United City calls New Clark City home turf for PFL
Originally published by Business Mirror
Reigning national champion United City Football Club (UCFC) will play its home matches in the Philippines Football League (PFL) at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium starting this month.
The UCFC home premier will be against the Azkals Development Team (ADT) led by former Azkals captain Stephan Schroeck on October 22 at 4 p.m.
It will be the first professional football game to be held at the world-class facility since it was built in 2019 for the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
UCFC will also host Stallion Laguna FC on November 5 with tickets going on sale starting this week
UCFC is representing Central Luzon in the league.
“To represent Central Luzon and bring football to the local community is a major step in the development of professional football in the country,” UCFC President Eric Gottschalk said.
Gottschalk made the announcement during a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony recently at the New Clark City where he was joined by Philippines Football Federation General Secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes and Central Luzon Football Association President Alvin Yalung.
“We are proud to have access to the best sports venue in the Philippines when we host our home matches and we look forward to building our community and have our fans attending live matches at this beautiful stadium,” Gottschalk added.
Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and Chief Executive Officer Aileen Zosa welcomed UCFC and extended BCDA’s commitment to give the best football experience to the teams playing at the facility.
“World-class sports facilities, safe environment, and stunning views–New Clark City can offer all of these and more,” Zosa said. “We are excited that UCFC chose New Clark City Athletics Stadium as the venue for its matches, and we hope to bring pride to players who will be coming to play here.”
UCFC—previously known as Ceres Negros—is one of the founding teams of the PFL in 2017 and has since bagged the national championships four times (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020) as well as the Copa Paulino Alcantara twice.
This ongoing PFL season will run until May 2023. UCFC is competing in a quadruple round robin format against six other clubs, with the winner qualifying for the 2023-2024 Asian Football Confederation Champions League Group Stage in August next year.
Coming off strong performances against main rival Kaya Iloilo FC, UCFC is the favorite to retain its league title this season.
During the December-January winter break, UCFC will start setting up its Clark-based youth academy with different activities also scheduled to take place at New Clark City. The UCFC will kick off regular team appearances in early 2023 with at least six more PFL home games.