Loyola Football Club is a Filipino

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

. The club has won one

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 ...

and one

PFF National Men's Club Championship The Philippine Football Federation National Men's Club Championship was an annual football competition organized by the Philippine Football Federation and contested by Filipino clubs. It lasted for four seasons from 2011 to 2014–15. It was ...

. Founded as Loyola Agila Football Club in 2006, the club changed its name to Loyola Meralco Sparks in 2011 after it was acquired by

Meralco The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 munic ...

and the MVP Sports Foundation, both owned by multimillionaire

Manny V. Pangilinan Manuel Velez Pangilinan, (born July 14, 1946), also known by his initials MVP, is a Filipino businessman and sports patron. He is the managing director and CEO of First Pacific Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based investment management and hol ...

. The club was a founding member of the United Football League (UFL)—the de facto top-level league of Philippine football back then. They played in the UFL throughout its existence from 2010 to 2016. In 2017, the club changed its name to FC Meralco Manila upon joining the

Philippines Football League The Philippines Football League, commonly known as PFL, is a Filipino professional football league sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It is the Philippines' highest level of men's club football, supplanting the United Footb ...

(PFL), the official top flight of Philippine football.

Rizal Memorial Stadium The Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium (simply known as the Rizal Memorial Stadium; officially the Simeon Toribio Track Stadium) is the main stadium of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila, Philippines. It served as the main stadi ...

then became the club's home ground. In the 2017 PFL, the club finished at the top of the league table but ended up in third place after the playoffs. In January 2018, the club ceased its participation in the PFL due to the lack of investors. The club was then renamed Loyola Football Club, though only their youth teams and academy remain operational.

History

Loyola Agila FC (2006–2011)

The club was founded in 2006 as Loyola Agila Football Club by former student footballers of

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...

. The team is named after

St. Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...

, the university's patron saint, while ''Agila'' is Tagalog for "eagle" (the university's sports teams are called the

Ateneo Blue Eagles The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the collegiate varsity teams of the Ateneo de Manila University that play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere collegiate league in the Philippines. The collegiate women's v ...

2008 season

Since its foundation, Loyola Agila has been actively participating in local semi-professional club tournaments; the most notable is the Lotto Titans Football Cup.

2009 season

The tournament was later changed to the Republic Cup, expanding the tournament to seven clubs from the previous five. In their opening matches, Loyola Agila defeated Titans FC 2–0, while their match against Superfriends FC ended in a 0–0 draw. Loyola Agila ended the tournament with a 3–2–2 record, finishing 4th overall.

2010 season

Loyola was one of the teams that joined the first season of the UFL which they finished in fourth place. The team was then sponsored by ATR Kim-Eng by the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

season, which they finished 5th place under their team captain Patrick Ozaeta. Loyola finished as runners-up in the 2010 Rexona-Republic Cup after losing 4–1 to Caliraya FC in the final.

Loyola Meralco Sparks FC (2011–2016)

2011 season

Straight from the 2011 National Club Championships, the brothers

Phil Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root te ...

and

James Younghusband James Joseph Younghusband (born 4 September 1986) is a former professional footballer who played mostly as a right midfielder and sometimes as a forward. Born in Surrey, England to an English father and Filipino mother, Younghusband played fo ...

led the new signed players of the Sparks in early September 2011, along with brothers Darren,

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

and

Mark Hartmann Mark Andrew Calibjo Hartmann (born January 20, 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or an attacking midfielder for Thai League 2 club Nakhon Si United and the Philippines national team. Club career As a youngster, Hart ...

. The team was eventually taken over by

and the MVP Sports Foundation which is owned by

Manuel V. Pangilinan Manuel Velez Pangilinan, (born July 14, 1946), also known by his initials MVP, is a Filipino businessman and sports patron. He is the managing director and CEO of First Pacific Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based investment management and ho ...

. The Loyola Sparks had a successful campaign in the

2011 UFL Cup The 2011 United Football Cup was the third edition of the United Football Cup that ran from mid-October to mid-December 2011. This edition consisted of 28 teams which were separated into seven groups with the top two teams of the group advancin ...

, but eventually lost to the

Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) ( tgl, Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas, , Army of the Air of the Philippines) ( es, Ejército Aérea del Filipinas, , Ejército de la Aérea de la Filipinas) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forc ...

2–0 in the finals.

2012 season

The Sparks started their 2012 United Football League campaign on a high note, topping all clubs at the end of the first round of competition. However, the club ended its league run in third place after a 1-all draw against eventual league champions

Global FC Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * Global (Paul van Dyk album), ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * Global (Bunji Garlin album), ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * Global (Humanoid album), ''Gl ...

. After securing first place in the first round, the club was invited to play in the

2012 Singapore Cup The 2012 Singapore Cup (known as the RHB Singapore Cup for sponsorship reasons) starts in May 2012. It is the 15th staging of the annual Singapore Cup tournament. 11 S.League clubs and 4 invited foreign teams play in this edition. The cup was a ...

. In the preliminary round on 18 May 2012, they played

Geylang United FC Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 with the purpose of building a s ...

, where they won 2–1 in added extra time, advancing them to the two-legged quarter-finals. They faced Burmese club Kanbawza in early July wherein they defeated them 5–3 on aggregate after a 3–1 win and a 2–2 draw in both legs. They faced

Tampines Rovers FC Tampines Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singapore football league system. Founded in 1945, the club have won the national league c ...

in a two-legged semi-finals and lost 5–0 on aggregate. They lost the third-place match 4–0 to

Gombak United Gombak United Football Club was a professional football club which competed in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was based in Bukit Gombak. During the early years of the S. League, Gombak United played their ho ...

. The club also participated in the

2012 UFL Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

between September 15 to December 17, 2012. The club topped Group C, with

Pachanga Pachanga is a genre of music which is described as a mixture of son montuno and merengue and has an accompanying signature style of dance. This type of music has a festive, lively style and is marked by jocular, mischievous lyrics. Pachanga o ...

coming in a close second, to advance to the semi-finals of the cup. However, the team was eventually defeated by Global ending their run.

2013 season

In the 2013 season, the club qualified for the

2013 PFF National Men's Club Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

alongside other UFL clubs. The club played against Flame United FC in the knock-out stage. However, they were eliminated by fellow Division 1 UFL side

Kaya Kaya may refer to: People *Kaya (given name) *Kaya (surname) Places *Kaya, Burkina Faso, a town in Burkina Faso, capital of the department *Kaya Airport, serving the town * Kaya Department, a department or commune of Sanmatenga Province in centr ...

in the quarterfinals. They've played with

Harimau Muda B Harimau Muda B was the club name for the former Malaysia Under-21 National Football Team and was managed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team played as a club under the name Harimau Muda B which took part in Malaysia Premi ...

in the 2013 Singapore Cup opening match which ended in favor of the club. However, they only reach the quarterfinal round when they bowed out to

Tanjong Pagar United Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League from 1996 to 2004, and from 2011 to 2014. The club with ...

in a 5–4 aggregate. After the elimination at the Singapore Cup, the team marked their fifth appearance at the

2013 UFL Cup The 2013 United Football League Cup was the fifth edition of the United Football League Cup. The competition started on October 12 and finished on December 5, 2013. Stallion were the defending champions. The UFL Cup opens the new season with th ...

. They started their campaign at the group stages by beating Dolphins United in double digits. They also faced

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

with a huge 9–0 victory. Last 30 October 2013, Loyola set a record with the most goals scored in the United Football League, they faced Blue Guards at the Emperador Stadium. Meralco defeated them by a margin of 33 points. It is regarded as the most lopsided win in the history of the United Football League (UFL) since it began a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

league in 2009. Because of that

Phil Younghusband Philip James Younghusband Jr. (born 4 August 1987) is a former professional footballer who played mostly as a striker and sometimes as a midfielder. Younghusband is best known for his performances with the Philippines national team, playing ...

currently leads the top scorer of the cup at 18 goals and the team advances to the

knockout stages A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

of the tournament.

2014 season

During the 2014 season, Loyola hired former

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 ...

national team head coach Simon McMenemy as the club's new head coach, replacing Vincent Santos. The sparks ended their 2014 season as runners-up in the

2014 United Football League The 2014 United Football League was the fifth season of the UFL since its establishment as a semi-professional league in 2009. The UFL League kicked off on Saturday, January 11 with 9 teams in Division I and 12 teams in Division II. Stallion was ...

, finishing 13 points behind eventual champions

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

and 3 points ahead

2015 season

In February 2015, Loyola won their first national title after beating

2–0 in the

2014–15 PFF National Men's Club Championship The 2014–15 PFF National Men's Club Championship (also known as 2014–15 PFF–Smart National Club Championship) was the 4th season of the PFF National Men's Club Championship, a Filipino association football competition organized by the Phil ...

final. The sparks ended their 2015 season as third placers in the

2015 United Football League The 2015 United Football League was the sixth season of the UFL since its establishment as a semi-professional league in 2009. Ten teams competed in UFL Division 1 while seven teams were in Division 2. Global were the defending champions, having w ...

, finishing 8 points behind eventual champions

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...

, lost to

in goal difference and 4 points ahead Kaya.

2016 season

The sparks ended their 2016 season once again as third placers in the 2016 United Football League, finishing 6 points behind eventual champions

, lost to

in goal difference.

FC Meralco Manila (2017–2018)

After the announcement of the formation of the

, which was set to replace the United Football League as the country's top-tier football league, Loyola, along with 7 other UFL clubs, expressed their desire to enter the newly-founded league. On the PFL's launching on April 21, 2017, it was confirmed that the team changed their name to FC Meralco Manila and assigned

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

as their home city. The team designated the

as their home venue. On January 8, 2018, the club announced that they have ceased their participation in the league. The management stated that they attempted to find investors to keep the club's league participation possible but were unable to do so.

Loyola FC (2018–)

In mid-January 2018, the club now called "Loyola Football Club" announced that their youth academy would continue operations. Their youth teams will continue their participation in the Youth Football League and they have entered a youth squad at the 7s Football League. In February 2021, it was reported that the club is applying for a return to the

. In 2022, Loyola sent their youth teams to participate in the La Liga Youth Tournament in Penang, Malaysia.

Crest

The club's crest is a variation of the

seal, from which the club traces its roots. However, the seal's origin is the Shield of Oñaz-Loyola, a symbol of St. Ignatius family's Oñaz lineage. The crest's colors are gold, maroon, and blue – representing nobility, strength, and loyalty respectively. The left side of the crest consists of seven maroon bars going diagonally from the upper left to the lower right on a gold field. The right side of the crest features a pair of rampant

gray wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

flanking each side of a cooking pot. The "Loyola" name was a contraction of the words ''Lobo y Olla'' which literally meant "wolf and pot" in Spanish. The wolves are a symbol of nobility, and represents the players and fans of the club. In 2017, the gray wolves was replaced by a

sea-lion In heraldry, the term sea-lion (sometimes called a morse) refers to a legendary creature that has the head and upper body of a lion, but with webbed forelimbs and a fish tail. These occur most frequently as supporters, but also occur as crests a ...

which is a representation of

Support

Early years

Loyola being a national team player-laden club, was known for having a fanbase mainly composed of fangirls who were avid supporters of the

Philippine Azkals The Philippines national football team (Filipino language, Filipino/ tl, Pambansang koponan ng futbol ng Pilipinas, lit=) represents the Philippines in international association football, football, governed by the Philippine Football Federatio ...

. During the 2011–2012 season, the ''SparkSquad'', also known as the ''Sparklers'', was the official supporters group of Loyola. Years later, a new supporter group was formed and named as ''Sparks Army Wolves''.

Ultras

The club's first

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

group was established during the inaugural season of the

by Ultras Filipinas members, who were ardent Loyola supporters. The group was originally named as ''Ultras Loyola'' but was later changed to ''Frente Naranja'' (Spanish for ''Orange Front'') with orange serving as the club's primary color after being taken over by Meralco and the MVP Sports Foundation. In 2018, after the cessation of the club's first team, Frente Naranja changed their name to ''Frente 17''. The group continued supporting the youth teams of the club in their matches in Youth Football League and their de-facto senior team in the

7's Football League The 7's Football League (7s FL), also known as the AIA 7's Football League due to sponsorship with insurance company AIA Philippines, is a seven-a-side football league in the Philippines. Established in 2018, the league already had four seasons. ...

second division.

Club rivalries

Loyola had club rivalries with a number of teams in the United Football League/

Rivalry with Kaya

Since 2011, Loyola held a rivalry with

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

neighbors

, with Loyola being based 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 ...

and Kaya being based in

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

. The rivalry began in the

semi-finals clash between the two teams, in which Kaya went up to lead the game by 3–0 only to lose by 4–5 after an enthralling comeback from the Sparks. Since then, the UFL has had some of its highest attendance numbers whenever there are match-ups between the two teams, making the rivalry the most famous derby in Philippine club football. This rivalry continued into the first season of the newly founded

Philippine Football League The Philippines Football League, commonly known as PFL, is a Filipino professional football league sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It is the Philippines' highest level of men's club football, supplanting the United Foot ...

. However, after the first season of the PFL concluded, Meralco (Loyola) then decided to pull out of the league and Kaya moving to

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of t ...

, effectively ending the rivalry between the two clubs.

Rivalry with Philippine Air Force

The rivalry with

started when Air Force defeated the national team player-laden Loyola 2–0 during the

final, Edmundo Mercado Jr., adjudged the best goalkeeper of the tournament, defiantly and somewhat controversially proclaimed his side as "true Filipinos". The rivalry continued for years until Air Force rapidly declined and withdrew its participation in the UFL in 2015, this rivalry has mostly died out.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

*¹Major shirt sponsor ''(names located at the front of the shirt)''. *²Secondary sponsor ''(names mostly located at the back of the shirt)''.

Players

Personnel

Head coaches

Honors

Domestic

League

* United Football League Division 1 **''Runners-up'':

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Cup

**Winners: 2014–15 *

**Winners:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

** ''Runners-up'':

Minor tournaments

*Rexona-Republic Cup ** ''Runners-up'': 2010 *Stallions FC Invitational Cup ** ''Runners-up'': 2017

Records

Domestic tournament record

International invitational tournament record

Results

References

{{Ateneo de Manila University F.C. Meralco Manila Loyola Loyola Association football clubs established in 2006 2006 establishments in the Philippines Sports teams in Metro Manila