# Primera División de Fútbol Profesional 1996–97

The 1996–97 Primera División de Fútbol Profesional season is the 45th tournament of El Salvador's Primera División since its establishment of the National League system in 1948. The tournament began 1 September 1996 and was scheduled to end on July 27, 1997. Alianza won the two legged final over LA Firpo 3–2.

## Teams

| Team | City | Stadium | Head coach | Captain |
| Aguila | San Miguel, El Salvador | Estadio San Miguel | Milovan Đorić | |
| Alianza | San Salvador, El Salvador | Estadio Cuscatlan | Juan Carlos Masnik | |
| Atletico Marte | San Salvador, El Salvador | Estadio Cuscutlan | Javier Frogoso | |
| Baygon-ADET | La Libertad | Estadio | Armando Contreras Palma | |
| Dragon | San Miguel, El Salvador | Estadio San Miguel | Didier Castro | |
| EL Roble | Ilobasco, El Salvador | Estadio Ilobasco | Conrado Miranda | TBD |
| FAS | Santa Ana, El Salvador | Estadio de Santa Ana | Saul Lorenzo Rivero | |
| Firpo | Usulután, El Salvador | Estadio Usulutan | Jorge Aude | |
| Municipal Limeno | Santa Rosa de Lima, La Unión | Estadio de Santa Rosa Lima | Helio Rodriguez | |
| Once Lobos | Chalchuapa, Santa Ana, El Salvador | Estadio El Progreso | Mauricio Alvarenga | |

## Managerial changes
### Before the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| TBD | TBD | Sacked | 1996 | TBD | 1996 | September 1995 |
| Municipal Limeno | Alfredo Ruano | Sacked | July 1996 | Helio Rodriguez | August 1996 | |

### During the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| C.D. Aguila | Milovan Đorić | Mutual consent, Joined the national team | December 1996 | Mario Rey | January 1997 |
| C.D. Aguila | Mario Rey | Interimship finished | 2 February 1997 | Mladen Stefanovic | 3 February 1997 |
| EL Roble | Conrado Miranda | Sacked | 1997 | Victor Manuel Pacheco | 1997 |
| Atletico Marte | Javier Fragoso | Sacked | 1997 | Juan Quarterone | 1997 |
| LA Firpo | Juan Cortez | Interimship finished | 1997 | Jorge Aude | 1997 |
| LA Firpo | Mario Perez | Sacked | 1997 | Juan Cortez | 1997 |
| Once Lobos | Mauricio Alvarenga | Sacked | 1997 | Cesar Acevedo | 1997 |
| Municipal Limeno | Helio Rodriguez | Sacked | October 1996 | Manuel Solano Madrigal | November 1996 |
| FAS | Saul Lorenzo Rivero | Mutual Consent | January 1997 | Valdeir Vieira | 15 February 1997 |
| Firpo | Jorge Aude | Sacked | February 1997 | Julio Escobar | February 1997 |
| C.D. Dragon | Didier Castro | Sacked | November 1996 | Juan Ramón Paredes | November 1996 |
| C.D. Dragon | Juan Ramón Paredes | Sacked | December 1996 | Gilberto Yearwood | January 1997 |
| Municipal Limeno | Manuel Solano Madrigal | Resigned | February 1997 | Carlos Ventura | February 1997 |
| Municipal Limeno | Carlos Ventura | Resigned | April 1997 | Cesar Rincon | April 1997 |
| Municipal Limeno | Cesar Rincon | Resigned | May 1997 | Alfredo Romero (Intermship) | June 1997 |

## Playoffs
### Preliminary finals
#### Second legs

1-1. Aguila won 4-2 on penalty
LA Firpo won 7-5 on aggregate
Atletico Marte won 4-2 after extra time. Both team progressed

### Semifinals
#### Second legs

LA Firpo won 3-2 on aggregare
Alianza won 2-0 on aggregare

### Final

Alianza FC won 3-2 on Aggregate.

## Top scorers

| Pos | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1. | Jorge Garay | Aguila | 21 |
| 2 | Ivan Nolasco | El Roble de Ilobasco | 20 |
| 3. | Carlos Villareal | FAS | 19 |
| 4. | Alejandro Larrea | Atletico Marte | 17 |
| 5. | Waldir Guerra | Aguila | 16 |
| 6. | Juan Manuel Villarreal | Once Lobos | 15 |
| 7. | Abdul Thompson Conteh | Atletico Marte | 14 |
| 8. | Oscar Diaz | FAS | 13 |
| 9. | Israel Castro Franco | Luis Angel Firpo | 13 |
| 10. | Rodrigo Osorio | Alianza FC | 12 |

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in 1996-1997. The following players:
* have played at least one game for the respective club.
* have not been capped for the El Salvador national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace