The United Football League, commonly known as the UFL, was an association football league, replaced by the Philippines Football League, based in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, governed by the Football Alliance (FA) in partnership with United Football Clubs Association (UFCA). The UFL was the Philippines' primary football league. In its last season in 2016, it was contested by 12 clubs and operated without a system of promotion and relegation with UFL Division 2, which was discontinued. Games were often scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. To avoid the country's rainy season, the league usually kicked off sometime between the months of January and February each year.
The league started as a semi-professional tournament in 2009. For its inaugural season, the first UFL Cup, sanctioned by both the Philippine Football Federation and National Capital Region Football Association, was held in 2009 to determine the clubs that would participate in the league. Since then, it has been described as a thriving football league, organized by former football players and aficionados. A total of 20 clubs have competed in the UFL since its founding. It was organized by the Football Alliance, whose long-term goal is the continued development of football in the Philippines through a premier league.
Four clubs have been crowned league champions: Global (3), Philippine Air Force (2), Stallion (1), and Ceres (1). The last champions were Global, which won their third title in the 2016 season.
Structure and competition The league was composed of two divisions, both with clubs playing a double round-robin format. During the course of a season, which commences sometime in January, each team plays every other club twice for a total of 18 games. However, during the 2014 season, the first division implemented a triple round-robin system, which increased the games from 18 to 24. Like most football leagues around the world, it adopts the standard point system wherein match winners receive three points and losers get none. Each club receives a point, on the other hand, if the match ends in a draw. At the end of each season, the team with the most points was crowned league champion. For clubs that were level in points, the following tie-breakers were applied: Goal difference for the entire season Total goals scored for the entire season Head-to-head results (total points) Head-to-head goals scored Head-to-head away goals scored Total away goals scored for the entire season
Promotion and relegation Since the start of the 2013 season, a new promotion-relegation system has been adopted by the league. The club that finishes second in UFL Division 2 also had a chance of being promoted via a two-legged aggregate-goal playoff against the ninth-place team in the first division, similar to the system used in the Bundesliga. For the 2015 season, a single team in UFL Division 1, Pasargad, was relegated to the second division. Further, the top two clubs from the latter, Ceres and Manila Jeepney, were both promoted to the first division. Before the start of this season, Manila Nomads' decided to voluntarily step down from the first division to play in UFL Division 2, citing its inability to comply with the league's foreigner cap rule.
With the discontinuation of the UFL Division 2 in the 2016 season, the adoption of the promotion and relegation system has been ceased.
Below is a complete record of the number of clubs that have played in the first division throughout the league's history.
2010: 8 clubs 2011: 7 clubs 2012–2013: 10 clubs 2014: 9 clubs 2015: 10 clubs (reduced to 9 midway through the season) 2016: 12 clubs (reduced to 9 midway through the season)
Qualification for Asian competitions In January 2013, Global FC chairman Dan Palami posted a picture via Twitter of the letter of approval from Asian Football Confederation general secretary Dato Alex Soosay of his club's participation to the 2013 AFC President's Cup, which was scheduled from 2 to 12 May 2013 for the group stage. The team's participation marked the first time that the UFL and the Philippines sent a team in the cup to compete against clubs such as Taiwan Power Company, Hilal Al-Quds, and FC Dordoi Bishkek, to name a few. Global qualified and was chosen to represent the country after winning the league title in the 2012 season. However, for the 2014 AFC President's Cup, instead of the UFL, the PFF–Smart National Club Championship served as the qualifiers for the country's representative. Ceres, the 2013 PFF–Smart National Club Championship champions, represented the Philippines in the 2014 edition of the tournament.
In December 2014, Philippine Football Federation president Mariano Araneta, Jr. announced that the Philippines has been allocated a couple of slots for the 2015 AFC Cup. UFL club Global FC has been assigned an automatic slot for winning the 2014 UFL Division 1 league championship. 2014 FA League Cup champions Ceres FC, on the other hand, entered the 2015 AFC Cup play-off round against Maldivian football club Maziya.
Starting the 2015 season, the United Football League champion automatically qualified for the group stages of the AFC Cup, while the UFL Cup champion earned an AFC Cup playoff spot. In the event that the league and cup champions are the same club, the AFC Cup playoff spot went to the runner-up of the league competition.
Format Season League Cup FA League Cup FA Charity Cup 1 2010 2009 – – 2 2011 2010 - - 3 2012 2011 – – 4 2013 2012 – – 5 2014 2013 – 2014 6 2015 2015 - – 7 2016 2016 – –
Originally, the regular season of the UFL was composed of two competitions, namely: the United Football Cup, a single-elimination tournament that allows clubs to participate regardless of their division, and a domestic league. The latter is composed of separate round-robin tournaments for clubs in the first and second divisions. This is similar to the season schedule of the Philippine Basketball Association, which currently follows a three-conference format in a single season. The cup competition used to run from November to December of each year, while the league ran from January to July. Thus, these two competitions used to happen in separate calendar years. Since then, UFL officials have continuously introduced new formats, schedules, and tournaments to align the league calendar with those in the ASEAN region.
Beginning the 2015 season, the football season in the Philippines starts around September of each year with the FA League Cup. Further, the league and the UFL Cup both kick off sometime between the months of January and February every year, and these two competitions would be played simultaneously. Each season ends with the FA Cup, considered the culminating tournament of the UFL. This shift was done to align the UFL calendar with the football leagues in Southeast Asia and to avoid possible conflicts with the schedule of the Philippines national football team.
The schedule of the UFL and its competitions was once again shifted for the 2016 season. The season now begins with the UFL Cup in February, with the league competition set to begin in April. Unlike most football leagues around the world where the league and cup competitions run concurrently, the UFL reverted to having one competition after another. Additionally, the FA Cup and the FA League Cup have been discontinued.
UFL Cup
The United Football League Cup, also known as the UFL Cup, is an association football competition in the Philippines that starts every January or February. It is the first competition in the United Football League season. The cup is a single-elimination tournament where all of the clubs in the UFL were eligible to compete.
The UFL Cup was first held in October 2009, sanctioned by the National Capital Region Football Association (NCRFA) and the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). The cup was originally formed to determine the distribution of clubs over the first and second divisions in its inaugural season. Philippine Air Force was the inaugural cup champions, defeating Philippine Army, 2–1. For the 2012 cup, 28 clubs competed in four groups of five and in two separate stages. Clubs from UFL Division 2, along with other guest teams, participated in the first stage of the cup. Teams from UFL Division 1, on the other hand, played during the second stage. After, the top 10 clubs moved on to the knockout stage of the 2013 PFF National Men's Club Championship. Stallion FC defeated Global FC in the finals of the said cup with a score of 2–1. Stallion FC captain Ruben Doctora, Jr. and Rufo Sánchez scored one goal apiece to upset Global.
ClubWonRunner-upYears wonYears runner-upPhilippine Air Force212011, 20092010Global FC1120102012Loyola Meralco Sparks1120132011Kaya1 2015Stallion FC1 2012Ceres 1 2015Pachanga Diliman 1 2013Philippine Army 1 2009
Other cup tournaments
Aside from the main UFL Cup, two other competitions were held as part of the UFL regular season; these are the UFL FA Charity Cup and the UFL FA League Cup. Both tournaments were only held once in 2014. The UFL FA Charity Cup was part of the 2013–14 ULF season, which featured the top six teams in the 2013 league competition while the UFL FA League Cup was part of the 2014–15 UFL season and featured both teams from Division 1 and 2. TournamentUFL seasonWinnerScoreRunners–upVenueUFL FA League Cup2013–14Ceres2–1GlobalRizal Memorial StadiumUFL FA Cup2014–15Global3–1KayaRizal Memorial Stadium
History Origins and foundation
As early as 2002, the United Football League operated not as a months-long league but as regular series of tournaments held during the weekends.
In September 2009, with the aim of reviving the interest of Filipinos in the sport, the Football Alliance, composed of Santi Araneta, Randy Roxas, Phil Hagedorn, Javier Mantecon, Dong Longa, Mike Camahort, Monchu Garcia, and Christopher Hagedorn, discussed the possibility of creating a football league in the Philippines. At the time, the Filipino Premier League, the country's top level football league governed by the Philippine Football Federation, has already been discontinued after its inaugural season. But instead of creating a whole system and competition, the United Football Clubs Association agreed to partner with the Football Alliance in operating the United Football League, which was by then a semi-professional league.
Corporate backing and sponsorship
The first season of the United Football League, officially named then as LBC United Football League for sponsorship reasons, was made possible with the aid of several local companies, namely: LBC Express Inc., Magma Inflatables, 2GO, Mutual Fund Management Corp., Orient Freight, and ATR Kim Eng.
Since its inception, UFL Division 1 has received corporate sponsorship. After air cargo delivery service company LBC Express Inc. committed as its principal sponsor in October 2009, the league kicked off as a premier tournament composed of several football teams around the nation.
2009–2011: LBC (LBC United Football League)
Founding members The inaugural year of the league was held in the 2010 season, and was originally composed of 16 local clubs. The 16 founding teams of the league were the following: Diliman Global Green Archers United Kaya Loyola Agila Mama Africa Manila All-Japan Manila Lions Manila Nomads Mendiola United Philippine Air Force Philippine Army Philippine Navy Sunken Garden United Union Internacional Manila United South
Expansion year and TV coverage