The 2023 Ang Liga season was the nineteenth edition of
Ang Liga
Ang Liga () is an inter-collegiate football tournament based in the Philippines. It serves as a pre-season tourney for competing football varsity teams from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), UAAP and other similar collegiate le ...
, an inter-collegiate pre-season football tournament in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. This was the first season of Ang Liga under the sponsorship of Adidas. The season started on August 13, 2023, and concluded on November 4, 2023. The league's first division was contested by twelve teams, while each team played a minimum of 5 matches in total, the most since the 2019 season.
On July 24, the league announced that matches would be held at the new PALMS Arena in
Quezon City
Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
. However, due to issues with the field, all Division 1 matches were held at the
UP Diliman Football Field.
The league's return to an all-collegiate lineup of teams marked the end of its temporary admission of guest teams back in Season 18, where non-collegiate club teams participated due to a lack of entrants following the pandemic.
This season marked the first championship of the
Adamson Soaring Falcons and the first time that the
Ateneo Blue Eagles clinched a finals berth since 2016. The league partnered with the FPJ Panday Bayanihan foundation throughout the entirety of the season while Adidas was the title sponsor of the knockout round.
Participating teams
All collegiate squads from the previous season, with the exception of the
University of Makati, returned for the nineteenth edition of the league. This includes the
Ateneo de Manila University,
De La Salle University
De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...
,
De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde
De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde (Filipino: ''Dalubhasaan ng De La Salle San Benildo;'' French:'' Collège De La Salle de Sainte Benilde''), also known as Benilde and abbreviated DLS–CSB or simply CSB, is a private, Catholic research c ...
,
Far Eastern University
Far Eastern University (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pamantasan ng Malayong Silanganan''), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private non-sectarian Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Manila, Philippines ...
, and the
University of Batangas
The University of Batangas (UB; fil, Pamantasan ng Batangas), is a private university, basic and higher education institution located in Batangas City, Philippines. Founded in 1946 as ''Western Philippine College'', it is the oldest university a ...
.
Twelve teams entered the 2023 Ang Liga season's first division (collegiate). This includes seven teams from the
UAAP, three teams from the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
, one team from the
NCAA South
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
, and one unattached team. On the other hand, twelve teams also entered for the season's second division (high school and secondary teams).
Division I
Division II
Venues
In contrast to the previous season, which was held between
FEU Diliman
FEU Diliman, formerly known as FEU FERN College, is an educational institution at Sampaguita Avenue, Mapayapa Village, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1994 to commemorate the birth centennial of Dr. Nicanor B. Reyes Sr., founder an ...
and
DLSU Integrated School in Biñan, all first division matches were held at the
UP Diliman Football Pitch, the same stadium where the
UAAP Season 85
UAAP Season 85 was the 2022–23 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Season 85 theme is "Rise as One", and the season host was the Adamson University. With just seven events in Season 84, the colle ...
group stage matches were held. Fixtures were initially slated to be played at the newly opened PALMS Arena in Quezon City, but following issues with the pitch which resulted in the season opening date being pushed back, the venue remained unused for the rest of the season.
For the second division matches, the DLSU Biñan pitch was used in rotation with new venues around Metro Manila.
Division I
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Knock-out stage
Quarterfinals
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Semifinals
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Battle for Third
Finals
Final standing
Division II
Final standing
Awards
Individual awards
Team of the Tournament
Media
For the first time, the league inked a one-year deal with a broadcast partner, as all Division 1 matches were broadcast and livestreamed via
Smart Sports.
Meanwhile, Division 2 matches were sporadically streamed on the league's page.
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
s
*Patrick Maramara
*Paolo del Rosario
*Luis Licas
*Ivan Gayares
*Denis Lucindo
See also
*
UAAP Season 86
References
External links
*
{{2022–23 in Asian football (AFC)
2023 in Philippine football