2006 Categoría Primera B season

Copa Premier
Season2006
Dates11 February – 29 November 2006
ChampionsLa Equidad (1st title)
PromotedLa Equidad
RelegatedNone
Top goalscorerEric Cantillo (22 goals)
← 2005
2007 →

The 2006 Categoría Primera B season, officially known as the 2006 Copa Premier for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season of Colombia's second tier football league Categoría Primera B since its founding. The competition began on 11 February and ended on 29 November 2006. La Equidad were the champions, winning both of the season's short tournaments to claim their first Primera B title as well as promotion to Categoría Primera A.[1]

Format

The season was divided into two tournaments: Torneo I and Torneo II. In both tournaments, the 18 participating teams were drawn into two groups of nine teams each, with teams playing all teams in their group as well as one team from the other group twice. In Torneo I, the groups were formed by geographical criteria, grouping nearby teams, while in the second tournament of the season, geographical rivals were assigned to different groups. The top two teams of each group advanced to a final group stage which was also played in a double round-robin fashion. The winners of both of the season's tournaments would face each other in the season's grand final, with the champion being promoted at the end of the season and the runner-up playing the promotion/relegation playoff, which was implemented starting from this season.

Teams

18 teams took part in the competition in this season. The 2005 Primera B champions Cúcuta Deportivo, who were promoted to Categoría Primera A, were replaced by Unión Magdalena, relegated from the top flight in the previous season. Prior to the start of the season, Florida Soccer was sold and moved to Montería, becoming Córdoba F.C.,[2] Bello F.C. was renamed Atlético Bello, and Dépor F.C. relocated from Cartago, Valle del Cauca to Jamundí, in the same department.

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Locations of the 2006 Categoría Primera B teams.
Club City Stadium Capacity
Academia Bogotá Compensar 4,500
Alianza Petrolera Barrancabermeja Daniel Villa Zapata 8,000
Atlético Bello Bello Tulio Ospina 12,000
Bajo Cauca Caucasia Orlando Aníbal Monroy 4,000
Barranquilla Barranquilla Romelio Martínez 10,000
Bogotá Bogotá Alfonso López Pumarejo 12,000
Centauros Villavicencio Manuel Calle Lombana 15,000
Córdoba Cereté Alberto Saibis Saker 12,000
Cortuluá Tuluá Doce de Octubre 16,000
Dépor Jamundí Cacique Jamundí 3,500
Deportivo Rionegro Rionegro Alberto Grisales 14,000
Expreso Rojo Sincelejo Arturo Cumplido Sierra[i] 5,000
Cartagena Pedro de Heredia 10,000
Girardot Girardot Luis Antonio Duque Peña 15,000
La Equidad Soacha Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento 8,000
Patriotas Tunja La Independencia 8,500
Pumas de Casanare Yopal Santiago de las Atalayas 10,000
Unión Magdalena Santa Marta Eduardo Santos 22,000
Valledupar Valledupar Armando Maestre Pavajeau 10,000
Notes
  1. ^ Temporary home stadium for the Torneo I due to remodeling works at Estadio Pedro de Heredia.

Torneo I

First stage

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Unión Magdalena 18 12 4 2 27 9 +18 40 Advance to Cuadrangular Final
2 Valledupar 18 8 6 4 17 18 −1 30
3 Bajo Cauca 18 8 3 7 17 19 −2 27
4 Córdoba 18 5 8 5 19 22 −3 23
5 Alianza Petrolera 18 6 4 8 19 17 +2 22
6 Expreso Rojo 18 5 7 6 18 19 −1 22
7 Deportivo Rionegro 18 5 4 9 14 21 −7 19
8 Atlético Bello 18 3 7 8 13 23 −10 16
9 Barranquilla 18 3 6 9 17 21 −4 15
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 La Equidad 18 11 3 4 24 15 +9 36 Advance to Cuadrangular Final
2 Academia 18 10 4 4 29 13 +16 34
3 Dépor 18 9 3 6 23 19 +4 30
4 Patriotas 18 7 8 3 28 17 +11 29
5 Cortuluá 18 7 8 3 26 23 +3 29
6 Centauros 18 5 6 7 12 15 −3 21
7 Girardot 18 4 5 9 21 28 −7 17
8 Bogotá 18 3 5 10 12 26 −14 14
9 Pumas de Casanare 18 2 7 9 22 33 −11 13
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.

Cuadrangular Final

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification EQU VAL ACA MAG
1 La Equidad 6 3 3 0 6 3 +3 12 Advance to the Finals — 2–1 0–0 1–0
2 Valledupar 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 8 1–1 — 3–1 2–0
3 Academia 6 2 1 3 6 5 +1 7 0–1 3–0 — 2–0
4 Unión Magdalena 6 1 2 3 4 8 −4 5 1–1 2–2 1–0 —
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.

Torneo II

First stage

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Centauros 18 9 7 2 28 17 +11 34 Advance to Cuadrangular Final
2 Deportivo Rionegro 18 8 5 5 24 17 +7 29
3 Valledupar 18 8 4 6 23 18 +5 28
4 Academia 18 6 7 5 22 21 +1 25
5 Bajo Cauca 18 6 5 7 28 25 +3 23
6 Unión Magdalena 18 6 5 7 23 29 −6 23
7 Dépor 18 6 3 9 17 25 −8 21
8 Bogotá 18 5 5 8 22 26 −4 20
9 Girardot 18 3 9 6 25 25 0 18
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Cortuluá 18 12 4 2 31 14 +17 40 Advance to Cuadrangular Final
2 La Equidad 18 10 5 3 30 19 +11 35
3 Barranquilla 18 10 3 5 39 26 +13 33
4 Pumas de Casanare 18 8 5 5 28 22 +6 29
5 Patriotas 18 5 6 7 21 21 0 21
6 Alianza Petrolera 18 5 4 9 16 26 −10 19
7 Córdoba 18 5 4 9 16 33 −17 19
8 Atlético Bello 18 3 4 11 19 35 −16 13
9 Expreso Rojo 18 2 5 11 16 29 −13 11
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.

Cuadrangular Final

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification EQU COR CEN RIO
1 La Equidad 6 3 2 1 12 6 +6 11 Advance to the Finals — 3–0 3–0 4–3
2 Cortuluá 6 3 1 2 6 6 0 10 1–0 — 1–2 2–0
3 Centauros 6 2 2 2 5 9 −4 8 1–1 1–1 — 1–0
4 Deportivo Rionegro 6 1 1 4 7 9 −2 4 1–1 0–1 3–0 —
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.

Finals

The final series was canceled after La Equidad won the season's two short tournaments, promoting directly to Categoría Primera A.


 Copa Premier
2006 champions 
La Equidad
1st title

Runners-up playoff

Given the cancellation of the final series, a playoff series between Valledupar and Cortuluá, runners-up of the Torneo I and Torneo II, respectively, was played to decide the team that would advance to the promotion/relegation playoff.

Valledupar3–2Cortuluá
Cortuluá0–0Valledupar

Valledupar won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the promotion/relegation playoff.

Promotion/relegation playoff

As the second worst team in the 2006 Categoría Primera A season's relegation table, Atlético Huila had to play a two-legged tie against Valledupar, the runners-up playoff winner. Atlético Huila played the second leg at home as the Primera A team. The winner would be promoted or remain in Primera A for the 2007 season, while the loser would be relegated or remain in Primera B.

Valledupar0–1Atlético Huila
Atlético Huila2–0Valledupar

Atlético Huila won 3–0 on aggregate and both teams remained in their respective leagues.

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Colombia Eric Cantillo Pumas de Casanare 22
2 Colombia Fredys Arrieta Barranquilla 21
3 Colombia Roberto Polo Cortuluá 19
4 Colombia Mario Sergio Angulo Unión Magdalena 16

Source: Historia del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano 70 Años[3]

References

  1. ^ "La Equidad, ascendió a la primera división de fútbol de Colombia" [La Equidad, promoted to the first division of Colombian football] (in Spanish). La Nación. 4 November 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  2. ^ "¿Qué pasó con Florida Soccer antes y después de jugar en La Ceja?" [What happened to Florida Soccer before and after playing in La Ceja?] (in Spanish). Mística Deportiva. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  3. ^ Ruiz Bonilla, Guillermo (2018). Historia del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano 70 Años. Mundo Fútbol SAS. p. 620. ISBN 9-789584-852731.