow and build talent within Mexico. The announcement stated that 16 out of the 18 Liga MX clubs (excluding Puebla and Chiapas due to financial problems) would field U-23 rosters with four U-17 players and up to two overage players.
Before the inaugural season, the teams participated in a preparation tournament called Copa MX Femenil. The tournament took place between 3 May and 6 May 2017, with only 12 of the 16 teams participating due to four clubs not having a team ready by the time of the tournament's inauguration. Pachuca won this tournament by winning the final 9–1 against Club Tijuana.
First tournament
The first Apertura 2017 matches were played on 28 July 2017. Chivas won the first Liga MX Femenil championship on 24 November 2017 by defeating Pachuca in the final. The two matches drew record-setting crowds of 28,955 and 32,466 spectators, respectively.
Commentator Glenn Moore declared the Liga MX Femenil to have concluded a "very successful debut campaign."<ref>Moore, Glenn (Dec 29, 2017), "Kansas Move to Utah", World Soccer Magazine.</ref>
Regulations
During the inaugural season, teams were expected to field U-23 rosters; four slots were reserved for U-17 players, while two were for overage players. All players had to be born in Mexico. Additionally, the sixteen teams were split into two groups. Teams in each group played each other twice per season. The top two teams from each group advanced to the liguilla (playoffs), which consisted of a semifinal of two matches (home and away) followed by a final, also of two matches.