# 2012–13 Primera División de Nicaragua

The 2012–13 season in Primera División de Nicaragua was divided into two tournaments (Apertura and Clausura) and determined the 61st and 62nd champions in the history of the league. It also provided the country's sole berth for the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League. The Apertura tournament was played in the second half of 2012, while the Clausura was played in the first half of 2013.

## Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Segunda División de Fútbol Nicaragua.
* Champions: Xilotepelt
Relegated to Segunda División de Fútbol Nicaragua.
* Last place: Real Madriz.

## Team information

Last updated: July 7, 2011

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| Chinandega FC | Chinandega | Estadio Efrain Tijerino | 8,000 |
| Diriangén | Diriamba | Estadio Cacique Diriangén | 7,500 |
| Juventus | Managua | Estadio Olímpico del IND Managua | 9,000 |
| Managua F.C. | Managua | Estadio Olímpico del IND Managua | 9,000 |
| Ocotal | Ocotal | Estadio Roy Fernandez | 3,000 |
| Real Estelí | Estelí | Estadio Independencia | 4,800 |
| Walter Ferretti | Managua | Estadio Olímpico del IND Managua | 9,000 |
| Xilotepelt | Jinotepe | Estadio Pedro Selva | 12,000 |

### Personnel and sponsoring (2012 Apertura)

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Chinandega FC | TBA | Alex Cajina | Adidas | None |
| Diriangén | Tulio López | Francisco Nunez | Joma | Movistar |
| Juventus | | Edward Urroz | None | Intracarga, Grao |
| Managua F.C. | Napoleón Zeledón | Emilio Aburto | | Managua F.C. |
| Ocotal | Oscar Mendoza | Florentino Colindres | | Marlon Anthony |
| Real Estelí | Fidel Moreno | Ramón Otoniel Olivas | Galaxia | Movistar, Grupo Bimbo, Yahoo, La Curaçao |
| Walter Ferretti | Emilio Rodriguez | Henry 'Huesito' Urbina | | Policia, Cierro, Banco |
| Xilotepelt | TBD | Martin Mena | Gerithen | U de M |

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

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Diriangén | Angel Orellana | resigned (due to problems with team economics) | June 8, 2012 | Francisco Núñez | June 14, 2012 |
| Deportivo Ocotal | Carlos Walcott | resigned (personal issues) | 9 July 2012 | Florentino Colindres | 13 July 2012 |
| Xilotepelt | Luis "guicho" Díaz | sacked | 3 July 2012 | Martin Mena | 4 July 2012 |

### During the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Deportivo Ocotal | Florentino Colindres | resigned (poor performance) | 30 July 2012 | Sindulios Castellano | 1 August 2012 |
| Diriangén | Francisco Núñez | resigned (poor performance) | 23 September 2012 | Luis Vega | 24 September 2012 |

## Apertura

The 2012 Apertura was the first tournament of the season. It began in August 2012.

### Regular season

The regular season began in August 2012. The top four finishers will move on to the next stage of the competition.

#### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Real Esteli | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 26 | Semi-finals Group |
| 2 | Managua | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 22 | Semi-finals Group |
| 3 | Walter Ferretti | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 20 | Semi-finals Group |
| 4 | Juventus Managua | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 20 | Semi-finals Group |
| 5 | Diriangén | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 16 | −2 | 19 | |
| 6 | Ocotal | 14 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 16 | |
| 7 | Chinandega | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 22 | −6 | 15 | |
| 8 | Xilotepelt | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 15 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | CHI | DIR | JUV | MAN | OCO | RES | WFE | XIL |
| Chinandega | | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Diriangén | 5–1 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Juventus Managua | 2–1 | 0–2 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Managua | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Ocotal | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Real Esteli | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Walter Ferretti | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 |
| Xilotepelt | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | |

#### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Real Esteli | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Managua | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Walter Ferretti | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Chinandega | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Diriangén | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Juventus Managua | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Xilotepelt | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Ocotal | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 |

### Finals round

The top two finishers in the Semi-finals Group will move on to the final.

#### Semi-finals Group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | RES | WFE | MAN | JUV |
| 1 | Real Esteli | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 12 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Walter Ferretti | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Managua | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 2–1 |
| 4 | Juventus Managua | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | |

### Final
#### Second leg

* Primera División de Nicaragua 2012 Apertura champion
* Real Estelí 13th title

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Andres Giraldo | Chinandega FC | 11 |
| 2 | Rudel Calero | Real Esteli F.C. | 9 |
| 3 | Herberth Cabrera | Managua F.C. | 7 |
| 4 | Samuel Wilson | Real Esteli F.C. | 7 |
| 5 | Eulises Pavon | Diriangén FC | 6 |
| 6 | Elmer Mejia | Real Esteli F.C. | 6 |
| 7 | Ricardo Vega | Deportivo Walter Ferretti | 5 |
| 8 | Ronny Colon | Juventus Managua | 5 |
Updated to games played on 14 September 2012. Post-season goals are not included, only regular season goals.

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Apertura 2012. The following players:
* have played at least one apertura game for the respective club.
* have not been capped for the Nicaragua national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace
A new rule was introduced this year, that clubs can have upwards of five foreign players in a squad, However some conditions include: The player has to be younger than 30 years old, spent year abroad away from Nicaragua, and clubs can only have four foreign players on the field at one time .

## Clausura

The 2013 Clausura was the second tournament of the season.

### Personnel and sponsoring (2013 Clausura)

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Chinandega FC | TBA | Alex Cajina | Adidas | |
| Diriangén | Tulio López | Carlos Alberto de Toro | Joma | Movistar |
| Juventus | Edward Urroz | Douglas Urbina | None | UNEM |
| Managua F.C. | Napoleón Zeledón | Emilio Aburto | | Managua F.C. |
| Ocotal | Oscar Mendoza | Sindulio Castellano | Tecnitasa | Alcadia de Ocotal |
| Real Estelí | Fidel Moreno | Ramón Otoniel Olivas | Galaxia | Movistar, Grupo Bimbo, Yahoo, La Curaçao |
| Walter Ferretti | Emilio Rodriguez | Henry 'Huesito' Urbina | Dejudo | Claro, Albanisa, Flor de Cana,Ramos, Mediotipca |
| Xilotepelt | TBD | Angel Orellana | TBD | TBD |

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

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Diriangén | Luis Vega | Sacked | October 2012 | Carlos Alberto de Toro | November 2012 |
| Xilotepelt | Martin Mena | Sacked | December 2012 | Angel Orellana | January 2013 |

### During the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Deportivo Ocotal | Sindulios Castellano | resigned (poor performance) | Feb 2013 | Mario Alfaro | March 2013 |
| Xilotepelt | Angel Orellana | resigned (Personal Reasons) | Feb 2013 | TBD | March 2013 |
| Deportivo Walter Ferretti | Henry 'Huesito' Urbina | resigned (Personal Reasons) | March 2013 | Luis 'Gaucho' Diaz | March 2013 |

## Clausura

The 2013 Clausura was the first tournament of the season. It began in August 2012.

### Regular season

The regular season began on 2013. The top four finishers will move on to the next stage of the competition.

#### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Diriangén | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 10 | +15 | 31 | Semi-finals Group |
| 2 | Real Esteli | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 33 | 5 | +28 | 28 | Semi-finals Group |
| 3 | Walter Ferretti | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 13 | +9 | 22 | Semi-finals Group |
| 4 | Managua | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 19 | Semi-finals Group |
| 5 | Ocotal | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 19 | 21 | −2 | 19 | |
| 6 | Juventus Managua | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 19 | 27 | −8 | 14 | |
| 7 | Chinandega | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 30 | −17 | 10 | |
| 8 | Xilotepelt | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 41 | −27 | 8 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | CHI | DIR | JUV | MAN | OCO | RES | WFE | XIL |
| Chinandega | | 2–4 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–3 |
| Diriangén | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 |
| Juventus Managua | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 6–1 |
| Managua | 6–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Ocotal | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 0–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Real Esteli | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 5–0 | | 1–1 | 12–0 |
| Walter Ferretti | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 2–1 |
| Xilotepelt | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–5 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | |

#### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Real Esteli | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Managua | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Walter Ferretti | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Chinandega | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Diriangén | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Juventus Managua | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Xilotepelt | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Ocotal | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |

### Finals round

The top two finishers in the Semi-finals Group will move on to the final.

#### Semi-finals Group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | WFE | RES | MAN | DIR |
| 1 | Walter Ferretti | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 14 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Real Esteli | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 11 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Managua | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 6 | 0–4 | 0–3 | | 3–2 |
| 4 | Diriangén | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | |

### Final
#### Second leg

* The game was called after sixty six minutes of play after Walter Ferretti fan base caused to much disruption to the games with rioting, flares and objects being thrown on the pitch, Real Esetli won the series 6-0 on aggregate.
* Primera División de Nicaragua 2013 Clausura champion
* Real Esteli 14th title

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Apertura 2012. The following players:
* have played at least one apertura game for the respective club.
* have not been capped for the Nicaragua national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace
A new rule was introduced this year, that clubs can have upwards of five foreign players in a squad, However some conditions include: The player has to be younger than 30 years old, spent year abroad away from Nicaragua, and clubs can only have four foreign players on the field at one time .

## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Real Esteli | 28 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 55 | 17 | +38 | 54 | Qualification for 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League |
| 2 | Diriangén | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 50 | |
| 3 | Walter Ferretti | 28 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 37 | 24 | +13 | 42 | |
| 4 | Managua | 28 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 34 | 27 | +7 | 41 | |
| 5 | Ocotal | 28 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 35 | |
| 6 | Juventus Managua | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 32 | 41 | −9 | 34 | |
| 7 | Chinandega | 28 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 29 | 52 | −23 | 25 | |
| 8 | Xilotepelt | 28 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 26 | 59 | −33 | 23 | Relegation playoffs |