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Copa Paulino Alcantara
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Copa Paulino Alcantara
The Copa Paulino Alcantara, also known as the PFL Cup, is a football tournament in the Philippines, organized by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It is contested by the clubs of the Philippines Football League (PFL), along with guest clubs. Participating clubs play in a round-robin group stage followed by a knockout phase and concluded by a final. Until 2023, winners would qualify for the following season's AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs preliminary round; failure to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage would have transferred them to the AFC Cup.
The cup's first edition was held in 2018. It was established as the country's domestic cup and is named after Paulino Alcántara, a Filipino-Spanish footballer who notably played in the 1910s–20s for FC Barcelona as well as the Philippines and Spain national teams.
The most successful club is Kaya–Iloilo with three titles, followed by United City with two. Kaya–Iloilo are the current champions, defeating the Davao Aguilas in the 2023 final. Kaya–Iloilo have also appeared in every final since the cup's inaugural edition.
Following the Philippines national team's best record so far in the 2010 AFF Championship, football in the Philippines experienced a renaissance. However, the country had no true national league nor a cup competition (the national cup competition was last held in 2007, to celebrate the Philippine Football Federation's centennial). To help address this issue, Smart Communications in January 2011, approached the PFF with an offer to finance a new local football competition. The proposed partnership was set to last 10 years, with Smart releasing ₱80 million in funds with the aim of providing more playing opportunities for skilled football players, and the eventual creation of a national league. Newly installed PFF president Mariano Araneta subsequently approved the proposal. In March 2011, the new tournament commenced under the name PFF–Smart National Men's Club Championship. However, the competition only lasted for four years, with the last edition being held in 2014–15.
After the PFF announced the creation of a new national league, the federation confirmed that a new domestic cup competition was also to be formed. The proposed competition was tentatively named as the PFL Cup, but was ultimately changed into "Copa Paulino Alcantara" in March 2018, in commemoration of the FC Barcelona legend Paulino Alcántara who also represented the Philippines national team. It was planned that the cup will be held simultaneously with the Philippines Football League (PFL) regular season. However, in the PFL's inaugural season in 2017, the cup was not played. Instead, a playoff for the top teams of the regular season, called the Finals Series, was held in its place. Ceres–Negros won the only edition of the Finals Series.
During the 2018 PFL season, the league announced in February that the cup competition will proceed, but instead of taking place in the middle of the regular season, it was set to be held after it.
On July 15, 2018 during the PFL Fans Day, it was announced that non-franchise clubs were eligible to join the Copa Paulino Alcantara, provided they satisfy the licensing requirements. However, no non-PFL club joined the inaugural edition. The first Copa Paulino Alcantara was held on September and October 2018. The six PFL clubs were divided into two groups that played each other in a double round-robin format. The top two teams from each group faced off in the single-elimination semi-finals, followed by the final. The winners then qualify for the following year's AFC Cup.
The first Copa Paulino Alcantara match took place on September 1, 2018 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Kaya–Iloilo defeated Global Cebu 4–0, wherein Robert Lopez Mendy scored the tournament's first-ever goal and hat-trick. In the final on October 27, Kaya–Iloilo defeated Davao Aguilas 1–0 in extra time through a last-minute goal by Jovin Bedic.
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Copa Paulino Alcantara
The Copa Paulino Alcantara, also known as the PFL Cup, is a football tournament in the Philippines, organized by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It is contested by the clubs of the Philippines Football League (PFL), along with guest clubs. Participating clubs play in a round-robin group stage followed by a knockout phase and concluded by a final. Until 2023, winners would qualify for the following season's AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs preliminary round; failure to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage would have transferred them to the AFC Cup.
The cup's first edition was held in 2018. It was established as the country's domestic cup and is named after Paulino Alcántara, a Filipino-Spanish footballer who notably played in the 1910s–20s for FC Barcelona as well as the Philippines and Spain national teams.
The most successful club is Kaya–Iloilo with three titles, followed by United City with two. Kaya–Iloilo are the current champions, defeating the Davao Aguilas in the 2023 final. Kaya–Iloilo have also appeared in every final since the cup's inaugural edition.
Following the Philippines national team's best record so far in the 2010 AFF Championship, football in the Philippines experienced a renaissance. However, the country had no true national league nor a cup competition (the national cup competition was last held in 2007, to celebrate the Philippine Football Federation's centennial). To help address this issue, Smart Communications in January 2011, approached the PFF with an offer to finance a new local football competition. The proposed partnership was set to last 10 years, with Smart releasing ₱80 million in funds with the aim of providing more playing opportunities for skilled football players, and the eventual creation of a national league. Newly installed PFF president Mariano Araneta subsequently approved the proposal. In March 2011, the new tournament commenced under the name PFF–Smart National Men's Club Championship. However, the competition only lasted for four years, with the last edition being held in 2014–15.
After the PFF announced the creation of a new national league, the federation confirmed that a new domestic cup competition was also to be formed. The proposed competition was tentatively named as the PFL Cup, but was ultimately changed into "Copa Paulino Alcantara" in March 2018, in commemoration of the FC Barcelona legend Paulino Alcántara who also represented the Philippines national team. It was planned that the cup will be held simultaneously with the Philippines Football League (PFL) regular season. However, in the PFL's inaugural season in 2017, the cup was not played. Instead, a playoff for the top teams of the regular season, called the Finals Series, was held in its place. Ceres–Negros won the only edition of the Finals Series.
During the 2018 PFL season, the league announced in February that the cup competition will proceed, but instead of taking place in the middle of the regular season, it was set to be held after it.
On July 15, 2018 during the PFL Fans Day, it was announced that non-franchise clubs were eligible to join the Copa Paulino Alcantara, provided they satisfy the licensing requirements. However, no non-PFL club joined the inaugural edition. The first Copa Paulino Alcantara was held on September and October 2018. The six PFL clubs were divided into two groups that played each other in a double round-robin format. The top two teams from each group faced off in the single-elimination semi-finals, followed by the final. The winners then qualify for the following year's AFC Cup.
The first Copa Paulino Alcantara match took place on September 1, 2018 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Kaya–Iloilo defeated Global Cebu 4–0, wherein Robert Lopez Mendy scored the tournament's first-ever goal and hat-trick. In the final on October 27, Kaya–Iloilo defeated Davao Aguilas 1–0 in extra time through a last-minute goal by Jovin Bedic.