The 1966 Torneo Descentralizado was the 50th season of the highest division of Peruvian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. This season marked the first time the Primera División was named the ''Descentralizado'' because teams outside

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

and

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

were invited for the first time making it the first national championship in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. The four teams invited to play in the inaugural national championship were Melgar of

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

, Octavio Espinosa of Ica,

Atlético Grau Club Atlético Grau, more commonly known as Atlético Grau or simply, Grau, is a Peruvian professional football club based in the city of Piura. The club was founded in 1919 and currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División, the top tier of P ...

Piura Piura is a city in northwestern Peru, located north of the Sechura Desert along the Piura River. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. Its population was 484,475 as of 2017 and it is the 7th most populous city in Peru. ...

, and

Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín is a Peruvian football (soccer), football club, playing in the city of Trujillo, Peru. The club is the biggest of Trujillo city, and one of the biggest in La Libertad Province. The club was founded 1 August 1917 and pla ...

of Trujillo. The first match of the season was played on 13 August 1966 between

Universitario Club Universitario de Deportes is a Peruvian sports club based in Lima, which has soccer as its main activity. It also has women's football, volleyball and basketball sections. The football team, popularly known as Universitario, has competed in ...

and

Mariscal Sucre Club Mariscal Sucre de Deportes, commonly known as Mariscal Sucre, is a Peruvian football club, located in the city of La Victoria, Lima. The club was founded with the name of Sucre FC and was promoted to Peruvian Primera División in 1933, late ...

in the Estadio Nacional. Shortly after this match, the first match to feature a team outside the

and

region was between

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A., shortened to Sporting Cristal, is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, soccer team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by e ...

and Alfonso Ugarte in the same stadium on the same day. The champion was Universitario. Four teams were relegated at the end of the season. Carlos Concha was relegated to the 1967 Segunda División as the last placed team. In addition, Octavio Espinosa, Alfonso Ugarte, and Melgar were relegated as they needed to place seventh or higher to remain in the first division. They needed to play the 1967 Copa Perú to attain promotion to the first division.

Teams

Team changes

Stadia locations

League table

Standings

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

Scoring

*First goal of the season –

Héctor Chumpitaz Héctor Eduardo Chumpitaz Gonzáles (; born 12 April 1943, in Cañete) is a former footballer from Peru. He was voted one of the greatest defenders of all time, among the 30 best defenders in football history, and included within the 100 best ...

for Universitario against Mariscal Sucre (13 August 1966)

References

External links

Peru 1966 season
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

{{Torneo Descentralizado Peru1 1 Peruvian Primera División seasons