The 2016 United Football League was the seventh and last season of the UFL since its establishment as a semi-professional league in 2009. Division 2 is disbanded for this season with all teams competing in one division.[1]

United Football League
Season2016
ChampionsGlobal
AFC CupGlobal
Ceres
Matches played102
Goals scored544 (5.33 per match)
Best PlayerJapan Hikaru Minegishi
Top goalscorerSpain Adrián Gallardo
(30 goals)
Best goalkeeperPhilippines Nelson Gasic
Highest scoring17 goals
Kaya 16–1 Manila Nomads
Longest winning run10 games
Global
Longest unbeaten run15 games
Global
Longest winless run11 games
Pasargad
Longest losing run8 games
Pasargad
2015

The league competition which started on April 30 and ended on October 24 will followed a pure double round robin match with no play-offs.[1] For this edition the foreign player cap is reduced to four from five foreign players in a playing squad of 18 players, including 7 substitutes. At least one of the four maximum allowable foreign players must be from the Asian country. This was to align to the guidelines followed at the AFC Cup and AFC Champions League. However, a club with more than 25 players may have more than four foreign players in their whole squad provided that they comply with the 4-player foreign player limit rule during match day.[1]

Global F.C. won the league with one game to spare.

The 2016 season was the last UFL season following the appointment of UFL President Randy Roxas as part of the task force for the upcoming Philippines Football League which had its inaugural season in 2017.[2]

Venue

edit

Matches are played at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.[1]

Clubs

edit

The league is composed of 12 clubs.

Club Head Coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Agila   Richard Leyble   Shinji Shozu   LGR Sportswear None
Ceres   Risto Vidaković   Juan Luis Guirado   Puma   Ceres Liner
Forza   Arvin Jay Soliman   Stephen Burda   LGR Sportswear   Orient Freight International
Global   Leigh Manson   Misagh Bahadoran   LGR Sportswear None
Green Archers United   Rodolfo Alicante   Tating Pasilan   LGR Sportswear   Globe Telecom
JP Voltes   Yu Hoshide   Masaki Yanagawa   LGR Sportswear   JK Mart
Kaya   Chris Greatwich   Alexander Borromeo   LGR Sportswear   LBC Express
Laos   Jovanie Villagracia   Badreldin Elhabib   LGR Sportswear None
Loyola Meralco Sparks   Simon McMenemy   James Younghusband   Under Armour   Meralco
Manila Nomads   Ronaldo Luis Bernardo   Ubiam Ugochukwu Okoro   LGR Sportswear   True Blue Tools
Pasargad   Joel Villarino   Jean Claude Delos Reyes   LGR Sportswear None
Stallion   Ernest Nierras   Ruben Doctora   Vizari   Giligan's Restaurant

Managerial changes

edit
Team Outgoing head coach Manner of departure Incoming head coach
Kaya   Fabien Larry Lewis End of contract   Chris Greatwich
JP Voltes   Shinichiro Maeno End of contract   Yu Hoshide[3]
Laos   Rudy Del Rosario End of contract   Jovanie Villagracia
Forza   Jun Mark Saraga End of contract   Arvin Jay Soliman
Agila   Ramon Vicente Roxas End of contract   Richard Leyble
Pasargad   Mike Agbayani End of contract   Joel Villarino
Ceres   Ali Go New coach under contract   Risto Vidaković

League table

edit
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Global (C) 19 15 2 2 80 15 +65 47 Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League Preliminary round 1
or 2017 AFC Cup Group stage[a]
2 Ceres (Q) 19 13 2 4 109 18 +91 41 Qualification to the 2017 AFC Cup Group stage
3 Loyola Meralco Sparks 19 13 2 4 83 23 +60 41
4 JP Voltes 19 13 2 4 51 16 +35 41
5 Kaya 19 12 1 6 78 25 +53 37
6 Stallion 19 8 7 4 43 28 +15 31
7 Green Archers United 19 6 3 10 29 48 −19 21
8 Forza 19 4 2 13 20 82 −62 14
9 Manila Nomads (D, E) 11 3 0 8 20 65 −45 9 Withdrew from the tournament[b]
10 Laos 19 2 1 16 22 111 −89 7
11 Agila (D, E) 11 1 1 9 6 56 −50 4 Withdrew from the tournament[b]
12 Pasargad (D, E) 11 0 1 10 4 58 −54 1
Updated to match(es) played on 24 October 2016. Source: rsssf.com, soccerway.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal Difference; 3) Goals Scored
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:
  1. ^ Global qualified for the 2017 AFC Cup Group stage by winning the 2016 UFL Cup. However, since they already qualified for the 2017 AFC Champions League Preliminary round 1 by winning the 2016 UFL Division 1, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed to the next best-placed team (2016 UFL Division 1 runner-up Ceres FC).
  2. ^ a b Manila Nomads, Agila and Pasargad did not participate in the second round of the league.

Positions by round

edit
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819
Global4211111111111111111
Ceres8643222222223232222
Loyola Meralco Sparks5365333333432323333
JP Voltes2154555444344444444
Kaya1532444566555555555
Stallion91077667655666666666
Green Archers United6426776777777777777
Forza691110111111988888888888
Manila Nomads37898888910999999999
Laos1212121212101011119101010101010101010
Agila108108999101011111111111111111111
Pasargad1111911101212121212121212121212121212
Leader
2017 AFC Cup group stage

Results

edit
Home \ Away AGI CER FOR GLO GAU JPV KAY LAO LMS NOM PSG STA
Agila 0–5 0–3 1–0 0–11 2–2
Ceres 10–1 11–0 3–3 7–1 4–2 5–0 8–0 4–1 6–0 2–2
Forza 4–1 0–10 0–2 1–1 0–3 0–5 3–1 1–5 2–0 1–4
Global 8–0 0–5 12–0 4–0 0–2 3–2 8–0 1–0 3–0 3–0
Green Archers United 5–0 2–1 1–1 1–3 0–3 1–5 3–0 0–4 2–1 1–3
JP Voltes 1–0 7–1 0–4 3–1 0–1 3–0 2–3 5–0 0–0
Kaya 1–0 10–2 0–3 6–0 1–3 8–0 1–2 16–1 0–1
Laos 0–11 0–3 0–7 0–4 0–4 2–10 2–13 8–3 2–2
Loyola Meralco Sparks 3–2 4–0 0–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 11–1 9–2 3–1
Manila Nomads 3–0 2–1 0–12 3–4 2–4
Pasargad 0–16 0–6 0–6 1–6 0–9 0–4
Stallion 5–1 1–4 3–0 2–4 1–1 0–0 2–2 8–0 2–2 2–0
Source: United Football League (Philippines)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

edit

Top goalscorers

edit
Rank Name Team Goals
1   Adrián Gallardo Ceres 30
2   Phil Younghusband Loyola Meralco Sparks 21
3   Stephan Schröck Ceres 18
  Robert Lopez Mendy Kaya
5   Hikaru Minegishi Global 17

Hat-tricks

edit
Player For Against Result Date
  Jay Baguioro JP Voltes Pasargad 0–6 30 April 2016
  James Younghusband Loyola Meralco Sparks Stallion 3–1 8 May 2016
  Nate Burkey Ceres Manila Nomads 6–0 14 May 2016
  Jay Baguioro JP Voltes Forza 7–1 15 May 2016
  Takumi Uesato
  Robert Lopez Mendy4 Kaya Forza 10–2 18 May 2016
  Patrick Reichelt Ceres Agila 10–1 18 May 2016
  Bienve
  Kenshiro Daniels4 Kaya Manila Nomads 16–1 9 June 2016
  OJ Porteria4
  Joshua Beloya4 Stallion Laos 8–0 9 June 2016
  Adrián Gallardo8 Ceres Pasargad 0–16 11 June 2016
  Stephan Schröck
  Phil Younghusband Loyola Meralco Sparks Agila 0–11 15 June 2016
  Akira Miyayama
  Adrián Gallardo Ceres Forza 0–10 15 June 2016
  Patrik Franksson4 Laos Pasargad 1– 6 19 June 2016
  Robert Lopez Mendy Kaya Pasargad 0– 6 25 June 2016
  Stephan Schröck Ceres Stallion 1–4 25 June 2016
  Phil Younghusband5 Loyola Meralco Sparks Laos 2–13 26 June 2016
  Curt Dizon Loyola Meralco Sparks Manila Nomads 9–2 3 July 2016
  Alvaro Castiella
  Carlos Ortiz 4 Global Agila 8–0 5 July 2016
  Phil Younghusband Loyola Meralco Sparks Pasargad 0– 9 7 July 2016
  Adrián Gallardo6 Ceres Laos 0– 11 7 July 2016
  Patrik Franksson5 Laos Manila Nomads 8–3 10 July 2016
  Stephen Appiah Manila Nomads Laos 8–3 10 July 2016
  Misagh Bahadoran5 Global Manila Nomads 0–12 14 July 2016
  Phil Younghusband Loyola Meralco Sparks Forza 1– 5 7 August 2016
  Omid Nazari Global Forza 12–0 10 August 2016
  Misagh Bahadoran4
  Hikaru Minegishi
  Jorrel Aristorenas Loyola Meralco Sparks Laos 11–1 17 August 2016
  Louis Clark Kaya Laos 8–0 24 September 2016
  Stephan Schröck Ceres Loyola Meralco Sparks 4–1 24 September 2016
Laos 8–0 28 September 2016
  Hikaru Minegishi Global Laos 0–7 2 October 2016
  Matthew Hartmann

4 Player scored four goals
5 Player scored five goals
6 Player scored six goals
8 Player scored eight goals

Own goals

edit
Player For Club Own goals
  Ronnie Aguisanda Loyola Meralco Sparks Green Archers United 2
JP Voltes
  Christian Nana Global Stallion 1
  Michael Atienza Global Laos
  Jayson Cutamora Global JP Voltes
  Rezziel Villaespin Agila Laos
  John Lloyd Bastasa Loyola Meralco Sparks Laos
  Fidelis Nnabuife Loyola Meralco Sparks Manila Nomads
  Joseph Rigoberto Global Forza

Honors

edit
Player
Team

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Guerrero, Bob (13 January 2016). "What to expect in Philippine football in 2016". Rappler. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Ceres FC ready to apply for PFL license". The Visayan Daily Star. 15 October 2016. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Line ups for JP Voltes Vs Kaya". Twitter. UFL Philippines. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Global and Voltes dominate UFL Awards". Dugout Philippines. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
edit