2022–23 Philippines Football League

The 2022–23 Philippines Football League was the fifth season of Philippines Football League (PFL), the professional football league of the Philippines. This is the second season of the PFL under the sponsorship of Qatar Airways. The season began on August 7, 2022, and concluded on June 11, 2023, marking the first time during the Philippines Football League era that a season takes place in an inter-year format. The league was initially contested by seven teams (later reduced to five), and played each other four times during the season.

Philippines Football League

Season	2022–23
Dates	August 7, 2022[1] – June 11, 2023
Champions	Kaya–Iloilo 1st title
AFC Champions League	Kaya–Iloilo
AFC Cup	Dynamic Herb Cebu Stallion Laguna
Matches played	84
Goals scored	283 (3.37 per match)
Top goalscorer	Daizo Horikoshi (15 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Florencio Badelic Jr. Anthony Pinthus (4 clean sheets)
Biggest home win	Dynamic Herb Cebu 7–1 Mendiola 1991 (September 16)
Biggest away win	Mendiola 1991 0–7 Kaya–Iloilo (October 16)
Highest scoring	Dynamic Herb Cebu 7–1 Mendiola 1991 (September 16) Mendiola 1991 2–6 Dynamic Herb Cebu (September 24)
Longest winning run	Kaya–Iloilo (Feb 26 – Apr 14) (6 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Dynamic Herb Cebu (Aug 20 – May 24) (23 matches)
Longest winless run	Maharlika Manila (Aug 7 – Mar 4) (14 matches)
Longest losing run	United City (Nov 12 – June 11) (12 matches)
Highest attendance	1,899 Kaya–Iloilo 2–1 United City (November 12)
Lowest attendance	0 (behind closed doors) Stallion Laguna 2–0 Mendiola 1991 (August 8)
← 2021 2024 →

The 2021 Philippines Football League season was planned to commence in late 2021 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,^[2] and was eventually replaced by the league cup tournament, the 2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara.^[3] Marking a change in the format of the previous seasons, the 2022 Copa Paulino Alcantara was held before the league season, with United City emerging as first-time winners of the competition. The success of the Copa, as well as the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the return of fans, prompted the league season to resume in August.

The 2022 season saw the first time since 2019 that teams will play home and away. Several changes were witnessed in the league's system, such as the format changing from an intra-year to an inter-year format, with seasons spanning two years rather than one. After changing the foreigner restrictions in the Copa Paulino Alcantara, the league also increased its foreigner count from 3+1 to 5+1, adhering to the new AFC regulations. While all matches were held at the PFF National Training Center for the 2020 season, matches are played in the home stadiums of the PFL clubs for the 2022 season, with plans to allow fans back after the success of the 2022 Copa Paulino Alcantara. Dynamic Herb Cebu is the only new team competing for this season.

Kaya–Iloilo secured their first league title on May 24, 2023 with one match to spare.^[4]

Sponsored by Qatar Airways, the competition is officially known as The 2022–23 Philippines Football League brought to you by Qatar Airways.

Format changes

Since the league was last held in 2020, there have been several changes. All six teams of the 2020 season are set to compete, with Dynamic Herb Cebu being the new team joining after previously competing in the 2021 and 2022 editions of the Copa Paulino Alcantara. While the 2020 edition was held under closed-circuit format to limit the spread of COVID-19, this season marks the first time since 2019 that the league reverts to a home-and-away Round-robin tournament, with all teams playing each other 4 times, for a total of 24 matches.

Since the 2020 Philippines Football League, several clubs have undergone location changes. United City, who previously competed without a home city and stadium, will be temporarily based in Capas, Tarlac, while their stadium is under construction. After the 2022–23 season, they will rename to United Clark from United City. Maharlika Manila, who also competed without a home stadium but represented the city of Manila, will play their games at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The most noticeable change this season is the league changing its format for scheduling. Previously, the league followed the scheduling system of most Asian leagues such as the Singapore Premier League or Malaysia Super League. However, in 2022, the Asian Football Confederation changed its system of scheduling, shifting from an intra- to an inter-year system. Several leagues followed this, such as the Thai League 1, the Indonesia Liga 1, and the Indian Super League, prompting the PFL to switch to this format as well.

Teams

All 6 clubs from the previous PFL season are set to compete, with Maharlika Manila and United City competing for the first time in 2 years, having taken a break during the 2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara.^[5][6][7] Dynamic Herb Cebu were given a provisional club license,^[8] which would have allow the club to debut in the cancelled 2021 season, but due to the season's cancellation, 2022 was their first league season in the Philippine top flight.

Two potential new entries in the 2022 season were LAOS (Leyte Association of Organized Sports), who last competed in the 2016 United Football League, and new club Rapids F.C. from Cagayan de Oro.^[9][10] The two clubs started their license application process at the same time as Dynamic Herb Cebu. However, the PFF approved Cebu's license while the other two clubs' licenses were still found lacking in requirements.^[8] United City withdrew mid-season in February 2023. Azkal Development Team soon withdrew as well in May 2023.

Stadiums and locations

Several of the teams have nominated venues as temporary home venues due to their home stadiums being under construction. United City is temporarily based in the New Clark City Athletics Stadium, while Mendiola 1991 is temporarily holding their home matches in the City of Imus Grandstand and Track Oval. United City plan to hold their future home matches in their "field of dreams" in Pampanga while Mendiola 1991 will build their stadium in Taytay, Rizal.

In February 2022, the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig was approved by the PFL as Maharlika Manila's home stadium.^[11]

Team Location Stadium Capacity Azkals Development Team Carmona, Cavite PFF National Training Center 1,000 Dynamic Herb Cebu Talisay, Cebu Dynamic Herb Sports Complex 550 Kaya–Iloilo Iloilo City, Iloilo Iloilo Sports Complex 7,000 Maharlika Manila Manila, Metro Manila Rizal Memorial Stadium (until February 2023) 12,873 Taguig, Metro Manila McKinley Hill Stadium (February 2023 onwards)[12] 2,000 Mendiola 1991 Imus, Cavite City of Imus Grandstand and Track Oval 4,800 Stallion Laguna Biñan, Laguna Biñan Football Stadium 3,000 United City Capas, Tarlac New Clark City Athletics Stadium 20,000

Home venues of PFL clubs Kaya–Iloilo Dynamic Herb Cebu Maharlika Manila United City Calabarzon (3 clubs) Calabarzon Stallion Laguna Azkals Development Team Mendiola 1991

Personnel and kits

As part of the criteria imposed by the sponsorship of Qatar Airways, each team's kit should contain the Qatar Airways logo where the manufacturer's logo would usually be.^[13] The official logo of the PFL should also be placed on one of the sleeves of the kit.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
Azkals Development Team	Stephan Schröck	Quincy Kammeraad	Monté	4Gives1, Chooks-to-Go2, PHSD4
Dynamic Herb Cebu	Mehmet Kakil	Nathanael Villanueva	RAD Apparel	WinZir1, Leylam2, Beko3, Tigertek Sports4, Pocari Sweat, The Green Table
Kaya–Iloilo	Yu Hoshide	Jovin Bedic	LGR	LBC1, Fitogether2, ICanServe4, Peakform, Pretty Huge
Maharlika Manila	Roxy Dorlas	David Basa	Equipt Studios[14]	AIA1, Reparil Ice-Spray2, Elan Vita3, Wheyl Nutrition, Kinetix Lab
Mendiola 1991	Joel Villarino	Jim Ashley Flores	Ropa	Vill-Mell Trading, Jon Enterprises, Thunderbird Feed, Best Diagnostic
Stallion Laguna	Ernest Nierras	Ruben Doctora	Cutz Apparel	Giligan's Restaurant1, Airlock3892, South Coast Industrial Door3, Pi Tracer
United City	Joan Esteva	Alan Robertson	Chronos Athletics	Allianz1,[15] Gravity Sport3, Sportskred, Rsportz, BCDA, Klean Athlete

Notes:

1. ^ Located on the front of the shirt.
2. ^ Located on the back of the shirt.
3. ^ Located on the sleeves.
4. ^ Located on the shorts.

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Maharlika Manila	Arvin Soliman	End of contract	Undisclosed	Pre-season	Jeongil Kim	February 20, 2022
Mendiola 1991	Dan Padernal	Personal Reasons	February 2022		Christopher Pedimonte	March 10, 2022[16]
Azkals Development Team	Giovanni Villagracia	Undisclosed	January 2022		Norman Fegidero[17]	March 11, 2022
Dynamic Herb Cebu	Oliver Colina	Appointed by Philippines U23	March 14, 2022[18]		Mehmet Kakil[19]	March 18, 2022[20]
Azkals Development Team	Norman Fegidero	Undisclosed	June 2022		Giovanni Villagracia	June 23, 2022[21]
Mendiola 1991	Christopher Pedimonte	Appointed by Philippines U17	July 2022		Joel Villarino	July 31, 2022[22]
United City	Franklin Muescan	Demoted to assistant coach	September 17, 2022	2nd	Joan Esteva	September 19, 2022
Maharlika Manila	Jeongil Kim	Mutual consent	September 21, 2022	7th	Arman Esteban[23]	September 22, 2022
	Arman Esteban	End of contract	Undisclosed		Roxy Dorlas	January 2023
Azkals Development Team	Giovanni Villagracia	Demoted to assistant coach	February 2023	4th	Stephan Schröck	February 25, 2023

Foreign players

A maximum of six foreigners are allowed per club, with five players of any nationality and a sixth coming from an AFC member nation. This is in line with the upcoming AFC regulations that allow for more foreigners to be signed by clubs. However, only 4 foreign players can be registered in the starting 11 during a matchday, with one of them being from an AFC member nation. A further two foreign substitutes may be placed on the bench.^[24]

Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window. The window lasted from 1 January 2023 to 26 March 2023, with the initial deadline for registered squads set on February 9.^[12]

Club	Players						Former players1
Azkals Development Team	Withdrew mid-season
Dynamic Herb Cebu	Leaford Allen	Mert Altınöz[25]	Rintaro Hama	Marius Kore	Ibrahim Moro	Mohamed Soumah	Arda Çınkır[25] Ren Okuda
Kaya–Iloilo	Milad Behgandom	Daizo Horikoshi[26]	Tamon Horikoshi	Robert Lopez Mendy	Dylan Nobiraki		Ryo Fujii Carlyle Mitchell[26] Patrick Arthur
Maharlika Manila	David Asare	Kim Sungmin	Ben Konaté	Ibrahima Ndour	Emmanuel Otuyemi	Bienvenido Villaflor	Isaac Essel Frank Baring Boris Moundang Ousman Jeng
Mendiola 1991[27]	Ali Ghamloush	Hamed Hajimehdi	Serge Kaole	Mahdi Keyghobadi	Mahan Rahmani	Junior Ngong Sam	Stephen Appiah Alassane Wade Henri Bandeken Kim Min-su
Stallion Laguna	Kraig Bonanken	Yusuke Hayashi	Rafael Nogueda	Abraham Placito[28]	Kosuke Uchida	Abou Sy	Hamed Hajimehdi Juan Trujillo Leonardo Nogueira Gabriel Silva Amir Memari
United City	Withdrew mid-season						Amirbek Juraboev[29] Simen Lyngbø2 Alan Robertson[30] Ricardo Sendra[30]

Notes

1.^ Former players only include players who left after the start of the 2022–23 season.

2.^ Jesse Curran was originally a citizen of Australia but was called up by the Philippines national football team to participate in the 2022 FAS Tri-Nations Series, while Simen Lyngbø was considered a Norwegian import until he played for the Philippines in the 2022 AFF Championship.^[31][32]

Foreign players by confederation
AFC	Japan (6), Iran (3), South Korea (1), Lebanon (1)
CAF	Ghana (1), Cameroon (2), Senegal (3), Guinea (1), Ivory Coast (1), Equatorial Guinea (1), Togo (1), Nigeria (1)
CONCACAF	United States (5), Canada (1)
UEFA	Turkey (1)

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Kaya–Iloilo (C)	22	18	1	3	70	20	+50	55	Qualification for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League
2	Dynamic Herb Cebu	22	15	6	1	52	23	+29	51	Qualification for the 2023–24 AFC Cup
3	Stallion Laguna	22	11	2	9	39	26	+13	35
—	United City	12	7	3	2	27	13	+14	24	Withdrew
—	Azkals Development Team[a] (G)	22	6	3	13	26	39	−13	21
4	Mendiola 1991	22	5	0	17	19	66	−47	15
5	Maharlika Manila	22	2	1	19	14	60	−46	7

Source: PFL^[33]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal Difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (G) Guests
Notes:

1. The Azkals Development Team were a guest team for the PFL and ineligible to qualify for AFC club competitions.

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
Azkals Development Team	4	4	3	3	4	4	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Dynamic Herb Cebu	6	5	5	5	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Kaya–Iloilo	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Maharlika Manila	7	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Mendiola 1991	5	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Stallion Laguna	2	3	4	4	5	5	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
United City	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5

Updated to match(es) played on June 11, 2023. Source: ^[24]

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
Azkals Development Team	L	W	W	D	L	W	L	D	D	L	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	L
Dynamic Herb Cebu	L	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	D
Kaya–Iloilo	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W
Maharlika Manila	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	L	W	L	L
Mendiola 1991	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	W	W
Stallion Laguna	W	W	L	L	L	W	W	W	L	L	L	D	L	W	W	W	W	L	D	L	W	W	W	W
United City	W	W	D	L	W	W	W	W	D	D	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L

Updated to match(es) played on June 11, 2023. Source: ^[24]
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

The seven clubs will play each other in two rounds of home and away matches. A total of 82 matches will be played.^[34] United City withdrew mid-season in February 2023 and will not feature in the second round.

First round Home \ Away ADT CEB KAY MAH MEN STA UCT Azkals Development Team — 0–0 0–1 4–0 3–0 0–2 3–0[a] Dynamic Herb Cebu 3–0[b] — 3–2 5–1 7–1 0–0[c] 3–3 Kaya–Iloilo 1–0 3–0 — 4–1 6–1 3–0 2–1 Maharlika Manila 1–1 0–1 1–4 — 0–3 1–2 0–5 Mendiola 1991 1–3 2–6 0–7 1–0 — 0–4 0–5 Stallion Laguna 1–2 3–4 1–2 4–0 2–0 — 2–4 United City 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 — Updated to match(es) played on March 24, 2022. Source: [24] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. Notes: Match was postponed due to an Influenza outbreak within the United City team. The PFL disciplinary committee later deemed the match a 3–0 win in favor of the ADT.[35][36] Match was postponed due to inclement weather caused by Typhoon Paeng. The PFL disciplinary committee later deemed the match a 3–0 win in favor of Cebu.[35][36] Match was postponed due to unknown reasons. The match has been rescheduled to May 24, 2023.[35]

Second round Home \ Away ADT CEB KAY MAH MEN STA UCT Azkals Development Team — 1–2 1–3 4–1 0–3 0–3 3–0 Dynamic Herb Cebu 3–0 — 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 Kaya–Iloilo 3–2 2–3 — 5–0 4–0 3–1 3–0 Maharlika Manila 3–0 1–2 1–5 — 1–2 0–1 3–0 Mendiola 1991 3–0 1–3 1–6 0–1 — 0–3 3–0 Stallion Laguna 3–0 1–1 0–3 4–1 2–0 — 3–0 United City 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–3 — Updated to match(es) played on June 11, 2023. Source: [citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top goalscorers

As of May 23, 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Daizo Horikoshi	Kaya–Iloilo	15
2	Jarvey Gayoso	Kaya–Iloilo	12
3	Arda Çınkır	Dynamic Herb Cebu	8
	Eric Giganto	Kaya–Iloilo
5	Jesus Melliza	Kaya–Iloilo	7
	Chima Uzoka	Dynamic Herb Cebu
7	Kenshiro Daniels	United City	6
	Junior Ngong Sam	Mendiola 1991
9	Andres Aldeguer	ADT	5
	Mert Altınöz	Dynamic Herb Cebu
	Daniel Gadia	Dynamic Herb Cebu
	Robert Lopez Mendy	Kaya–Iloilo
	Griffin McDaniel	Stallion Laguna
	Ricardo Sendra	United City

Top assists

As of May 27, 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Daizo Horikoshi	Kaya–Iloilo	19
2	Mert Altınöz	Dynamic Herb Cebu	8
	Jeremiah Borlongan	Dynamic Herb Cebu
4	Arnel Amita	Kaya–Iloilo	7
5	Griffin McDaniel	Stallion Laguna	6
	Hikaru Minegishi	United City
7	Arda Çınkır	Dynamic Herb Cebu	5
	Eric Giganto	Kaya–Iloilo
	Marius Kore	Dynamic Herb Cebu
	Jesus Melliza	Kaya–Iloilo
	Juan Trujillo	Stallion Laguna

Own goals

As of March 4, 2022

Rank	Player	Club	Own goals
1	Alan Robertson	United City	1
	Richard Talaroc	Mendiola 1991
	Ben Konaté	Maharlika Manila

Hat-tricks

As of September 16, 2022

Player	Club	Result	Against	Date
Jarvey Gayoso	Kaya–Iloilo	4–1 (H)	Maharlika Manila	27 August 2022
Arda Çınkır4	Dynamic Herb Cebu	7–1 (H)	Mendiola 1991	16 September 2022

Note

(H) – Home; (A) – Away

⁴ Player scored four goals

Clean sheets

As of June 4, 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Florencio Badelic Jr.	United City Dynamic Herb Cebu	4
	Anthony Pinthus	United City
3	Michael Asong	Stallion Laguna	3
	Kenry Balobo	Kaya–Iloilo
	Zach Banzon	Kaya–Iloilo
	Hayeson Pepito	Stallion Laguna
7	Joseph Ceniza	Mendiola 1991	2
	Patrick Deyto	Stallion Laguna
	Quincy Kammeraad	Kaya–Iloilo
	Julian Schwarzer	ADT
	Nathanael Villanueva	Dynamic Herb Cebu

Discipline

Red cards

As of June 11, 2023

Rank	Player	Team	Red cards
1	Simone Rota	Kaya–Iloilo	2
	Daniel Gadia	Dynamic Herb Cebu
3	Arnel Amita	Kaya–Iloilo	1
	Patrick Arthur	Kaya–Iloilo
	Enzo Ceniza	Mendiola 1991
	Charles Dabao	Dynamic Herb Cebu
	Patrick Deyto	Stallion Laguna
	Shirmar Felongco	Stallion Laguna
	Nicolas Ferrer Jr.	Dynamic Herb Cebu
	Carlyle Mitchell	Kaya–Iloilo
	Rafael Nogueda	Stallion Laguna
	Kenneth Payosalan	Mendiola 1991
	Alan Robertson	United City
	Gabriel Silva	Stallion Laguna

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.^[37][38]

Award	Winner	Club
Golden Ball	Daizo Horikoshi	Kaya—Iloilo
Golden Boot
Golden Glove	Zach Banzon

Attendances

#	Football club	Average attendance
1	Kaya FC	231
2	Cebu FC	187
3	Stallion Laguna	156
4	Mendiola FC	124
5	Maharlika Manila	109