Pakistan Air Force Football Club, abbreviated as PAF FC, serves as the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

section of Pakistan Air Force. The club used to compete in the National Football Championship and Pakistan Premier League. It regularly participates in the

PFF National Challenge Cup The PFF National Challenge Cup is an annual semi-professional knockout football competition in men's domestic Pakistani football within the Pakistan football league system. It is organized by and named after the Pakistan Football Federation. ...

History

Early years

In the 1950s, Pakistan Airforce played the Inter-Services Football Championship at the domestic level in Pakistan. In August 1960, PAF won the fifth Ismail Gold Shield Football Tournament, which featured guest teams from India and Iran. In 1961, PAF played a friendly game against the Iranian club

Shahin F.C. Shahin Tehran Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال شاهین تهران, Shāhīn meaning ''Falcon''), also spelled Shaahin or Shaheen, from 1973 to 1979 known as Shahbaz ( fa, شهباز, Shahbāz, meaning ''Shahbaz (bird), Shahbaz''), ...

, with PAF international forward Faqir Hussain scoring all 4 goals for his team in a match which ended in a 6–4 defeat. In 1963, the club finished runners-up in the Mohammad Ali Bogra Shield, losing 1–3 to Victoria SC in the final held in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

. In the 1981 National Football Championship, it finished as runner-up after losing to

Pakistan Airlines Pakistan International Airlines ( ur, ; abbreviated PIA, ur, ) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation. It ...

in the final. Their first national title came in 1986, this time defeating

in the final of the National Football Championship.

Pakistan Premier League era: 2008–2019

They were promoted to the Pakistan Premier League from the PFF League after finishing second to Baloch Nushki in the 2007–08 season. At the end of 2013 after the appointment of coach

Shahzad Anwar Shahzad Anwar (born in Pakistan), was the caretaker coach of the Pakistan national football team. He took over the charge of national team in 2008 for the 4–1 friendly defeat against Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. ...

, Air Force ended up in fourth position in the 2013–14 Pakistan Premier League season, and ended up champions in the

2014 National Football Challenge Cup The 2014 National Football Challenge Cup was 24th season of domestic cup tournament in Pakistani football. It was sponsored by National Bank of Pakistan, and known as NBP National Football Challenge Cup. 12 teams participated in the tournament. ...

. It won the

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

, after defeating WAPDA 2–1 in the finals of

2018 National Challenge Cup The 2018 PFF National Challenge Cup was the 27th edition of domestic cup competition in Pakistan. 24 teams participated in the competition, from 21 April to 10 May 2018. The Pakistan National Challenge Cup was held in Karachi after FIFA lifted it ...

2023–present

Following the domestic football revamp in the country in 2023, departmental clubs including Air Force remained competing in the

Notable players

Honours

* National Football Championship ** Winners: 1986 *

** Winners:

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 ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

PAF websitePakistan Air Force FC
at Global Sports Archive Pakistan Air Force Military association football clubs in Pakistan Football in Islamabad {{Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup