The historical absence of a continuously operating national league and a multi-division football system has made it difficult to truly determine and recognize the highest level tournament in the Philippines. The Philippine Football Federation, the governing body of football in the Philippines, has held men's national championship tournaments in various forms since 1911. The winners of these tournaments are therefore considered the de facto football champions of the Philippines. The latest of these national competitions is the Philippines Football League, which began its inaugural season in 2017.
Given the complex history of football in the Philippines, this article takes into account all notable "national" football competitions organized by the Philippine Football Federation. Also included is the National Capital Region-based United Football League and the PFF Women's League.
Philippine Football Federation competitions National championship (1911–present) Various tournaments and leagues have been directly organized by the Philippine Football Federation, such as the Philippine Football League, the Manila Premier Football League (MPFL), the P-League, the National Men's Open Championship, the National Men's Club Championship and currently the Philippines Football League. The majority of these leagues were often short-lived, and thus do not have a champions list readily available. The champions of these tournaments are lumped together in the following tables as "national champions".
+ National champions Season Champions From 1911 All Manila Manila 1912 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1913 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1914 Manila Nomads Parañaque 1915 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1916 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1917 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1918 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1919 No tournament 1920 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1921 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1922 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1923 Ferencvárosi TC Hungary 1924 Cantabria F.C. Spain 1925 International Manila 1926 Ateneo F.C. Manila 1927 Bohemian Sporting Club Manila 1928 San Beda Athletic Club Manila 1929 Peña Iberica Spain 1930 San Beda Athletic Club Manila 1931 San Beda Athletic Club Manila 1932 San Beda Athletic Club Manila 1933 San Beda Athletic Club Manila 1934 University of Santo Tomas Manila 1935 Malaya Command Singapore No tournament from 1936 to 1966 1967 Manila Lions Manila 1968 Meralco Reddy Kilowatts Quezon City 1969 No tournament 1970–71 Dragons Manila 1972 Meralco Reddy Kilowatts Quezon City No tournament from 1973 to 1977 1978–79 San Miguel Corporation Mandaluyong 1979 Barotac Nuevo F.C. Iloilo 1980 San Miguel Corporation Mandaluyong 1980–81 CDCP Manila 1981–82 Philippine Navy Manila 1982–83 Philippine Air Force Manila 1983–84 San Miguel Corporation Mandaluyong 1985 Philippine Air Force Manila 1986 No tournament 1987 Dumaguete F.C. Dumaguete 1988 M. Lhuillier Jewelers F.C. Cebu City 1989 Philippine Air Force Manila 1990 Bacolod F.C. Bacolod 1991 Philippine Navy Manila 1992 Philippine Army Manila 1993 Davao City F.C. Davao City 1994 Pasay Pasay 1995 Makati Makati 1996 No tournament 1997 Philippine Air Force Manila 1998 National Capital Region-South NCR 1999 National Capital Region-B NCR 2000 National Capital Region-South NCR 2001 Philippine Army Manila 2002 Negros Occidental F.A. Negros Occidental 2003 Kaya Makati 2004 National Capital Region NCR 2005 National Capital Region NCR 2006 Negros Occidental F.A. Negros Occidental 2007 National Capital Region NCR 2008Tournament not finished No tournament from 2009 to 2010 2011 Teknika Tacloban 2012–13 Ceres Bacolod 2013–14 Ceres Bacolod 2014–15 Loyola Meralco Sparks Quezon City 2016 No tournament 2017 Ceres–Negros Bacolod 2018 Ceres–Negros Bacolod 2019 Ceres–Negros Bacolod 2020 United City Capas 2021 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines 2022–23 Kaya–Iloilo Iloilo City 2024 Kaya–Iloilo Iloilo City 2024–25 Kaya–Iloilo Iloilo City 2025–26 Manila Digger Taguig
Philippine Football League (1995)
First attempt of the Philippine Football League. Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 1995 Makati No playoffs Lipa-Pasay
Manila Premier Football League (1997) Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 1997 Philippine Air Force Philippine Army
P-League (1998–2000)
Second attempt of the Philippine Football League. Renamed as the P-League in 1998. Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 1998 National Capital Region-South 3–1 Negros Occidental F.A. 1999 National Capital Region-B Davao 2000 National Capital Region-South 3–1 Negros Occidental F.A.
National Men's Open Championship (2005–2007) Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 2005 National Capital Region F.A. 0–0Penalties: 4–3 Negros Occidental F.A. 2006 Negros Occidental F.A. 2–1 National Capital Region F.A. 2007 National Capital Region F.A. 2–1 Negros Occidental F.A.
Filipino Premier League (2008) The Filipino Premier League was planned to be held in three regional tournaments; one for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and culminate with the Filipino Premier League National Championships to be held in late 2009. However, the Visayas and Mindanao regional tournaments that was planned for the first half of 2009 was canceled, as well as the subsequent national championship. Thus, the Luzon tournament winner, Philippine Army, is not considered a "national champion". Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 2008 Philippine Army 2–0 Giligan's F.C.
National Men's Club Championship (2011–2015) Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 2011 Teknika F.C. 3–00–2Aggregate: 3–2 Smart–San Beda F.C. 2012–13 Ceres F.C. 1–0 PSG F.C. 2013–14 Ceres F.C. 2–11–0Aggregate: 3–1 Global F.C. 2014–15 Loyola Meralco Sparks F.C. 2–0 Global F.C.
Philippines Football League (2017–present) Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 2017 Ceres–Negros 4–1 Global Cebu 2018 Ceres–Negros No playoffs Kaya–Iloilo 2019 Ceres–Negros No playoffs Kaya–Iloilo 2020 United City No playoffs Kaya–Iloilo 2021 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines 2022–23 Kaya–Iloilo No playoffs Dynamic Herb Cebu 2024 Kaya–Iloilo No playoffs Dynamic Herb Cebu 2024–25 Kaya–Iloilo No playoffs Manila Digger 2025–26 Manila Digger No playoffs One Taguig
Performance by club Only Philippine clubs are listed in the table.
Club Winners Winning seasons Bohemian Sporting Club 10 1912, 1913, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1927 National Capital Region F.A. 6 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007 United City 6 2012–13, 2013–14, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 San Beda Athletic Club 5 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933 Philippine Air Force 4 1982–83, 1985, 1989, 1997 Kaya–Iloilo 4 2003, 2022–23, 2024, 2024–25 San Miguel Corporation 3 1978–79, 1980, 1983–84 Meralco Reddy Kilowatts 2 1968, 1972 Philippine Navy 2 1981–82, 1991 Philippine Army 2 1992, 2001 Negros Occidental F.A. 2 2002, 2006 All Manila 1 1911 Manila Nomads 1 1914 International 1 1925 Ateneo F.C. 1 1926 University of Santo Tomas 1 1934 Manila Lions 1 1967 Dragons 1 1970–71 Barotac Nuevo F.C. 1 1979 CDCP 1 1980–81 Dumaguete F.C. 1 1987 M. Lhuillier Jewelers F.C. 1 1988 Bacolod F.C. 1 1990 Davao City F.C. 1 1993 Pasay 1 1994 Makati 1 1995 Global F.C. 1 2011 Loyola F.C. 1 2014–15 Manila Digger 1 2025–26
Women's competitions Philippine Ladies' Football National League (1981) Season Champions Score/s Runners-up1981 University of the Philippines No playoffs Philippine Air Force PFF National Women's Open Football Championship Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 2004 Davao F.A. No information(won by penalties) National Capital Region F.A. 2005 Davao F.A. 5–0 Cebu F.A. 2006 National Capital Region F.A. 3–1 Negros Oriental F.A.
PFF Women's League (2016–present) Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 2016–17 De La Salle University No playoffs University of Santo Tomas 2018 De La Salle University No playoffs University of Santo Tomas 2019–20 De La Salle University No playoffs Far Eastern University 2020 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines 2021 2023 Kaya–Iloilo 1–0 Manila Digger 2025 Kaya–Iloilo No playoffs Stallion Laguna
Other competitions Manila Football League (1930–1967) The Philippine Football Federation did not hold a national tournament from 1936 to 1966. Only the Manila Football League was organized. This league began in 1930 and was restricted to clubs from the Manila metropolitan area. The winners of the Manila Football League are not considered "national champions". Its final competition was in 1967.
+ Manila Football League Season Champions From 1930 De la Salle College Manila No tournament from 1931 to 1935 1936 De la Salle College Manila 1937 De la Salle College Manila 1938 De la Salle Football Club Manila 1939 YCO Athletic Club Manila 1940 YCO Athletic Club Manila 1941 YCO Athletic Club Manila No tournament from 1942 to 1946 1947 Turba Salvaje Manila 1948 Turba Salvaje Manila 1949 Turba Salvaje Manila 1950 No tournament 1951 San Miguel Brewery Manila 1952 Turba Salvaje Manila 1953 IL-FGU (Insurance Life Fidelity Guaranty Underwriters) Manila 1954 YCO Athletic Club Manila 1955 Manila Lions Manila 1956 Manila Lions Manila 1957 Manila Lions Manila 1958 Manila Lions Manila 1959 Manila Lions Manila 1960 Manila Lions Manila 1961 Manila Lions Manila Not known from 1962 to 1965 1966 Philippine Navy Manila 1967 Electron Manila
United Football League (2009–2016) The United Football League Division 1 was based in the National Capital Region of the Philippines and established as a "premier league" in 2009. The league was a round-robin format and also had a second division. The winners listed below do not include the winners of the UFL Cup, a knockout-tournament which allowed teams to participate regardless of their division. In a season, the cup competition was held first from mid-October to mid-December, followed by the league competition from January to June of the following year. The winners of the United Football League are not considered "national champions".
YearChampionsRunners-upThird placeLeading goalscorer Goals2010Philippine Air ForceKayaUnion Izzo Elhabbib (Kaya)142011Philippine Air ForceGlobalPhilippine Army Izzo Elhabbib (Global)72012GlobalKayaLoyola Phil Younghusband (Loyola)232013StallionGlobalLoyola Rufo Sánchez (Stallion)182014GlobalLoyolaKaya Mark Hartmann (Global)272015CeresGlobalLoyola Adrián Gallardo (Ceres)182016GlobalCeresLoyola30
Philippines Football League Finals Series (2017, 2024–25) The Finals Series has been a separate competition from the PFL regular season and features the top 4 teams in the league table. It is held after the conclusion of the season. Season Champions Score/s Runners-up2017 Same as league champions (Finals Series part of league proper)2018–2024 Not held2024–25 Dynamic Herb Cebu 1–0 Manila Digger
PFF U16 National Boys' Championship (2026–present) Season Champions Score/s Runners-up 2026 National Capital Region F.A. 4–1 Iloilo-Guimaras R.F.A References
General