List of Filipino football champions

The historical absence of a continuously operating national league and a multi-division football system has made it difficult to truly determine and recognize the highest level tournament in the Philippines. The Philippine Football Federation, the governing body of football in the Philippines, has held men's national championship tournaments in various forms since 1911. The winners of these tournaments are therefore considered the de facto football champions of the Philippines. The latest of these national competitions is the Philippines Football League, which began its inaugural season in 2017.

Given the complex history of football in the Philippines, this article takes into account all notable "national" football competitions organized by the Philippine Football Federation. Also included are newer leagues such as the United Football League, the Filipino Premier League, and the current Philippines Football League.

Philippine Football Federation competitions

Men's

National championship (1911–present)

Various tournaments and leagues have been directly organized by the Philippine Football Federation, such as the National Men's Club Championship, the Philippine Football League (P-League), the Manila Premier Football League (MPFL), the Filipino Premier League, and currently the Philippines Football League. These leagues were often short-lived, and thus do not have a champions list readily available. The champions of these tournaments are lumped together in the following tables as "national champions".

Manila Football League (1930–1967)

The Philippine Football Federation did not hold a national tournament from 1936 to 1966. Only the Manila Football League was organized. This league began in 1930 and was restricted to clubs from the Manila metropolitan area. The winners of the Manila Football League are not considered "national champions". Its final competition was in 1967.

Manila Football League
Season Champions From
1930 De la Salle College Manila
No tournament from 1931 to 1935
1936 De la Salle College Manila
1937 De la Salle College Manila
1938 De la Salle Football Club Manila
1939 YCO Athletic Club Manila
1940 YCO Athletic Club Manila
1941 YCO Athletic Club Manila
No tournament from 1942 to 1946
1947 Turba Salvaje Manila
1948 Turba Salvaje Manila
1949 Turba Salvaje Manila
1950 No tournament
1951 San Miguel Brewery Manila
1952 Turba Salvaje Manila
1953 IL-FGU (Insurance Life Fidelity Guaranty Underwriters) Manila
1954 YCO Athletic Club Manila
1955 Manila Lions Manila
1956 Manila Lions Manila
1957 Manila Lions Manila
1958 Manila Lions Manila
1959 Manila Lions Manila
1960 Manila Lions Manila
1961 Manila Lions Manila
Not known from 1962 to 1965
1966 Philippine Navy Manila
1967 Electron Manila

Philippine Football League (1995)

First attempt of the Philippine Football League.

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
1995 Makati No playoffs Lipa-Pasay

Manila Premier Football League (1997)

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
1997 Philippine Air Force Philippine Army

P-League (1998–2000)

Second attempt of the Philippine Football League. Renamed as the "P-League" in 1998.

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
1998 National Capital Region-South 3–1 Negros Occidental F.A.
1999 National Capital Region-B
(Navy and Air Force combination)		 Davao
2000 National Capital Region-South 3–1 Negros Occidental F.A.

National Men's Open Championship (2005–2007)

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
2005 Philippine Navy 0–0
Penalties: 4–3
 Negros Occidental F.A.
2006 Negros Occidental F.A. 2–1 National Capital Region F.A.
2007 National Capital Region F.A. 2–1 Negros Occidental F.A.

Filipino Premier League (2008)

Note: The Filipino Premier League was planned to have three regional tournaments, one each in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao which was supposed to be followed by the Filipino Premier League National Championships to be held in late 2009. However, the Visayas and Mindanao regional tournaments that was planned for the first half of 2009 was not held, as well as the subsequent national championship. Thus, the Luzon tournament winner, Philippine Army, is not considered a "national champion".[10]

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
2008 Philippine Army 2–0 Giligan's F.C.

National Men's Club Championship (2011–2015)

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
2011 Teknika F.C. 3–0
0–2
Aggregate: 3–2		 Smart–San Beda F.C.
2012–13 Ceres F.C. 1–0
 PSG F.C.
2013–14 Ceres F.C. 2–1
1–0
Aggregate: 3–1		 Global F.C.
2014–15 Loyola Meralco Sparks F.C. 2–0
 Global F.C.

Philippines Football League (2017–present)

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
2017 Ceres–Negros 4–1 Global Cebu
2018 Ceres–Negros No playoffs Kaya–Iloilo
2019 Ceres–Negros No playoffs Kaya–Iloilo
2020 United City No playoffs Kaya–Iloilo
2021 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
2022–23 Kaya–Iloilo No playoffs Dynamic Herb Cebu
2024 Kaya–Iloilo No playoffs Dynamic Herb Cebu

Women's

Philippine Ladies' Football National League (1981)

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
1981[11] University of the Philippines No playoffs Philippine Air Force

Women's League (2016–present)

Season Champions Score/s Runners-up
2016–17 De La Salle University No playoffs University of Santo Tomas
2018 De La Salle University No playoffs University of Santo Tomas
2019–20 De La Salle University No playoffs Far Eastern University
2020 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
2021
2023 Kaya–Iloilo 1–0 Manila Digger

United Football League (2009–2016)

The United Football League Division 1 was established as a premier league in 2009. The League is a round-robin tournament with a First Division and Second Division. The winners listed below do not include the winners of the UFL Cup, a knockout-tournament which allows teams to participate regardless of their division. In a season, the Cup competition is held first from mid-October to mid-December, followed by the League competition from January to June of the following year. The winners of the United Football League are not considered "national champions".

Year Champions Runners-up Third place Leading goalscorer Goals
2010 Philippine Air Force Kaya Union Sudan Izzo Elhabbib (Kaya) 14
2011 Philippine Air Force Global Philippine Army Sudan Izzo Elhabbib (Global) 7
2012 Global Kaya Loyola Philippines Phil Younghusband (Loyola) 23
2013 Stallion Global Loyola Spain Rufo Sánchez (Stallion) 18
2014 Global Loyola Kaya Philippines Mark Hartmann (Global) 27
2015 Ceres Global Loyola Spain Adrián Gallardo (Ceres) 18
2016 Global Ceres Loyola 30

References

  1. ^ "Jerry Vaflor, ex-Mr Football of PH, dies at 76". 13 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Ugarte, Emilio M. Jr. | de la Salle Alumni Association". 28 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Jerry Vaflor, ex-Mr Football of PH, dies at 76". 13 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Mr. Football to launch Academy in Barotac". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Philippines 1979/80".
  6. ^ "Asian Club Competitions 1993/94".
  7. ^ "Asian Club Competitions 1994/95".
  8. ^ "Asian Club Competitions 1995/96".
  9. ^ "Philippines 2008".
  10. ^ Schöggl, Hans; Stokkermans, Karel (5 February 2015). "Filipino Premier League 2008/09". Philippines 2008/09. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  11. ^ "UP soccerbelles emerge champions". Times Journal. 28 April 1981. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021 – via Facebook. Both UP-Diliman and Air Force finished with 11 points from five wins, one draw, and one loss. The Collegians, however ended with the higher goal difference (goals for minus goals against) of 19 goals against PAF's 14.
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