by Beatrice Go
MANILA, Philippines – FC Meralco Manila announced on the evening of Monday, January 8, that they will not be participating in the second season of the Philippines Football League (PFL) as the team will officially be folding up.
"Circumstances beyond our control have made it difficult for FC Meralco Manila to continue. The board and management of the Sparks have tried to arrange for new investors that would keep the organization running, but those efforts have sadly fallen short," read the statement.
Announcements regarding the club's Youth Academy will be made soon according to the same statement.
Team leaders including Azkal Curt Dizon, former Azkals Simon Greatwich and Daniel Gadia will be seeking new teams as Meralco's management is currently helping their players find new clubs ideally before the PFL transfer window closes in mid-February.
"The management of the team is currently in the process of searching for new teams for our players. These amazing athletes and people deserve to continue plying their trade, and we will do all in our power to find them new clubs."
In July 2017, Younghusband brothers Phil and James transferred to Davao Aguilas FC after 6 years of playing for the club.
In 2011, Meralco took over the club that was originally founded as the Loyola Agila FC, changing its name to Loyola Meralco Sparks FC. The club's first major success was winning the United Football League (UFL) Cup in 2013. A year later, Loyola Meralco Sparks won the PFF National Men's Club Championship.
In the inaugural season of the PFL, FC Meralco finished with the best record and secured the first seed heading into the PFL Finals Series. The club lost 3-2 aggregate to Global Cebu FC on a home and away semi-finals format.
If PFL champions Ceres-Negros FC qualifies for the 2018 AFC Champions League, Meralco would have secured their first AFC Cup berth as a result of their bronze medal finish in the 2017 PFL. – Rappler.com
https://www.rappler.com/sports/by-sport/football/193179-fc-meralco-manila-cease-operations-ph-football
Without the YH brothers, they might have difficulty getting in new investors without a clear marketable face in the team.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad news for Philippine football :(
ReplyDeleteWlang fan based na marami sa metro manila Kaya ticket sales is down and investors don't take teams without many paying fans. Plus the marketing style of PFF is a disgraced. President Araneta should step down and give it to more business oriented and football lover candidate.
ReplyDeleteboth marketing style of PFF AND MERALCO
Deletemvp deserves to a punched
ReplyDeletemvp deserves to a punched
ReplyDeleteSoon more teams will follow suit. Goodbye Philippine football. This is karma from McMenemy sacking.
ReplyDeletehilig kc sa mga fil ams yan tuloy
ReplyDeletethe foreign born pinoys are the main reason for the revival of football in the country. whether people like it or not, the lack of them will also be the downfall of football in the country.
DeleteLol it fell coz they dont have locals to bank on
DeleteHindi yun ang dahilan. Incompetence yan ng clubs hindi nila alam paano mainvolve sa local community.
DeleteThat is just some anonymous idiot commenting without thinking that filipino football is all about fil-foreigners
DeleteCan’t even differentiate national team from club team
something is telling me someone was duped by "the surveys."
ReplyDelete