PH football club Meralco Manila ceases operations

Beatrice Go

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

PH football club Meralco Manila ceases operations

Icko de Guzman

Team leaders including Azkal Curt Dizon, former azkals Simon Greatwich and Daniel Gadia will be seeking new teams as FC Meralco closes down

MANILA, Philippines – FC Meralco Manila announced on the evening of Monday, January 8, that they will not be participating in the second season of the Philippines Football League (PFL) as the team will officially be folding up. 

 

 

Circumstances beyond our control have made it difficult for FC Meralco Manila to continue. The board and management of the Sparks have tried to arrange for new investors that would keep the organization running, but those efforts have sadly fallen short,” read the statement.

Announcements regarding the club’s Youth Academy will be made soon according to the same statement.

Team leaders including Azkal Curt Dizon, former Azkals Simon Greatwich and Daniel Gadia will be seeking new teams as Meralco’s management is currently helping their players find new clubs ideally before the PFL transfer window closes in mid-February. 

The management of the team is currently in the process of searching for new teams for our players. These amazing athletes and people deserve to continue plying their trade, and we will do all in our power to find them new clubs.” 

In July 2017, Younghusband brothers Phil and James transferred to Davao Aguilas FC after 6 years of playing for the club. 

In 2011, Meralco took over the club that was originally founded as the Loyola Agila FC, changing its name to Loyola Meralco Sparks FC. The club’s first major success was winning the United Football League (UFL) Cup in 2013. A year later, Loyola Meralco Sparks won the PFF National Men’s Club Championship. 

In the inaugural season of the PFL, FC Meralco finished with the best record and secured the first seed heading into the PFL Finals Series. The club lost 3-2 aggregate to Global Cebu FC on a home and away semi-finals format.

If PFL champions Ceres-Negros FC qualifies for the 2018 AFC Champions League, Meralco would have secured their first AFC Cup berth as a result of their bronze medal finish in the 2017 PFL. – Rappler.com

 

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Clothing, Apparel, Person

author

Beatrice Go

More commonly known as Bee, Beatrice Go is a multimedia sports reporter for Rappler, who covers Philippine sports governance, national teams, football, and the UAAP. Stay tuned for her news and features on Philippine sports and videos like the Rappler Athlete’s Corner and Rappler Sports Timeout.