# Primera División de Fútbol Profesional – Apertura 2009

The Apertura 2009 season (officially known as Torneo Apertura 2009) was the twenty-third tournament of the Primera División de Fútbol Profesional since its establishment of an Apertura and Clausura format, and the 41st overall.
FAS won the tournament for the 17th time in history, defeating Águila in the final with a 3–2 victory in extra time.
Isidro Metapán were the defending champions, having won their 3rd title the previous season and being the back to back champions.

## Format

A total of 10 teams contested the league, with none getting relegated (relegation only occurs in Clausura tournaments). The season began on August 14, 2009 and concluded on December 20, 2009. The 10 teams of the Primera División played 18 matches, playing each team twice (home and away). The top four teams qualified directly to the semifinals. Since Vista Hermosa and Isidro Metapán finished with the same points at the end of the regular season, a knockout playoff match was played to determine the last team to advance to the playoffs. Vista Hermosa clinched the final spot for the playoffs with a 1–0 victory over Isidro Metapán.

## Promotion and Relegation

Promoted from Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño.
* Champions: Atlético Marte
* Municipal Limeño (bought the spot of Chalatenango).
Relegated to Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño.
* Last place: Juventud Independiente
* Chalatenango (sold their spot to Municipal Limeño).

## Team information
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Venue |
| Águila | Juan Francisco Barraza | 10,000 |
| Alianza | Estadio Cuscatlán | 45,925 |
| Atlético Balboa | Estadio Marcelino Imbers | 4,000 |
| Atlético Marte | Estadio Cuscatlán | 45,925 |
| FAS | Estadio Óscar Quiteño | 15,000 |
| Isidro Metapán | Estadio Jorge Calero Suárez | 8,000 |
| Luís Ángel Firpo | Estadio Sergio Torres | 5,000 |
| Municipal Limeño | Estadio Jose Ramon Flores | 5,000 |
| Nejapa | Estadio José Gregorio Martínez | 15,000 |
| Vista Hermosa | Estadio Correcaminos | 12,000 |

## Team information
### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Águila | TBD | Eraldo Correia | TBD | TBD |
| Alianza | TBD | Nelson Ancheta | TBD | TBD |
| Atlético Balboa | TBD | Eduardo Santana | TBD | TBD |
| Atlético Marte | TBD | Ramiro Cepeda | TBD | TBD |
| FAS | Reynaldo Valle | Roberto Gamarra | TBD | TBD |
| Firpo | TBD | Agustín Castillo | TBD | TBD |
| Isidro Metapán | TBD | Edwin Portillo | TBD | TBD |
| C.D. Municipal Limeño | TBD | Miguel Soriano | TBD | TBD |
| Nejapa F.C. | TBD | Gustavo de Simone | TBD | TBD |
| C.D. Vista Hermosa | TBD | Armando Palma | TBD | TBD |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | FAS | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 31 | 9 | +22 | 38 | Qualified to the Finals |
| 2 | Águila | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 22 | 9 | +13 | 34 | Qualified to the Finals |
| 3 | Luis Ángel Firpo | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 29 | Qualified to the Finals |
| 4 | Vista Hermosa | 18 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 26 | Advanced to the play-off |
| 5 | Isidro Metapán | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 26 | Advanced to the play-off |
| 6 | Atlético Marte | 18 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 21 | 17 | +4 | 24 | |
| 7 | Municipal Limeño | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 20 | |
| 8 | Alianza | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 21 | −3 | 17 | |
| 9 | Nejapa | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 16 | 39 | −23 | 14 | |
| 10 | Atlético Balboa | 18 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 19 | 40 | −21 | 11 | |

## Results

| Home \ Away | AGU | ALI | BAL | ATM | FAS | FIR | MET | MLI | NEJ | VIS |
| Águila | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Alianza | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Atlético Balboa | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 5–0 | 0–0 |
| Atlético Marte | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| FAS | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| Firpo | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Isidro Metapán | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Municipal Limeño | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Nejapa | 0–3 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | | 1–3 |
| Vista Hermosa | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 4–0 | |

## Managerial changes
### Before the start of the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Atlético Balboa | Luis Zapata | End of contract | 16 June 2009 | Eduardo Santana | 24 June 2009 | 9th (Clausura 2009) |
| Nejapa | Nelson Ancheta | End of contract | June 2009 | Gustavo de Simone | 1 August 2009 | 4th (Clausura 2009) |
| Municipal Limeño | Jorge García | End of contract | June 2009 | Miguel Aguilar | June 2009 | N/A |

### Regular season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Municipal Limeño | Miguel Aguilar | Sacked | 31 August 2009 | Víctor Coreas | 1 September 2009 | N/A |
| Atlético Balboa | Eduardo Santana | Resigned | 1 September 2009 | Jorge García | 5 September 2009 | N/A |
| Atlético Balboa | Jorge García | Resigned | 15 September 2009 | Luis Zapata | 24 September 2009 | N/A |
| Vista Hermosa | Armando Palma | Sacked | October 2009 | Mario Martínez | 13 October 2009 | N/A |
| Alianza F.C. | Nelson Ancheta | Sacked | 26 October 2009 | Miguel Soriano | 27 October 2009 | N/A |

## Playoffs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | FAS | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Vista Hermosa | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Vista Hermosa | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | FAS | 3 |
| | | | | | 2 | Águila | 2 |
| 2 | Águila | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | Águila | 2 |
| 3 | Firpo | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | |

### Final

FAS :
| GK | 1 | Dagoberto Portillo | | |
| DF | 4 | Ramón Flores | | |
| DF | 3 | Marvin González | | |
| DF | 6 | José Henríquez | | |
| DF | 15 | Alfredo Pacheco | 37' | |
| MF | 23 | Carlos Aparicio | | |
| MF | 24 | Roberto Peña | | |
| MF | 8 | Cristian Álvarez | | |
| MF | 20 | Josué Flores | | 89' |
| FW | 9 | Alejandro Bentos | | 23' |
| FW | 11 | Williams Reyes | | |
| Substitutes ||||
| FW | 16 | Franklin Webster | | 23' 68' |
| MF | 19 | Gustavo López | | 68' |
| MF | 13 | Juan Carlos Moscoso | | 89' |
| Manager ||||
| Roberto Gamarra ||||
Águila :
| GK | 1 | Miguel Montes | | |
| DF | 5 | Luis Hernández | | |
| DF | 4 | Hermes Martínez | | |
| DF | 17 | Isaac Zelaya | 4' | 46' |
| DF | 13 | Deris Umanzor | | |
| MF | 16 | Arturo Albarrán | | |
| MF | 6 | Gilberto Murgas | 34' | |
| MF | 18 | Juan Lazo | | 46' |
| MF | 11 | Francisco Álvarez | | 82' |
| FW | 8 | Rudis Corrales | | |
| FW | 9 | Nicholas Addlery | | |
| Substitutes ||||
| DF | 23 | William Antonio Torres | 104' | 46' |
| MF | 3 | William Torres Alegría | | 46' |
| FW | 7 | Nelson Reyes | 110' | 82' |
| Manager ||||
| Eraldo Correia ||||
* Apertura 2009 champions
* FAS 17th title

## Top-ten goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Williams Reyes | FAS | 11 |
| 1 | Nicolás Muñoz | Vista Hermosa | 11 |
| 3 | José Oliveira | Municipal Limeño | 9 |
| 4 | Josué Flores | FAS | 7 |
| 4 | Anel Canales | Isidro Metapán | 7 |
| 4 | Leandro Franco | Firpo | 7 |
| 4 | Carlos Ayala | Alianza | 7 |
| 8 | Domingo Álvarez | Vista Hermosa | 6 |
| 8 | Rudis Corrales | Águila | 6 |
| 8 | Manuel Martinez | Nejapa | 6 |
| Source: El Grafico ||||

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Apertura 2009. The following players:
* have played at least one apertura game for the respective club.
* have not been capped for the El Salvador national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace
A new rule was introduced this season that clubs can only have three foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or player/s is released.