The 2023 Ang Liga season was the nineteenth edition of Ang Liga, an inter-collegiate pre-season football tournament in the Philippines. This was the first season of Ang Liga under the sponsorship of Adidas. The season started on August 13, 2023, and concluded on November 4, 2023. The league's first division was contested by twelve teams, while each team played a minimum of 5 matches in total, the most since the 2019 season.
On July 24, the league announced that matches would be held at the new PALMS Arena in Quezon City. However, due to issues with the field, all Division 1 matches were held at the UP Diliman Football Field.
The league's return to an all-collegiate lineup of teams marked the end of its temporary admission of guest teams back in Season 18, where non-collegiate club teams participated due to a lack of entrants following the pandemic.
This season marked the first championship of the Adamson Soaring Falcons and the first time that the Ateneo Blue Eagles clinched a finals berth since 2016. The league partnered with the FPJ Panday Bayanihan foundation throughout the entirety of the season while Adidas was the title sponsor of the knockout round.
Participating teams All collegiate squads from the previous season, with the exception of the University of Makati, returned for the nineteenth edition of the league. This includes the Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde, Far Eastern University, and the University of Batangas.
Twelve teams entered the 2023 Ang Liga season's first division (collegiate). This includes seven teams from the UAAP, three teams from the NCAA, one team from the NCAA South, and one unattached team. On the other hand, twelve teams also entered for the season's second division (high school and secondary teams).
Division I UAAP7 teams NCAA3 teams Other schools2 teams Adamson University Ateneo de Manila University De La Salle University Far Eastern University University of the East University of the Philippines University of Santo Tomas De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde Emilio Aguinaldo College San Beda University Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna University of Batangas
Division II UAAP4 teams NCAA3 teams Other schools5 teams Adamson University – B Ateneo de Manila – High School De La Salle University – B University of Santo Tomas – High School La Salle Green Hills University of Perpetual Help System DALTA San Beda University – High School Claret School of Quezon City De La Salle Lipa De La Salle University – Integrated School PAREF Southridge School Xavier School
Venues
In contrast to the previous season, which was held between FEU Diliman and DLSU Integrated School in Biñan, all first division matches were held at the UP Diliman Football Pitch, the same stadium where the UAAP Season 85 group stage matches were held. Fixtures were initially slated to be played at the newly opened PALMS Arena in Quezon City, but following issues with the pitch which resulted in the season opening date being pushed back, the venue remained unused for the rest of the season.
For the second division matches, the DLSU Biñan pitch was used in rotation with new venues around Metro Manila.
StadiumLocationTournamentUP Diliman Football FieldQuezon CityClaret Football FieldQuezon CityXavier School Football FieldSan Juan CityLa Salle Green Hills Football FieldMandaluyongDLSU Biñan Football FieldBiñan, Laguna
Division I Group stage Group A
Group B
Knock-out stage
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Battle for Third
Finals
Final standing
RankTeam4567891011 MMCL Wizards12 UB Brahmans
Division II Final standing RankTeam4
Awards Individual awards AwardPlayer/sTeamRefGolden Glove Andrew Nalog Golden Ball Leo Maquiling Golden Boot Isaac Anoh John Clyde Vitualla Best Defender Arjay Buenaobra Best Coach Darlton Digha
Team of the Tournament
AwardPlayerTeamRefKeeper Andrew Nalog Defenders Arjay Buenaobra Dexter John Chasing Jethro Flores Jet Gabriel Dela Cruz Midfielders Leo Maquiling Fernando Suarez Roque Empledo Forwards Kofi Agyei Isaac Anoh John Clyde Vitualla
Media For the first time, the league inked a one-year deal with a broadcast partner, as all Division 1 matches were broadcast and livestreamed via Smart Sports. Meanwhile, Division 2 matches were sporadically streamed on the league's page.
Sports commentators Patrick Maramara Paolo del Rosario Luis Licas Ivan Gayares Denis Lucindo
See also UAAP Season 86
References
External links