Pakistan Air Force Football Club, abbreviated as PAF FC, serves as the

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 ...

section of

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

. The club used to compete in the National Football Championship and

Pakistan Premier League The Pakistan Premier League (PPL; ) is a Pakistani semi-professional league for men's football clubs. The top tier of the Pakistan football league system, the PPL operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the PFFL B Division. The ...

. It regularly participates in the

PFF National Challenge Cup The PFF National Challenge Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Pakistani football within the Pakistan football league system. It is organized by and named after the Pakistan Football Federation. Initially named as ...

History

Early years

In the 1950s, Pakistan Air Force played the Inter-Services Football Championship at the domestic level in Pakistan. In August 1960, PAF won the fifth Ismail Gold Shield Football Tournament, which featured guest teams from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. In 1961, PAF played a friendly game against the Iranian club Shahin F.C., with PAF international forward Faqir Hussain scoring all 4 goals for his team in a match which ended in a 6–4 defeat. In 1963, the club were runners-up in the Mohammad Ali Bogra Shield, losing 1–3 to

Victoria SC Victoria Sporting Club (), commonly known as Victoria SC, is a football club based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in 1903, the club competes in the Dhaka Second Division Football League, Dhaka Second Division League, the fourth tier of football i ...

in the final held in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. In the 1981 National Football Championship, it finished as runner-up, losing to Pakistan Airlines in the final. Their first national title came in 1986, defeating Pakistan Airlines in the final of the National Football Championship. At the

1987 Asian Club Championship The 1987 Asian Club Championship was the 7th edition of the annual Asian club football competition hosted by Asian Football Confederation. Several Asian clubs started the qualifying round in Fall of 1987. Yomiuri FC (Japan) became the second Ja ...

qualifying round in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

from 8 till 16 June 1987, the team was placed in a group stage with winning sides from

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. India's

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

outplayed PAF 4–1. With 3–0 lead at interval, the margin widened by another goal in the second half. PAF's only goal came in the second half from Abdul Rahman. Nepal's Manag Marshyangdi trounced PAF 4–1 . The Nepalese Club led 1–0 at half time. Scorers for Nepal were the captain Mani Shah with two goals, and one each by Krishna Thapa and

Ganesh Thapa Ganesh Thapa () is a retired international football player and a former president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). He was formerly the president of the South Asian Football Federation and the vice president of Asian Football Confeder ...

. The lone goal for PAF was scored by Abdul Shakoor. The Iraqi Club Al-Rasheed defeated PAF by 10–0 . This was the third defeat in a row for the PAF, thus the team failed to qualify for the final round of the Asian Clubs Championship.

Pakistan Premier League era: 2008–2019

They were promoted to the

from the

PFF League The Pakistan Football Federation League B Division (; abbreviated: PFFL) is a Pakistani professional league for men's football departments and clubs which are in the Pakistan football league system, and is the country's second-tier competition. ...

after finishing second to Baloch Nushki in the 2007–08 season. At the end of 2013 after the appointment of coach Shahzad Anwar, Air Force ended up in fourth position in the

2013–14 Pakistan Premier League The 2013–14 Pakistan Premier League was the 10th season of the Pakistan Premier League and the 59th season of Pakistan domestic football. The league began on 1 September 2013 and ended on 8 February 2014. Khan Research Laboratories ended up winn ...

season, and ended up champions in the

2014 National Football Challenge Cup The 2014 National Football Challenge Cup was the 24th season of domestic cup tournament in Pakistani football. It was sponsored by National Bank of Pakistan, and known as NBP National Football Challenge Cup. 12 teams participated in the tournam ...

. It won the

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

, after defeating

WAPDA The Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority (), colloquially known as WAPDA, is a Pakistani government-owned public utility agency maintaining hydropower and water in Pakistan, although it does not manage thermal power plants. WAPDA includes ...

2–1 in the finals of 2018 National Challenge Cup.

2023–present

Following the domestic football revamp in the country in 2023, departmental clubs including Air Force remained competing in the

Honours

Domestic

* National Football Championship ** Winners (1): 1986 *

** Winners (2):

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Notable players

References

External links

Pakistan Air Force FC
at Global Sports Archive Pakistan Air Force Military association football clubs in Pakistan Football in Islamabad {{Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup