2018 Philippines Football League

The 2018 Philippines Football League was the second season of the Philippines Football League (PFL), the professional football league of the Philippines. The season started on March 3 and concluded on August 25.^[1][2] The league was contested by six teams from last season's eight, after Meralco Manila and Ilocos United withdrew before the season began.

Philippines Football League

Season	2018
Dates	March 3 – August 25, 2018
Champions	Ceres–Negros 2nd title
AFC Champions League	Ceres–Negros
Matches played	75
Goals scored	289 (3.85 per match)
Top goalscorer	Robert Lopez Mendy (18 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Toni Doblas (7 clean sheets)
Biggest home win	Ceres–Negros 7–1 Global Cebu (July 21) Kaya–Iloilo 6–0 Global Cebu (August 11)
Biggest away win	Global Cebu 1–11 JPV Marikina (August 1)
Highest scoring	Global Cebu 1–11 JPV Marikina (August 1)
Longest winning run	Ceres–Negros (April 4 – May 12) (5 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Ceres–Negros (May 23 – June 20) Stallion Laguna (July 14 – Aug 25) (8 matches)
Longest winless run	Global Cebu (May 27 – Aug 25) (17 matches)
Longest losing run	Global Cebu (July 21 – Aug 25) (13 matches)
Highest attendance	4,681 Ceres–Negros 2–1 Kaya-Iloilo (April 4)
Lowest attendance	0 (Behind closed doors) JPV Marikina 1–4 Ceres–Negros (April 28)
← 2017 2019 → All statistics correct as of August 30, 2018.

Ceres–Negros won their second consecutive league title on July 25 with three matches to spare.^[3]

Due to several issues with the league—such as the expensive home-and-away format as well as the lack of sponsors and TV coverage—the PFL was abolished after the 2018 season and was replaced by the Philippine Premier League.^[4] However, the Philippine Premier League also had numerous issues and was folded after only a single match day. The PFL was then renewed for a third season in 2019.

Changes from 2017

For this season, the league discontinued the play-off final, or the Final Series due to the introduction of the Copa Paulino Alcantara, the domestic cup tournament which was held after the league season.^[1] Thus, the PFL became a pure quintuple round-robin tournament where each club played the others five times—each club playing 25 games.

Teams

The eight clubs which participated in the inaugural season were granted license to partake in the 2018 season by November 2017.^[5] However, on January 8, 2018, FC Meralco Manila ceased operations in the senior club level^[6] and on January 18 Ilocos United F.C. announced their withdrawal from the league leaving only 6 teams for the 2018 season.

Stadiums and locations

On February 6, 2018, Kaya F.C. transferred from Makati to Iloilo.^[7]

Team Location Stadium Capacity Ceres–Negros Bacolod Panaad Stadium 8,000 Davao Aguilas Tagum, Davao del Norte Davao del Norte Sports Complex 3,000 Global Cebu Cebu City Cebu City Sports Complex JPV Marikina Marikina, Metro Manila Marikina Sports Complex 15,000 Kaya–Iloilo (Kaya–Makati; until April 2018) Makati, Metro Manila (until April 2018) University of Makati Stadium 4,000 Iloilo City (May 2018 onwards) Iloilo Sports Complex 7,000 Stallion Laguna Biñan, Laguna Biñan Football Stadium 2,580 Alternate stadiums The following are alternate home venues for Davao Aguilas, Global Cebu, and JPV Marikina as approved by Liga Futbol, Inc.[8] Location Stadium Capacity Manila Rizal Memorial Stadium 12,873 Biñan, Laguna Biñan Football Stadium 2,580 Carmona, Cavite PFF National Training Centre 1,200

Home venues of PFL clubs Kaya–Iloilo Ceres Negros Global Cebu Stallion Laguna Davao Aguilas JPV Marikina Note: On February 6, 2018, Kaya F.C. transferred from Makati to Iloilo.[7]

Personnel and kits

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
Ceres–Negros	Risto Vidaković	Martin Steuble	Adidas	Ceres Liner
Davao Aguilas	Melchor Anzures	Phil Younghusband	Made by club	San Miguel Corporation, Tapa King
Global Cebu	Dragutin Stević-Ranković	Darryl Roberts	LGR	TrackMate
JPV Marikina	Dan Padernal	Atsushi Shimono	LGR	JK Mart, BranchForth, Santouka Ramen
Kaya FC–Iloilo	Noel Marcaida	Miguel Tanton	LGR	LBC, Fitness First
Stallion Laguna	Ernest Nierras	Ruben Doctora	Nixáre	Giligan's Restaurant

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Global Cebu	Akbar Nawas	End of Contract	January 11, 2018[9]	Pre-season	Marjo Allado (interim)	January 11, 2018
Davao Aguilas	Marlon Maro	Resigned	May 29, 2018[10]	3rd	Melchor Anzures	May 29, 2018[10]
Global Cebu	Marjo Allado (interim)	Resigned	August 4, 2018[11]	6th	Dragutin Stević-Ranković	August 18, 2018[12]

Foreign players

A maximum of four foreigners are allowed per club which follows the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) '3+1 rule'; three players of any nationality and a fourth coming from an AFC member nation.

Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club	Players				Former Players1
Ceres–Negros	Toni Doblas[13]	Bienvenido Marañón[14]	Blake Powell	Súper[14]	Takumi Uesato
Davao Aguilas	Kim Sungmin[15]	Brad McDonald 2 3	Tahj Minniecon	Wesley dos Santos[16]	Takashi Odawara[15] Harry Sawyer Diego Alves[17]
Global Cebu	Lee Jeong-min[15]	Adam Mitter[18]	Milan Nikolić[18]	Darryl Roberts[19]	Rufo Sánchez[20] Wesley dos Santos[16][21]
JPV Marikina	Keigo Moriyasu[22][23]	Atsushi Shimono[23]	Tsubasa Suzuki[23]	Takumi Uesato	Ryuki Kozawa[23]
Kaya–Iloilo	Serge Kaole	Robert Lopez Mendy[24]	Masanari Omura[24]	Alfred Osei	Jordan Mintah[24]
Stallion Laguna	Ko Kyung-joon[25]	Carlo Polli	Abou Sy	Yu Sung-Na	Gabriele Mascazzini[25] Ken Kensei[25]

• ^1 Former players only include players who left after either the start of the 2018 season or the 2018 Copa Paulino Alcantara.
• ^2 Also a holder of AFC nationality (Australia)

Foreign players by confederation
AFC	Japan (5),  South Korea (4),  Australia3 (2)
CAF	Ghana (1),  Senegal (2),  Cameroon (1)
CONCACAF	Trinidad and Tobago (1)
CONMEBOL	Brazil (1)
OFC	Papua New Guinea3 (1)
UEFA	Spain (3),   Switzerland (1),  Serbia (1),  England (1)

• ^3 Brad McDonald has both Australia and Papua New Guinea FIFA nationality.

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ceres–Negros (C)	25	19	3	3	66	25	+41	60	Qualification for the AFC Champions League Preliminary Round 1 or AFC Cup Group Stage
2	Kaya–Iloilo	25	15	4	6	58	32	+26	49
3	Davao Aguilas	25	11	6	8	52	39	+13	39
4	Stallion Laguna	25	12	3	10	49	45	+4	36[a]
5	JPV Marikina	25	7	2	16	46	63	−17	20[b]
6	Global Cebu	25	1	2	22	18	85	−67	5

Source: Philippines Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal Difference; 3) Goals Scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Three points were deducted from Stallion Laguna due to the club's failure to comply with Liga Futbol Inc. Disciplinary Committee’s Decision No. 010318DC03.^[26]
2. Three points were deducted from JPV Marikina due to the club's failure to comply with Liga Futbol Inc. Disciplinary Committee’s Decision No. 010318DC02.^[27]

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Ceres–Negros	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Kaya–Iloilo	3	5	4	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Davao Aguilas	3	3	3	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	3	3	3
Stallion Laguna	5	4	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	4
JPV Marikina	1	2	2	3	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Global Cebu	5	6	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6

	AFC Champions League Preliminary Round/AFC Cup Group Stage

Updated to match(es) played on August 30, 2018. Source: Philippines Football League

Results by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Ceres–Negros	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	D	W	D	W	W	L	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	W	W
Davao Aguilas	D	W	D	W	W	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	L	D	L	D	W	D	W	W	W	D
Global Cebu	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L
JPV Marikina	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	D	L	L	L	W	L	D	L	L	W	W	L	W	L	L
Kaya–Iloilo	D	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	W	D	L	L	W	W	W	D	W	W
Stallion Laguna	L	W	L	W	L	W	W	L	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	W	W	D	W	W	W	D	D	L

Updated to match(es) played on August 30, 2018. Source: Philippines Football League
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

The six clubs will play each other in two rounds of home and away matches. The final round hosting will be via drawing of lots. 75 league matches will be played in total.^[1]

First round Home \ Away CER DAV GLC JPV KAY STA Ceres–Negros — 3–0 7–1 4–1 2–1 2–0 Davao Aguilas 0–2 — 1–1 3–2 2–2 5–0 Global Cebu 0–2 2–2 — 1–3 3–1 1–2 JPV Marikina 0–3 0–3 2–1 — 1–4 1–4 Kaya–Iloilo 1–1 4–2 3–0 1–0 — 4–1 Stallion Laguna 2–3 0–1 2–1 1–2 3–1 — Source: philippinesfootballleague.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second round Home \ Away CER DAV GLC JPV KAY STA Ceres–Negros — 2–1 6–1 0–2 0–2 2–0 Davao Aguilas 1–3 — 3–0 4–2 3–1 2–2 Global Cebu 3–4 0–3 — 1–5 0–1 1–2 JPV Marikina 1–4 3–3 3–0 — 0–3 1–4 Kaya–Iloilo 1–1 2–1 4–0 4–2 — 4–2 Stallion Laguna 2–6 3–0 4–0 3–2 2–0 — Source: philippinesfootballleague.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final round Home \ Away CER DAV GLC JPV KAY STA Ceres–Negros — 0–3 3–0 — — 4–1 Davao Aguilas — — 2–0 — 3–4 — Global Cebu — — — 1–11 — 0–3 JPV Marikina 1–1 0–3 — — 1–3 — Kaya–Iloilo 0–1 — 6–0 — — — Stallion Laguna — 1–1 — 4–0 1–1 — Source: philippinesfootballleague.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top goalscorers

As of August 30, 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Robert Lopez Mendy	Kaya–Iloilo	18
2	Bienvenido Marañón	Ceres–Negros	15
3	Phil Younghusband	Davao Aguilas	13
4	Keigo Moriyasu	JPV Marikina	11
5	James Younghusband	Davao Aguilas	10
6	Jovin Bedic	Kaya–Iloilo	9
	Mike Ott	Ceres–Negros
	Carlo Polli	Stallion Laguna
9	J Baguioro	JPV Marikina	8
	Jesus Melliza	Stallion Laguna
	Kim Sung-Min	Davao Aguilas

Top assists

As of August 30, 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Phil Younghusband	Davao Aguilas	13
2	Mike Ott	Ceres–Negros	11
3	Miguel Tanton	Kaya–Iloilo	10
4	Jovin Bedic	Kaya–Iloilo	9
	Manny Ott	Ceres–Negros
6	Matthew Hartmann	Davao Aguilas	8
	Jesus Melliza	Stallion Laguna
	Keigo Moriyasu	JPV Marikina
9	Robert Lopez Mendy	Kaya–Iloilo	6
10	Fitch Arboleda	Stallion Laguna	5
	Tyler Matas	Davao Aguilas
	OJ Porteria	Ceres–Negros
	Patrick Reichelt	Ceres–Negros
	Stephan Schröck	Ceres–Negros
	James Younghusband	Davao Aguilas

Own goals

As of August 22, 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Own goals
1	Terence Linatoc	Stallion Laguna	1
	Tsubasa Suzuki	JPV Marikina
	Reynald Villareal	Stallion Laguna
	Ko Kyung-joon	Stallion Laguna

Hat-tricks

As of August 22, 2018

Player	Club	Result	Against	Date	Ref
Jordan Mintah	Kaya–Iloilo	4–1 (A)	JPV Marikina	May 5, 2018	[28]
Robert Lopez Mendy	Kaya–Iloilo	4–2 (H)	Davao Aguilas	May 20, 2018	[29]
Robert Lopez Mendy	Kaya–Iloilo	4–2 (H)	JPV Marikina	June 27, 2018	[30]
Jovin Bedic	Kaya–Iloilo	4–2 (H)	Stallion Laguna	July 4, 2018	[31]
Bienvenido Marañón	Ceres–Negros	6–1 (H)	Global Cebu	July 25, 2018	[32]
Keigo Moriyasu	JPV Marikina	11–1 (A)		August 1, 2018	[33]
Jay Baguioro

Note

(H) – Home; (A) – Away

Clean sheets

As of August 29, 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Toni Doblas	Ceres–Negros	7
2	Nathanael Villanueva	Kaya–Iloilo	4
3	Patrick Deyto	Davao Aguilas	3
4	Ronilo Bayan Jr.	Davao Aguilas	2
	Nick O'Donnell	Davao Aguilas
	Felipe Tripulca	Stallion Laguna
7	Zach Banzon	Kaya–Iloilo	1
	Ref Cuaresma	Kaya–Iloilo
	Nelson Gasic	JPV Marikina
	Hayeson Pepito	Stallion Laguna
	Benito Rosalia	Stallion Laguna

Discipline

Red cards

As of August 23, 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Red Cards
1	Alfred Osei	Kaya–Iloilo	2
	Omid Nazari	Ceres–Negros
	Robert Lopez Mendy	Kaya–Iloilo
4	Rufo Sanchez	Global Cebu	1
	Dennis Villanueva	Davao Aguilas
	Adam Reed	Davao Aguilas
	Jason Cordova	Stallion Laguna
	Camelo Tacusalme	Kaya–Iloilo
	Robert Cañedo	JPV Marikina
	Shirmar Felongco	Kaya–Iloilo
	Angelo Marasigan	Global Cebu
	OJ Porteria	Ceres–Negros
	Louie Casas	Ceres–Negros
	Mike Ott	Ceres–Negros
	Milan Nikolić	Global Cebu