Founded as Loyola Agila Football Club in 2006, the club changed its name to Loyola Meralco Sparks in 2011 after it was acquired by Meralco and the MVP Sports Foundation, both owned by multimillionaire Manny V. Pangilinan. The club was a founding member of the United Football League (UFL)—the de facto top-level league of Philippine football back then. They played in the UFL throughout its existence from 2010 to 2016. In 2017, the club changed its name to FC Meralco Manila, upon joining the Philippines Football League (PFL), the official top flight of Philippine football. Rizal Memorial Stadium then became the club's home ground. In the 2017 PFL, the club finished at the top of the league table but ended up in third place after the playoffs. In January 2018, the club ceased its participation in the PFL due to the lack of investors. The club was then renamed Loyola Football Club, though only their youth teams and academy remained operational. The club announced its return for 2023 Copa Paulino Alcantara.
Since its foundation, Loyola Agila has been actively participating in local semi-professional club tournaments; the most notable is the Lotto Titans Football Cup.[4]
2009 season
The tournament was later changed to the Republic Cup, expanding the tournament to seven clubs from the previous five.[5] In their opening matches, Loyola Agila defeated Titans FC 2–0, while their match against Superfriends FC ended in a 0–0 draw.[6] Loyola Agila ended the tournament with a 3–2–2 record, finishing 4th overall.[7]
2010 season
Loyola was one of the teams that joined the first season of the UFL which they finished in fourth place.[8] The team was then sponsored by ATR Kim-Eng by the 2011 season, which they finished 5th place under their team captain Patrick Ozaeta.[9]
Loyola finished as runners-up in the 2010 Rexona-Republic Cup after losing 4–1 to Caliraya FC in the final.[10]
The Sparks started their 2012 United Football League campaign on a high note, topping all clubs at the end of the first round of competition. However, the club ended its league run in third place after a 1-all draw against eventual league champions Global FC.[13]
After securing first place in the first round, the club was invited to play in the 2012 Singapore Cup.[14] In the preliminary round on 18 May 2012, they played Geylang United FC, where they won 2–1 in added extra time, advancing them to the two-legged quarter-finals.[15] They faced Burmese club Kanbawza in early July wherein they defeated them 5–3 on aggregate after a 3–1 win and a 2–2 draw in both legs.[16] They faced Tampines Rovers FC in a two-legged semi-finals and lost 5–0 on aggregate. They lost the third-place match 4–0 to Gombak United.
The club also participated in the 2012 UFL Cup between September 15 to December 17, 2012. The club topped Group C, with Pachanga coming in a close second, to advance to the semi-finals of the cup. However, the team was eventually defeated by Global ending their run.[17]
2013 season
Members and officials of the Loyola Meralco Sparks squad that competed at the 2013 Singapore Cup.
In the 2013 season, the club qualified for the 2013 PFF National Men's Club Championship alongside other UFL clubs.[18] The club played against Flame United FC in the knock-out stage.[19] However, they were eliminated by fellow Division 1 UFL side Kaya in the quarterfinals.[20] They've played with Harimau Muda B in the 2013 Singapore Cup opening match which ended in favor of the club. However, they only reach the quarterfinal round when they bowed out to Tanjong Pagar United in a 5–4 aggregate.
After the elimination at the Singapore Cup, the team marked their fifth appearance at the 2013 UFL Cup. They started their campaign at the group stages by beating Dolphins United in double digits.[21] They also faced Navy with a huge 9–0 victory.[22]
The sparks ended their 2015 season as third placers in the 2015 United Football League, finishing 8 points behind eventual champions Ceres, lost to Global in goal difference and 4 points ahead Kaya.
Meralco Manila players celebrating after scoring against Davao Aguilas. September 23, 2017.
After the announcement of the formation of the Philippines Football League, which was set to replace the United Football League as the country's top-tier football league, Loyola, along with 7 other UFL clubs, expressed their desire to enter the newly-founded league. On the PFL's launching on April 21, 2017, it was confirmed that the team changed their name to FC Meralco Manila and assigned Manila as their home city. The team designated the Rizal Memorial Stadium as their home venue.
On January 8, 2018, the club announced that they have ceased their participation in the league. The management stated that they attempted to find investors to keep the club's league participation possible but were unable to do so.[29]
Loyola FC (2018–)
In mid-January 2018, the club now called "Loyola Football Club" announced that their youth academy would continue operations. Their youth teams will continue their participation in the Youth Football League[30] and they have entered a youth squad at the 7s Football League.[31]
In 16 July 2023, Loyola lost their opening match against CF Manila, the score was 2–0.[38] Six days later, Loyola faced FEU. Loyola were down two goals in the first half, but came back in the second half to settle for a draw. The match ended 2–2.[39] Loyola then faced former UFL rivals Philippine Air Force and lost 3–0.[40] Loyola ended their three-game winless run after defeating Don Bosco Garelli United 6–1. Loyola then lost to Kaya-Iloilo 7–0, ending their Copa Paulino Alcantara campaign with one win, one draw, and three losses.[41]
2024 season: Return to Philippines Football League
In early December 2023, after a five-season absence, Loyola announced their return to Philippines Football League through social media.
Crest and colors
The club's crest is a variation of the Ateneo de Manila University seal, from which the club traces its roots. However, the seal's origin is the Shield of Oñaz-Loyola, a symbol of St. Ignatius family's Oñaz lineage.
The crest's colors are gold, maroon, and blue– representing nobility, strength, and loyalty respectively. The left side of the crest consists of seven maroon bars going diagonally from the upper left to the lower right on a gold field. The right side of the crest features a pair of rampant gray wolves flanking each side of a cooking pot. The "Loyola" name was a contraction of the words Lobo y Olla which literally meant "wolf and pot" in Spanish. The wolves are a symbol of nobility, and represents the players and fans of the club.
In 2017, the gray wolves was replaced by a sea-lion which is a representation of Manila.
Loyola being a national team player-laden club, was known for having a fanbase mainly composed of fangirls who were avid supporters of the Philippine Azkals. During the 2011–2012 season, the SparkSquad, also known as the Sparklers, was the official supporters group of Loyola. Years later, a new supporter group was formed and named as Sparks Army Wolves.
Ultras
The club's first ultras group was established during the inaugural season of the Philippines Football League by Ultras Filipinas members, who were ardent Loyola supporters. The group was originally named as Ultras Loyola but was later changed to Frente Naranja (Spanish for Orange Front) with orange serving as the club's primary color after being taken over by Meralco and the MVP Sports Foundation. In 2018, after the cessation of the club's first team, Frente Naranja changed their name to Frente 17. The group continued supporting the youth teams of the club in their matches in Youth Football League and their de facto senior team in the 7's Football League second division.
Since 2011, Loyola held a rivalry with National Capital Region neighbors Kaya, with Loyola being based in Quezon City and Kaya being based in Makati. The rivalry began in the 2011 UFL Cup semi-finals clash between the two teams, in which Kaya went up to lead the game by 3–0 only to lose by 4–5 after an enthralling comeback from the Sparks. Since then, the UFL has had some of its highest attendance numbers whenever there are match-ups between the two teams, making the rivalry the most famous derby in Philippine club football.[42]
This rivalry continued into the first season of the newly founded Philippine Football League. However, after the first season of the PFL concluded, Meralco (Loyola) then decided to pull out of the league and Kaya moving to Iloilo City, effectively ending the rivalry between the two clubs.
Rivalry with Philippine Air Force
The rivalry with Philippine Air Force started when Air Force defeated the national team player-laden Loyola 2–0 during the 2011 UFL Cup final, Edmundo Mercado Jr., adjudged the best goalkeeper of the tournament, defiantly and somewhat controversially proclaimed his side as "true Filipinos".
The rivalry continued for years until Air Force rapidly declined and withdrew its participation in the UFL in 2015, this rivalry has mostly died out.
↑ RAD Chameleon Apparel started providing kits for Loyola since 2018. Loyola had several kit sponsors in the past but won't be included in this article since they were not playing in a top-flight competition from 2018 to 2023.
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As Loyola Agila (2006–2011)
As Loyola Meralco Sparks (2011–2017)
As Meralco Manila (2017–2018)
As Loyola (2018–)
