Cebu Football Club (also known as Dynamic Herb Cebu Football Club or DH Cebu for sponsorship reasons) is a
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club based in
Cebu City
Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...
,
Cebu
Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...
. The club currently plays in the
Philippines Football League
The Philippines Football League (PFL) is a men's professional association football, football league in the Philippines. Sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and organized by Liga Futbol Inc., it is the country's Football in t ...
, the top-flight league of
football in the Philippines
Football in the Philippines is administered by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), the governing body of football in the country.
Football in the Philippines is a sport played at professional and amateur levels across the country. Foot ...
.
The club was founded in 2021. Affiliated with
Cebu Football Association, Cebu is the third professional club to represent its region, after
Cebu Queen City United which competed in
UFL Division 2
The United Football League Division 2, often referred to as UFL Division 2 or UFL 2, was the second-tier association football league in the Philippines. During its existence, it is the second-highest division of football in the Philippines after ...
, and
Global Cebu which competed in the Philippines Football League.
History
The club is owned by ''Dynamic Herb Sports Incorporated'', under the management of Ugur Tasci, a
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
* Something related to Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire
* The w ...
businessman who first arrived in the Philippines in 1994, together with his brother, Cem Tasci who developed Leylam Football Club that brought honors to Cebu in football tournaments, locally and abroad. Following the success of Leylam, Tasci formed a new club that would join the Philippines Football League. Leylam is considered as the predecessor of Cebu Football Club.
Philippines Football League
In 2021, it was reported that the club would change its name to Dynamic Herb Cebu and was applying for a license to be able to join the Philippines Football League as early as that season. On 31 July 2021, Dynamic Herb Cebu was granted a provisional license pending full compliance of requirements that would allow it to participate in the
2021 Philippines Football League
The 2021 Philippines Football League (known as The Philippines Football League brought to you by Qatar Airways for sponsorship reasons) was to be the fifth season of Philippines Football League (PFL), professional association football, football ...
season.
2021 season
Dynamic Herb Cebu's initial roster composed mostly of homegrown players from Leylam reinforced by players from other PFL clubs and collegiate teams. The club's provisional license was affirmed on 24 August 2021. The club was scheduled to debut in the 2021 PFL season, but the competition was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The club played its first competitive match on November 11, 2021, a 1–0 loss to
Stallion Laguna at the
2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara. Cebu qualified in the
2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara semi-finals as group runners-up. They lost to eventual champions
Kaya-Iloilo 1–0 in the semifinals. Cebu finished their 2021 season as fourth placers in the Copa Paulino Alcantara after losing to Stallion Laguna via penalty shootout.
2022 season
After securing a partnership with Turkish
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...
club
Hatayspor
Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...
, Cebu signed
Mehmet Kakil as the club's new head coach with Levent Öztürk as his assistant. They also signed former Hatayspor youth players
Mert Altinöz and
Arda Çinkir while
Nazim Özcan was signed on loan.
Cebu started their 2022 season by defeating
Stallion Laguna 2–0 in the
2022 Copa Paulino Alcantara, recording their first ever victory since the club's foundation. Cebu finished second in the table and captured a semi-finals berth for the second straight season. They lost to eventual champions
United City
United City is a group of businesses based within Greater Manchester, England, who supported proposals for congestion charging in Greater Manchester via the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund bid for £3 billion. The bid was rejec ...
1–0 in the semifinals. Cebu once again finished as fourth placers in the Copa Paulino Alcantara after losing to Stallion Laguna 2–1.
Cebu made their
Philippines Football League
The Philippines Football League (PFL) is a men's professional association football, football league in the Philippines. Sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and organized by Liga Futbol Inc., it is the country's Football in t ...
debut in a 3–0 defeat against
Kaya-Iloilo.
AFC Cup debut
Cebu finished
2022–23 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 be ...
season as runners-up thus seeing them qualified for their very first
2023–24 AFC Cup
The 2023–24 AFC Cup was the 20th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the final edition under the AFC Cup title, as the competition was revamped under the nam ...
group stage competition. Cebu was than drawn in Group F alongside Australian club,
Macarthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to:
Arts and media
* INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye''
* ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
* ' ...
, Cambodian league champions,
Phnom Penh Crown
Phnom Penh Crown Football Club (), commonly referred to as Crown or PPC, is a Cambodian professional football club based in Sangkat Toul Sangke II, Khan Russey Keo, Phnom Penh. The club competes in the Cambodian Premier League, the top flight ...
and Myanmar league champions,
Shan United. On 26 October 2023, Cebu recorded their first ever continental win against Shan United in a 1–0 win with
Ken Murayama scoring the only goal to give the club their first ever points in the AFC Cup.
Cebu then finished the
2024 Philippines Football League as runners-up which the club qualified for the
2024–25 AFC Champions League Two
The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two was the 21st edition of the Asia's second-tier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and first since it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League Two.
This was the fi ...
. Cebu was then place in Group H alongside South Korean giants
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Jeonbuk have won the K League a record nine times, including ...
, Malaysian club
Selangor
Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...
and Thailand club
Muangthong United
Muangthong United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Muang Thong Thani, Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi province. The club plays in the Thai League 1, the top-flight football league of Thailand. Muangthong United has pa ...
.
Stadium
Cebu plays its home games at the
Dynamic Herb Sports Complex
Dynamic Herb–Borromeo Sports Complex, simply known as Dynamic Herb Sports Complex, is a multi-purpose stadium best known for hosting association football, football matches. Located in Talisay, Cebu, the stadium is home to Cebu F.C., Dynamic He ...
in
Talisay. The sports complex has a stadium with 550 seating capacity, two
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
-standard football fields, and
indoor arena
An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
that accommodates several sporting events like
futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
,
badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...
, and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
. For the
AFC Cup
The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...
/AFC Champions League Two, Cebu has played its "home" games at the
Rizal Memorial Stadium
The Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium (simply known as the Rizal Memorial Stadium) is a stadium in Manila, Philippines. Part of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex which is designated by the National Historical Commission of the Philippin ...
in
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
.
Crest and colors
Cebu's crest colors are red, white, grey and black and features a
whale shark
The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter feeder, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known Extant taxon, extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of . The whale shark holds many records for ...
from
Oslob
Oslob, officially the Municipality of Oslob (; ), is a municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 29,264 people.
Geography
Oslob is bordered to the north by the town of Boljoon, to ...
, Cebu.
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
*
1Major shirt sponsor ''(names located at the front of the shirt)''.
*
2Secondary sponsor ''(names mostly located at the back of the shirt)''.
Affiliated clubs
''The following club is currently affiliated with Cebu:''
*
Hatayspor
Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...
(2022–''present'')
In January 2022, the club launched a partnership with Turkish
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...
club
Hatayspor
Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...
. The partnership with Hatayspor aims to develop both men's and women's team and the development of football academic programs for the youth academy. Also part of the agreement are the exchange of coaching staff and players, including those who are in the academy.
Players
Technical staff
Head coaches
Honors
League
*
Philippines Football League
The Philippines Football League (PFL) is a men's professional association football, football league in the Philippines. Sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and organized by Liga Futbol Inc., it is the country's Football in t ...
** ''Runners-up:''
2022–23
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
,
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
Cup
*
Philippines Football League Finals Series
** Winners:
2024–25
Records
Continental record
''All results (away, home and aggregate) list Cebu's goal tally first.''
Performance in AFC competitions
*
AFC Cup/AFC Champions League Two: 2 appearances
::
2023–24: Group Stage
::
2024–25: Group Stage
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Visayas Sports
Football clubs in the Philippines
Dynamic Herb Cebu
Association football clubs established in 2021
2021 establishments in the Philippines
Sports in Cebu City