2019 Philippine Premier League

Philippine Premier League

Season	2019
Dates	April 27, 2019 – August 2019
Matches played	2
Goals scored	7 (3.5 per match)
Top goalscorer	seven players (1 goal)
Highest scoring	Philippine Air Force 2–2 Mendiola (April 27)
← 2018 2020 → All statistics correct as of April 27, 2019.

The 2019 Philippine Premier League is the inaugural season of the Philippine Premier League (PPL) and the third consecutive season of top-flight professional football in the Philippines, after the two seasons of the Philippines Football League (PFL). The season was scheduled to start on March 30, but was postponed to April 27 to allow Mendiola and Philippine Air Force to process their respective club licenses. ^[1] Originally supposed to be a seven-club league, Stallion Laguna and United Makati withdrew from the league on April 26 (a day before the first match day) due to loss of confidence to the league's organizers, leaving the PPL with five clubs.

Teams

At least five teams are set to compete for the inaugural season: ^[2]

• Ceres–Negros (PFL title holders)
• Green Archers United Globe (WFL title holders)
• Kaya–Iloilo (Copa Paulino Alcantara holders)
• Philippine Air Force
• Mendiola

Mendiola and Philippine Air Force were announced as participants for the season by the league organizers but were ruled ineligible to participate due to their licensing issues with the Philippine Football Federation. ^[3] The league postponed the season's launch to April 27 so that the two clubs can resubmit their documents for licensing. ^[4]

Stallion Laguna and United Makati withdrew from the league a day before the first match day due to loss of confidence to the league's organizers. In a joint conference they stated that the lack of professionalism, transparency and disagreement with the centralized format of the league as their reason for their withdrawal. ^{[5] [6]}

Personnel and kits

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt partner
Ceres–Negros	Risto Vidaković	Martin Steuble	Grand Sport	Ceres
Green Archers United Globe	Rodolfo Alicante	Tating Pasilan	Cutz Apparel	Globe Telecom Orient Freight International
Kaya FC–Iloilo	Noel Marcaida	Jovin Bedic	Adidas	LBC Fitness First
Philippine Air Force	Leo Jaena	Yanti Barsales	Defy Athletics	Elan Vita
Mendiola	Dan Padernal	Aron Altiche	FAT

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

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

Club	Players
Ceres–Negros	Blake Powell	Mahir Karić	Bienvenido Marañón	Súper
Green Archers United Globe	Henri Bandeken	Fredy Mbang	Lucien Joel Okono
Kaya–Iloilo	Alfred Osei	Jordan Mintah	Masanari Omura	Darryl Roberts
Philippine Air Force
Mendiola	Ricardo Sendra	Hamed Hajimehdi	Dini Ouattara	Souleyman Mbouombouo Ndepe

Venues

Manila	Manila 2019 Philippine Premier League (Luzon)
Rizal Memorial Stadium
Capacity: 12,873

League table

Pos	Team [ v t e ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Kaya-Iloilo	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3	Qualification for AFC Champions League preliminary round 1 [lower-alpha 1]
2	Mendiola	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1	Standby team for AFC Cup group stage [lower-alpha 2]
3	Philippine Air Force	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1
4	Green Archers United Globe	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	0
5	Ceres–Negros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Updated to match(es) played on 27 April 2019. Source: TBC
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

1. If the league champions cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage, they will enter the AFC Cup group stage.
2. If the league champions qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage, the runners-up will enter the AFC Cup group stage.

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
Ceres–Negros
Green Archers United Globe
Kaya–Iloilo
Philippine Air Force
Mendiola

	AFC Champions League Preliminary Round/AFC Cup Group Stage

First match(es) will be played on April 27, 2019. Source: TBC

Results

The seven clubs will play each other in three round robin-robin matches. ^[7]

Club CER GAU KAY MEN PAF Ceres–Negros — Green Archers United Globe — 0–3 Kaya-Iloilo — Mendiola — Philippine Air Force 2–2 — Updated to match(es) played on April 27, 2019. Source: TBC Colours: Blue = left column team win; Yellow = draw; Red = top row team win.

Club CER GAU KAY MEN PAF Ceres–Negros — Green Archers United Globe — Kaya-Iloilo — Mendiola — Philippine Air Force — Updated to match(es) played on April 27, 2019. Source: TBC Colours: Blue = left column team win; Yellow = draw; Red = top row team win.

References

1. "Philippine Premier League to move start of 2019 to a later date; hopes to add more teams". Fox Sports Asia. March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
2. Terrado, Reuben (March 1, 2019). "Inaugural Philippine Premier League kicks off with seven-team cast". Sports Interactive Network Philippine. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
3. "Mendiola, Air Force FC denied club licenses; cannot participate in Philippine Premier League". FOX Sports Asia. March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
4. "Football: Launch of PH Premier League postponed". ABS-CBN News. March 26, 2019. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
5. Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart (April 27, 2019). "Stallion Laguna, Global Makati withdraw from PPL". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
6. "2019 Philippine Premier League a five-team affair now as Global Makati FC and Stallion Laguna FC withdraw". Fox Sports Asia. April 27, 2019. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
7. "Philippine Premier League launched as country's new top-tier club competition". ESPN5. January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.