1965–66 Honduran Liga Nacional

The 1965–66 Honduran Liga Nacional season was the inaugural edition of the Honduran Liga Nacional. The season ran from 18 July 1965 to 23 January 1966. The format of the tournament consisted of a double round-robin schedule. Platense F.C. won the title after defeating España 2–0 in the last round at El Progreso.

Liga Nacional

Season	1965–66
Champions	Platense (1st)
Relegated	None
Matches played	90
Goals scored	265 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorer	Grey (14)
Biggest home win	OLI 10–2 LSA (29 August 1965)
Highest scoring	OLI 10–2 LSA (29 August 1965)
← 1964 Amateur League 1966–67 → All statistics correct as of 23 January 1966.

Background

In 1964, a triangular tournament was organized between three clubs from the Liga Dionisio de Herrera between C.D.S. Vida, C.D. Victoria and C.D. Atlántida; having Vida qualified for the 1965–66 league.

1965–66 teams

• Atlético Español (Tegucigalpa)
• España (San Pedro Sula)
• Honduras (El Progreso)
• La Salle (San Pedro Sula)
• Marathón (San Pedro Sula)
• Motagua (Tegucigalpa)
• Olimpia (Tegucigalpa)
• Platense (Puerto Cortés)
• Troya (Tegucigalpa)
• Vida (La Ceiba)

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Platense	18	11	5	2	42	23	+19	27	No international qualification
2	Olimpia	18	10	6	2	35	14	+21	26
3	Vida	18	8	6	4	24	17	+7	22
4	Troya	18	8	6	4	18	14	+4	22
5	España	18	9	3	6	29	20	+9	21
6	Honduras	18	8	3	7	26	25	+1	19
7	Marathón	18	5	2	11	22	35	−13	12
8	La Salle	18	5	2	11	28	50	−22	12
9	Motagua	18	3	4	11	14	25	−11	10
10	Atlético Español	18	2	5	11	28	45	−17	9	No relegation

Updated to match(es) played on 23 January 1966. Source:

• Winners: Platense (won regular season)
• Runners-up: Olimpia
• Last: Atlético Español (no relegation)

1965–66 Liga Nacional winners
Platense 1st title

Round 1

Honduras v Atlético Español

18 July 1965	Honduras	3–0	Atlético Español	El Progreso
	Deras 5' 65' Perdomo 70'			Stadium: Estadio Humberto Micheletti

Platense v La Salle

18 July 1965	Platense	6–2	La Salle	Puerto Cortés
15:00	Guerra 6' 65' 74' Betancourt 29' Zavala 69' Fúnez 85'		16' Henderson 84' Grey	Stadium: Estadio Excélsior Referee: José Carranza

Vida v Motagua

18 July 1965	Vida	4–1	Motagua	La Ceiba
	Garden 64' Brooks 75' 82' Blanco 85' Starting XI (GK) K. Brooks Zelaya Gutiérrez Banegas Maradiaga Marshall C. Brooks Blanco Rodríguez Amaya Garden Substitutes Juárez Edwards Coach Bernárdez (HON)		9' Castillo Starting XI Canales (GK) Godoy Benavídez A. Navarro M. Banegas F. Navarro Chávez García Martínez Castillo E. Banegas Substitutes Yusan Ramos Coach (HON) Enríquez	Stadium: Estadio Nilmo Edwards Referee: Raúl Cubas

España v Troya

18 July 1965	España	1–0	Troya	San Pedro Sula
	Handal 7'			Stadium: Estadio General Francisco Morazán Referee: Gilberto Reyes

Olimpia v Marathón

18 July 1965	Olimpia	3–0	Marathón	Tegucigalpa
	Rodríguez 8' 75' Ferrera			Stadium: Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino Referee: Concepción Ayala

Round 2

La Salle v Vida

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España v Marathón

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Atlético Español v Platense

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Motagua v Troya

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Honduras v Olimpia

Round 3

Vida v Platense

1 August 1965	Vida	2–0	Platense	La Ceiba, Atlántida
	Garden			Stadium: Estadio Nilmo Edwards

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La Salle v Honduras

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Marathón v Motagua

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Troya v Atlético Español

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Olimpia v España

Round 4

Honduras v Troya

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Platense v Marathón

8 August 1965	Platense	3–0	Marathón	Puerto Cortés, Cortés
	Guerra Díaz			Stadium: Estadio Excélsior

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España v La Salle

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Atlético Español v Vida

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Olimpia v Motagua

Round 5

Vida v Troya

15 August 1965	Vida	2–0	Troya	La Ceiba, Atlántida
	Juárez Brooks			Stadium: Estadio Nilmo Edwards

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España v Honduras

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Marathón v La Salle

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Olimpia v Atlético Español

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Motagua v Platense

Round 6

Platense v España

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Vida v Olimpia

22 August 1965	Vida	0–0	Olimpia	La Ceiba, Atlántida
				Stadium: Estadio Nilmo Edwards

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Marathón v Troya

22 August 1965	Marathón	0–0	Troya	San Pedro Sula, Cortés
				Stadium: Estadio Francisco Morazán

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La Salle v Atlético Español

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Motagua v Honduras

Round 7

Honduras v Marathón

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Platense v Troya

29 August 1965	Platense	3–1	Troya	Puerto Cortés, Cortés
	Romero Arzú		Martínez	Stadium: Estadio Excélsior

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España v Vida

29 August 1965	España	3–0	Vida	San Pedro Sula, Cortés
	Cruz Acosta			Stadium: Estadio Francisco Morazán

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Atlético Español v Motagua

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Olimpia v La Salle

Round 8

Vida v Honduras

5 September 1965	Vida	0–0	Honduras	La Ceiba, Atlántida
				Stadium: Estadio Nilmo Edwards

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La Salle v Troya

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España v Motagua

5 September 1965	España	0–2	Motagua	San Pedro Sula, Cortés
			Banegas	Stadium: Estadio Francisco Morazán

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Atlético Español v Marathón

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Olimpia v Platense

Top scorer

• Henry Grey Fúnez (La Salle) with 14 goals

Squads

1965–66 squads
Atlético Español José Herrera Jorge Rosales Joaquín Bulnes Francisco Gómez Fernando Bulnes Ramón Raudales Arturo Uclés Raúl Cárdenas Jesús Flores Rolando Rodríguez Manuel Bulnes
España Carlos Handal Carlos Acosta Raúl Peri José Colón Armando Palacios Pedro Rivas Dolores Cruz Mariano Aguiluz Vidal Canales Augusto Palacios Mario Sandoval Héctor Gómez Luis Castro Ramón Oviedo Salvador Reyes Javier Rodríguez Insider Rodas
Honduras Gil Valerio René Flores Santos Juárez Jorge Deras Domingo Ramos Rolando Chávez Pablo Perdomo Norris Bodden Andrés Ávila Pedro Deras Getulio Millares
La Salle Ricando Sandoval Víctor Henderson Héctor Castro Ástor Perdomo Leonardo Vásquez Ramón Hernández Carlos Cobos Víctor Castro Luis Metzgen Ricardo Montalván Mario Tróchez Israel Juárez Santiago Rodríguez Salvador Azcúnaga Getulio Millares Miguel Pavón Adalberto Menjívar Henry Fúnez
Marathón Martín Rodríguez Mario Caballero Victoriano Arzú Mauro Caballero Sigfrido Vargas Ernesto Cabús René Cruz Mario Rivera Rafael Maldonado Ernesto López Ernesto Licona Héctor Chávez Julio Fonseca Augusto Domínguez Andrés Arzú Emilio Cruz Pedro Flores Jorge Durón Elías Carbajal
Motagua Porfirio Canales Blanco Jacobo Godoy Nelson Benavídez Alfonso Navarro Marcio Ramos Héctor Chávez Marcos Banegas Elio Banegas Mario García Amado Castillo Fermín Navarro Jorge Berríos Marco Callizo Ernesto Henríquez Juan Martínez Ricardo Cárdenas José Castillo
Olimpia Marco Rosales Ronald Chessman Raúl Suazo Ricardo Reyes Conrado Flores Juan Lanza Reyando Centeno Domingo Ferrera "Pibe" Midence Donaldo Rosales Ricardo Taylor Federico Budde Rafael Dick Carlos Suazo Jorge Bustillo Santiago Tercero Roberto Crisanto
Platense Alexander Guillén Víctor León Santos Díaz Roosevelth Garbuth Carlos Alvarado Raúl Betancourt Gilberto Zavala Carlos Duarte Héctor Hernández José Duarte Félix Guerra Francisco Garay Ricardo Fúnez Gustavo Croisdale Francisco Brocato Pablo Arzú Carlos Romero Tomás Máximo Justo Prieto José Garay José Murillo Julio Anderson Jorge Solís Armando Doblado Miguel Howel
Troya Emilio Calderini Jorge Cabrera
Vida Tomás Marshall Israel Juárez Morris Garden Alberto Amaya Arturo Garden Jesús Fuentes Joe Hendicks Cristóbal Brooks Jesús Blanco Antonio Urbina Óscar Banegas

Curiosities

On 24 October 1965, the match between F.C. Motagua and C.D. España was interrupted for several minutes due to a deflated ball. Since there were no additional balls, the match had to be briefly suspended while the only ball was being re-inflated in a close by gas station.