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[av_heading heading=’JUST ANOTHER DAY | What happened to Iloilo Football?’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Monday, April 17, 2017
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IF PAULINO Alcantara were still alive today he would be very happy at the progress of Philippine Football as we are now 127th, according to the current FIFA world ranking. This makes the Philippines seventh in Asia and No. 1 in Southeast Asia.
On the contrary, I doubt if he would feel the same for his birthplace and hometown of Iloilo, the “cradle of Philippine football” as currently Iloilo is non-existent in the soon-to-be launched first ever professional football league.
Greatly disappointed would probably be the emotion Paulino Alcantara would feel and he is not alone. I wore the colors of Iloilo/Western Visayas four times in the National PRISAA football competition in my youth so yes, I am also disappointed.
Before the uninitiated gets lost in translation, let me give you a “heads up” on who Paulino Alcantara is and the Philippine Football League.
“Paulino Alcantara Riestrá (Oct. 7, 1896 – Feb. 13, 1964) was a Spanish-Filipino football player who played as a forward. He spent most of his playing career at FC Barcelona and also represented Catalonia, the Philippines and Spain.
“Alcántara was born in the province of Iloilo to a Spanish military officer and an Ilongga mother. He was three years old when his family moved to Barcelona, the same year that FC Barcelona was formed by Joan Gamper.
“Alcántara made his debut for Barcelona at the age of 15 and remains the youngest player to play or score for the club. He scored 369 goals in 357 official and friendly matches for Barcelona, a club record that stood for 87 years.
“Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) named Alcantara the best Asian player of all time in 2007, while FC Barcelona regards him as the best ‘symbol or hero of the Philippines’ footballing past”’ – a fitting figure at a time when the Philippines is vigorously pushing and promoting the sport of football.”
Simply put, Paulino Alcantara is the greatest football player of the greatest football club in the world, FC Barcelona, which makes him the best Filipino and Asian player for all times and he is an Ilonggo.
On the other hand, the Philippine Football League (PFL) is the first ever professional football league of the Philippines. The league will be officially launched on April 21, 2017 at the Shangri-La at The Fort in Taguig City while the first match of the season will be played on April 29, 2017.
As a professional football league, PFL is sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). There are a total of eight professional football teams/clubs participating in its inaugural season.
The top two teams will qualify for the Asian Football Confederation’s AFC Champions League and AFC Cup.
The matches will be broadcasted live over the league’s media partner, the People’s Television Network.
Here are the participating teams and the cities/province they will represent and their home stadiums:
|
Team |
City/Municipality |
Province |
Stadium |
Capacity |
|
8,000 |
||||
|
3,000 |
||||
|
– |
||||
|
5,000 |
||||
|
N/A (Metro Manila) |
– |
|||
|
N/A (Metro Manila) |
4,000 |
|||
|
N/A (Metro Manila) |
12,873 |
|||
|
2,580 |
Source – Philippine Football League
Now may I ask, do you see anything sort of having a semblance to Iloilo? I guess not. The closest we have is Ceres – Negros representing Bacolod. I suppose we can console ourselves with the fact that we both speak Ilonggo.
There was a time when football was synonymous with Iloilo, particularly the municipality of Barotac Nuevo and the only languages spoken in the national team was English, Spanish and Ilonggo.
Any footballer or a fan of the “beautiful game” knows that football in Negros, particularly Bacolod, originated from Iloilo. Sadly football development in Bacolod has left Iloilo some 10 years behind.
So what happened to Iloilo football? It’s not for lack of talent or footballers, just go to the football pitches of La Paz Plaza or Barotac Nuevo any given afternoon or Central Philippine University, San Agustin, Angelicum, Westbridge, and Assumption during schooldays and you will see young talented Ilonggos playing the “beautiful game.”
I bet you in all the eight teams of the Philippine Football League there is an Ilonggo or Ilonggos playing, likewise for the school teams in the UAAP and NCAA.
I can only speculate that what Iloilo football sorely lacks is proper management or the enterprising and progressive football-minded individual or individuals that will form the organization of Iloilo football.
With the proper organization and leadership, sponsorship and investors will not be hard to come by, in fact they will come to you. There is hope yet but who will be the “messiah” that will bring Iloilo football up from the doldrums? (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
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