7's Football League

Last updated
7's Football League
7's Football League PH logo.png
Founded2018;6 years ago (2018)
Country Philippines
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)Kampeon Cup
Current championsSenior Division
Men's: Lamasia FC (1st title)
Women's: Kaya F.C. (3rd title)
Most championshipsSenior Division
Men's: Super Eagles (3 titles)
Women's: Kaya F.C.
(3 titles)
TV partners YouTube (live stream)
Website 7sfl.com

The 7's Football League (7s FL), also known as the AIA 7's Football League due to sponsorship with insurance company AIA Philippines, is a seven-a-side football league in the Philippines. Established in 2018, the league already had four seasons. It has a two-tiered men's division, a women's division, and youth divisions. The league is an open tournament with participation from representative sides of the domestic football competition, the Philippines Football League.

Contents

History

Former Philippine national team player Anton del Rosario led the establishment of the 7's Football League (7s FL) in 2018 [1] and secured sponsors for the league in less than a week with the debut season's title sponsor being Go Well. The founding of the league was amidst uncertainty in the Philippines Football League which saw the withdrawal of two of its eight teams from the 2017 season. The league also provided an opportunity for foreign players who played in the United Football League displaced by the imposition of the AFC 3+1 foreigner cap rule. It was intended that three 7s FL seasons be held every year. [2] The first season began with just the men's division [3] with six teams participating. Matches were held at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig. [1]

The second season began in July 2018 with ten teams. By that time 7s FL became the second league in Asia to be affiliated with FIF7, the international body for 7-a-side football, with the first being India. The 7s FL began to consider holding matches outside Metro Manila and began working on partnerships in Guam and Brunei as part of a Philippine bid to host the 2019 FIF7 World Cup and set up more 7-a-side leagues in Asia. [4]

The 7sFL began accommodating youth squads in the third season which began in February 2019. [5] with tournaments for age groups U9, U11, U13 and U15. [6] In March 2019, the women's division was introduced with eight squads participating in the first iteration. [7] The fourth season began with the first edition of the Kampeon Cup which was held from July 27 to 28. [8] The league tournament proper of the fourth season began in September 2019 with 66 teams across seven divisions; Premier Division, Women's Division, Men's Division, U15, U13, U11, and U9. [9] By the end of the fourth season, the league has already held select matches outside Metro Manila, in venues in Iloilo, Bacolod, and Davao. [10] The league was given the Best in Sports Youth Development Program award at the 2019 SPIA Asia. [3]

The league further expanded in the fifth season with its first matches to be held simultaneously in venues in Muntinlupa, Clark, Bacolod and Davao on February 9, 2020, and in Iloilo on February 15. 24 teams will participate in the men's division, 10 in the women's division, and 48 teams in the youth divisions. [10] However, the season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. [11]

In April 2021, the 7's Football League management announced plans to set up tournaments in Brunei and the United States. [12] [13]

In April 2023, the Asia 7s Football Championship was held with teams from Brunei, India, Japan, and the Philippines participating. [14]

Rules and regulations

Each team in the 7's Football League as its name suggest starts a match with seven on-field players as opposed to eleven of a regular association football match. Matches consists of two halves with 15 minute each and are played at a smaller field than the standard football pitch. There is also no restrictions on the number of foreigners a team can field or rules barring individuals with no prior professional football experience from playing. [2]

Champions

7s Super League

Men's Division (Premier)

Women's Division

Asia 7s

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine Army F.C.</span> Football club

Philippine Army Football Club is a professional football club based in the Philippines. It was founded in 1960 through the effort of the Philippine Army Special Services Unit, that promotes sports and physical fitness within the Army, under the direction of the commanding General. As the club name indicates, the team is composed of members of the Philippine Army. The club currently plays in the Philippines Football League, the top-flight league of football in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendiola F.C. 1991</span> Filipino association football club based in Imus City

The Mendiola Football Club 1991 is a Philippines professional football club based in Imus, Cavite. The club is named after the Mendiola Street, a short thoroughfare in the San Miguel district of Manila. It is one of the founding members of United Football League, which was last competing in the 2009–10 season. The club currently plays in the Philippines Football League, the top-flight league of football in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anton del Rosario</span> Filipino footballer

Anton Edward Quimson del Rosario is an American-born Filipino former professional footballer who last played as a right back or centre-back for Maharlika Manila, of which he is also a co-founder and co-owner. He represented the Philippines national team from 2004 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaya F.C.–Iloilo</span> Filipino association football club based in Iloilo City

Kaya Futbol Club–Iloilo, or simply Kaya FC, is a Filipino professional football club based in Iloilo City. They currently play in the Philippines Football League, the highest tier of football in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Archers United F.C.</span> Filipino association football club

Green Archers United Futbol Club, formerly known as Alabang Grins Futbol Club, was a Filipino professional association football club based in Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. The team last played in the 2019 season of the Philippines Football League, the top-level league in the Philippines. They have also participated in the United Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Football League (Philippines)</span> Defunct association football league in Metro Manila, Philippines

The United Football League, commonly known as the UFL, was an association football league, replaced by the Philippines Football League, based in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, governed by the Football Alliance (FA) in partnership with United Football Clubs Association (UFCA). The UFL was the Philippines' primary football league. In its last season in 2016, it was contested by 12 clubs and operated without a system of promotion and relegation with UFL Division 2, which was discontinued. Games were often scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. To avoid the country's rainy season, the league usually kicked off sometime between the months of January and February each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loyola F.C.</span> Filipino football club

Loyola Football Club is a Filipino professional football club based in Metro Manila. They play in the Philippines Football League (PFL), the highest tier of football in the Philippines. The club has won one UFL Cup and one PFF National Men's Club Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine Air Force F.C.</span> Filipino association football club

Philippine Air Force Football Club is a professional football club in the Philippines. The club's original players were officers, enlisted personnel, and civilians of the Philippine Air Force. The club competes in the Philippines Football League, the top tier of football in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global F.C.</span> Filipino association football club based in Makati, Metro Manila

Global Football Club was a professional football club that last played in the Philippines Football League (PFL), the top flight of Philippines' club football. The club has won four league titles, two UFL Cups, one UFL FA Cup, and one PFF National Men's Club Championship. They have participated in the AFC Cup three times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Socceroo F.C.</span> Soccer club

Team Socceroo Football Club (TSFC) is a football club based in Metro Manila, Philippines. It first joined the United Football League as Team Socceroo through its second division in 2012. From the 2014–2015 season, the TSFC played in the Division 1 of the United Football League, the country's top premiere football league after topping Division 2 in the 2013 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United City F.C.</span> Filipino association football club

United City Football Club is a Philippines professional football club representing Central Luzon, that currently competed in the Philippines Football League, the top-tier league of football in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariano Araneta</span> Filipino businessman and footballer

Mariano "Nonong" V. Araneta, Jr. is a Filipino sports executive, businessman and retired footballer. Araneta formerly played for the Philippines national football team. He was the president of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) from 2010 to 2023 and is currently a member of the FIFA Council since May 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OutKast F.C.</span> Filipino womens football club

OutKast FC was a Filipino women's football club which played at the PFF Women's League, the top women's football league in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiraya F.C.</span> Football club

Hiraya FC was a Filipino women's football club that played in the PFF Women's League, the top women's football league in the Philippines.

The 2017 Philippines Football League was the inaugural season of the Philippines Football League (PFL), the professional football league of the Philippines. The league was officially launched on April 21, 2017, at Shangri-La at the Fort in Taguig, while the first match of the season was played on May 6. The PFL replaced the Metro Manila-based United Football League (UFL), which served as the country's de facto top-level football league from 2009 to 2016. The league was made up of 8 clubs: 6 from the UFL and 2 expansion teams. Each club played the others four times, twice at their home ground and twice at that of their opponents', for 28 games. The teams that finished the season in the top four entered a playoff tournament to determine the league's champion.

Kaya Futbol Club, commonly referred to as Kaya Women's, is a Filipino women's professional football club affiliated with Kaya F.C.–Iloilo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maharlika Taguig F.C.</span> Filipino association football club based in Taguig

Maharlika Taguig Football Club, commonly referred to as Maharlika, is a Filipino professional football club based in Taguig that competes in the 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 started on August 7, 2022, and concluded in May 2023, marking the first time during the Philippines Football League era that a season takes place over two years. The league is contested by seven teams, the most since the 2019 season, which played each other four times during the season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manila Digger F.C. (women)</span> Football club

Manila Digger F.C. is a Filipino professional football club. Founded in 2018, they also men's and women's teams currently competing.

Ibrahima "Endo" Ndour is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Davao Aguilas of the Philippines Football League.

References

  1. 1 2 Galunan, Jerome Jr. (31 January 2019). "7s isn't all about football, it's building community". Sun Star Bacolod. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 Quismundo, Tarra (12 March 2018). "Manila's first 7-a-side league hopes to show Pinoys football is not hard to love". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Philam 7s Football League awarded by SPIA as Best Youth Development Program". Fox Sports. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  4. ↑ Quismondo, Tarra (29 July 2019). "Football: Higher stakes up as Manila's 7-a-side league kicks off 2nd season". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "Philam Life 7's Football League kicks off new season". ESPN5. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "7s Football League aims to develop players from the grassroots level with the youth league". ABS-CBN sports. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Philam Life 7s Football League empowers women with inaugural Women's 7s Football League". Fox Sports. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  8. ↑ Murillo, Michael Angelo (22 July 2019). "7s Football League commences new season with Kampeon Cup". BusinessWorld. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "Philam Life 7s Football League: Ghana FC starts title defense with win over rivals Super Eagles". BusinessWorld. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  10. 1 2 Lozada, Bong (6 February 2020). "7s Football League looks to open more opportunities for players". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "Del Rosario wants to uplift PH football". 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  12. ↑ "Anton del Rosario's 7's Football League goes global with US, Brunei locations". GMA News. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  13. ↑ Olivares, Rick (23 April 2021). "From local to global: The 7s to make cross-continental debut". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Olivares, Rick (21 April 2023). "Japan-Philippines clash opens Asia 7s Football Championships". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  15. 1 2 TDT (8 September 2019). "Philam 7s Season 4 kicks off today". Daily Tribune. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  16. 1 2 "Ghana FC dethrones Super Eagles in Philam Life 7s Football League; Outkast wins". BusinessWorld. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "Champions Men's Division - Super Eagles". Facebook. AIA Philam Life 7's Football League. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  18. ↑ Olivares, Rick (14 January 2023). "Rangers looking to defend 7s crown in February kick-off". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  19. ↑ "Champions Women's Division - Stallion Hiraya". Facebook. AIA Philam Life 7's Football League. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.