1966 Torneo Descentralizado

The 1966 Torneo Descentralizado was the 50th season of the highest division of Peruvian football. This season marked the first time the Primera División was named the Descentralizado because teams outside Lima and Callao were invited for the first time making it the first national championship in Peru. The four teams invited to play in the inaugural national championship were Melgar of Arequipa, Octavio Espinosa of Ica, Atlético Grau of Piura, and Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín of Trujillo.

Torneo Descentralizado

Season	1966
Dates	13 August 1966 – 19 February 1967
Champions	Universitario 11th Primera División title
Relegated	Melgar Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín Octavio Espinosa Carlos Concha
1967 Copa Libertadores	Universitario Sport Boys
Matches played	182
Goals scored	542 (2.98 per match)
Top goalscorer	Teófilo Cubillas (19 goals)
← 1965 1967 →

The first match of the season was played on 13 August 1966 between Universitario and Mariscal Sucre in the Estadio Nacional. Shortly after this match, the first match to feature a team outside the Lima and Callao region was between Sporting Cristal and Alfonso Ugarte in the same stadium on the same day.^[1]

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.^[2] They needed to play the 1967 Copa Perú to attain promotion to the first division.^[3]

Teams

Team changes

Promoted from 1965 Segunda División	Invited	Relegated from 1965 Primera División
Mariscal Sucre (1st)	Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín Atlético Grau Melgar Octavio Espinosa	Ciclista Lima (10th)

Stadia locations

Grau

Octavio Espinosa

Melgar

Alfonso Ugarte

Alianza Lima
Carlos Concha
Centro Iqueño
Defensor Arica
Defensor Lima
Mariscal Sucre
D. Municipal
Sporting Cristal
Sport Boys
Universitario

Locations of the 1966 Primera División teams

Team	City
Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín	Trujillo
Alianza Lima	La Victoria, Lima
Atlético Grau	Piura
Carlos Concha	Callao
Centro Iqueño	Cercado de Lima
Defensor Arica	Breña, Lima
Defensor Lima	Breña, Lima
Deportivo Municipal	Cercado de Lima
Mariscal Sucre	La Victoria, Lima
Melgar	Arequipa
Octavio Espinosa	Ica
Sport Boys	Callao
Sporting Cristal	Rímac, Lima
Universitario	Breña, Lima

League table

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Universitario	26	19	3	4	65	27	+38	41	1967 Copa Libertadores
2	Sport Boys	26	15	5	6	43	19	+24	35
3	Alianza Lima	26	14	5	7	58	34	+24	33
4	Sporting Cristal	26	12	6	8	36	25	+11	30
5	Centro Iqueño	26	13	4	9	31	27	+4	30
6	Atlético Grau	26	10	9	7	36	32	+4	29
7	Defensor Lima	26	10	8	8	49	36	+13	28
8	Melgar	26	12	4	10	41	32	+9	28	1967 Copa Perú
9	Defensor Arica	26	10	8	8	31	25	+6	28
10	Mariscal Sucre	26	7	7	12	30	40	−10	21
11	Deportivo Municipal	26	9	3	14	41	54	−13	21
12	Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín	26	7	3	16	28	60	−32	17	1967 Copa Perú
13	Octavio Espinosa	26	3	6	17	24	52	−28	12
14	Carlos Concha	26	4	3	19	29	79	−50	11	1967 Segunda División

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results

Home \ Away	UGA	ALI	GRA	CAR	IQU	DAR	DLI	MUN	MEL	MSU	OCT	SBA	CRI	UNI
Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín		1–2	—	—	—	—	1–8	—	0–2	—	—	2–3	—	0–2
Alianza Lima	4–3		0–0	7–1	0–1	1–1	3–1	3–0	2–0	6–3	4–1	1–1	1–1	3–2
Atlético Grau	—	1–0		—	—	—	—	—	3–4	—	—	1–4	—	1–3
Carlos Concha	—	1–1	—		—	—	—	—	3–2	—	—	0–4	—	2–3
Centro Iqueño	—	2–1	—	—		—	—	—	1–0	—	—	1–2	—	1–2
Defensor Arica	—	2–3	—	—	—		—	—	1–0	—	—	0–0	—	1–2
Defensor Lima	1–3	4–2	—	—	—	—		—	0–1	—	—	0–1	—	2–1
Deportivo Municipal	—	0–8	—	—	—	—	—		2–1	—	—	0–1	—	1–3
Melgar	6–0	2–0	1–1	4–0	0–1	2–0	2–2	2–1		5–1	3–1	2–0	3–0	0–1
Mariscal Sucre	—	2–3	—	—	—	—	—	—	0–0		—	1–1	—	1–1
Octavio Espinosa	—	0–0	—	—	—	—	—	—	1–1	—		1–3	—	0–4
Sport Boys	0–1	0–2	1–0	2–1	3–0	2–1	2–0	2–3	3–0	0–0	2–0		1–2	2–0
Sporting Cristal	0–0	2–0	—	—	—	—	—	—	4–0	—	—	1–1		2–1
Universitario	7–0	2–0	2–2	6–2	4–1	0–0	2–1	7–3	2–0	3–1	3–1	1–0	1–0

Updated to match(es) played on 1966. Source: Diario El Comercio, La Prensa and Crónica.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Player	Nationality	Goals	Club
Teófilo Cubillas	Peru	19	Alianza Lima

Scoring

• First goal of the season – Héctor Chumpitaz for Universitario against Mariscal Sucre (13 August 1966)^[1]