Philippine Army Football Club is a

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 the

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...

. It was founded in 1960 through the effort of the Special Services Unit that promotes sports and physical fitness within the army. The club last played 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 ...

History

In 2003, the club participated in the inaugural edition of

ASEAN Club Championship The ASEAN Club Championship or ACC, also known as the Shopee Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an international club football competition organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) between domestic champion clubs. The competition is backed by ...

held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, where they finished the tournament with 2 losses playing against Indian club,

Kingfisher East Bengal East Bengal Football Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of the Indian football league system. The clu ...

and Thailand club,

BEC Tero Sasana Police Tero Football Club (), formerly known as BEC-Tero Sasana, is a Thai professional football club based in Lak Si, Bangkok. The club finished runners-up in the inaugural AFC Champions League competition in 2003. BEC-Tero Sasana Football Club ...

. Philippine Army participated in the sole season of the

Filipino Premier League The Filipino Premier League was the top-level football league of the Philippines, operating under the country's football governing body, the Philippine Football Federation. The league was announced on August 2, 2008, and started on September 21, 2 ...

in 2008, winning over Giligans in the league final match.

United Football League

Philippine Army played in the now-defunct United Football League, which was the ''de facto'' top-tier league in the Philippines. Initially the club was among the top teams in the league, finishing third in the 2011 season. They finished 9th in the following two seasons in. The club avoided relegation by winning against Union Internacional Manila in the playoff.For the 2014 UFL season, Philippine Army had a temporary merger with General Trias International and the military squad was bolstered by

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n players. The move was done due to difficulties in scheduling the training of its players, enlisted

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

s often called into duty. The team played as Philippine Army GTI for that season. At the latter part of the 2015 season, Philippine Army was disqualified from the United Football League including any related competitions.

Philippines Football League

Philippine Army announced return for the

2023 Copa Paulino Alcantara The 2023 Copa Paulino Alcantara was the fifth edition of the Copa Paulino Alcantara, the domestic football cup competition of the Philippines. The 2023 edition marks the second time that the cup includes non-PFL teams, with the first being the ...

. In 2024, They make their debut in the top-flight league, the

after confirming its participation in February 2024. Philippine Army played their first ever top-flight league match on 6 April 2024 in a 3–2 lost against Manila Diggers.

Players criteria

As a football club under the

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) () are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Philippine Army, Army, the Philippine Air Force, Air Force, and the Philippine Navy, Navy (including the P ...

like the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) () is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an estimated strength of 24,500 active service personnel, including the 10,300-strong Philippine Marine Corps. It operates 91 combat ...

and the

Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) () is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Initially formed as part of the Philippine Army as the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) in 1935, the PAAC eventually saw combat ...

. Philippine Army can only sign players who are also enlisted in the

. Though for the 2014 season the squad included non-Army enlistees with the temporary merger of the club with General Trias International. The club had players who has played for the Philippines national team such as Roel Gener, Nestorio Margarse, and Eduard Sacapaño.

Former players

* Lurix Araneta * Rey Saluria * Jesus Baron * Judy Saluria * Jeoffrey Lobaton * Wilson Dela Cruz * Billy Estrella * Roel Gener * Luisito Brillantes * Eduard Sacapaño

Honors

Domestic competitions

* Philippines National Championship :*Winners (2): 1992, 2001 * Filipino Premier League Luzon Tournament :*Winners (1):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

UFL Cup The United Football League Cup, commonly known as UFL Cup, was a Filipino association football competition. It was played on a multistage format that culminated in a knockout stage (single elimination). Clubs eligible to compete for the cup wer ...

:*''Runners-up (1):'' 2009 * Manila Premier Football League :* ''Runners-up (1):'' 1997

Records

;Key *Tms. = Number of teams *Pos. = Position in league *TBD = To be determined *DNQ = Did not qualify Note: Performances of the club indicated here was after the UFL Division 1 is created in 2009.

Continental record

References

External links

Philippine Army F.C. info
{{Filipino Premier League Football clubs in the Philippines Association football clubs established in 1960 1960 establishments in the Philippines Sports teams in Metro Manila

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Military sports clubs and teams in the Philippines

Football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...