United City F.C.


United City Football Club is a Filipino professional football club which competes in the Philippines Football League, the top-tier league in Filipino football. From 2012 until 2020, the club was commonly known as Ceres and associated with Ceres Liner, a bus transport firm of Leo Rey Yanson. Yanson was the club chair and owner of the club during that period. As Ceres, the club had Panaad Stadium in Bacolod, Negros Occidental as its home venue.
As Ceres–La Salle, the club had their first major success in the United Football League in the 2014 season, when they won the United Football League Division 2 Championship, earning them promotion to the first division. Since then, they have won the UFL FA League Cup and the United Football League Division 1 Championship and. It is also a two-time PFF National Men's Club Championship champion and a one-time United Football League champion.
The club as Ceres–Negros, was three-time Philippines Football League champion and winner of the Copa Paulino Alcantara.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting operations of Ceres Liner, the former club owner was forced to sell the club to a new managing entity. Emirati-Philippine sports marketing firm, MMC Sportz Asia took over the management retaining the core of players of Ceres-Negros and renamed the club as United City F.C.

History

Early years

United City was founded by Leo Rey Yanson in 2012 as Ceres—La Salle FC due to cooperation with the University of St. La Salle of Bacolod. Initially the club was composed of collegiate players reinforced by Koreans, but eventually it managed to transition to a team mostly led by members of the Philippines national team.
One of their earlier, if not the first, competitive tournament Ceres joined was the inaugural Negros Men's Open Football Championships in January 2012. They won that tournament's title by a lopsided 11–0 win against Bacolod United F.C. in the final.
Their first national tournament was the 2013 PFF National Men's Club Championship qualifying in the Round of 16 after they swept all their games in the Visayas regional eliminations in San Carlos. They won the championship trophy by winning 1–0 against Pasargad in the final. On the roulad to the final they scored wins against the United Football League sides Stallion, Global and Kaya.

Joining the United Football League

After they won the 2013 PFF National Men's Club Championship, Ceres expressed intent to join the United Football League, the de facto top-tier football league in the Philippines at that time, although they could not join the main league tournament for the 2013 season and the soonest they could join is by participating in the 2013 UFL Cup. Ceres did enter the cup tournament.
Ceres played debuted in the UFL in the 2014 season starting from Division 2. The club dominated the second division and was promoted to Division 1 the following season. Ceres was anticipated as serious contenders for the 2015 UFL Division 1 title in their first year. They completed a highly successful first foray by claiming the championship with a number of games still left in the season. However they were not able to replicate their feat in the 2016 season and finished as second placers.

First three seasons in the Philippines Football League

When the Philippines Football League supplanted the UFL as the top-tier football league in the Philippines, Ceres was among the pioneer clubs of the inaugural season in 2017. Ceres renamed themselves as Ceres-Negros F.C., designating the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod as their home venue. Ceres-Negros dominated the league winning the league title of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons, as well as the 2019 Copa Paulino Alcantara title.
Internal affairs of Vallacar Transit has affected the Ceres-Negros' operations. During the 2019 PFL season, Ceres-Negros' status was made uncertain due to a dispute within the Yanson family concerning Vallacar's management. Ceres chairman Leo Rey Yanson lost control of Vallacar after four of his siblings staged a boardroom coup in July and subsequently regained control of the company in August. Despite this they were able to not only complete their run but also clinch the league title.

Renaming as United City F.C.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and after the 2020 PFL season was postponed due to the health crisis, rumors of the Ceres–Negros' departure from the league or disbandment has circulated. The pandemic triggered a force majeure, which ended the contract of all the club's players.
In July 2020, Ceres-Negros announced that their club owner and chairman Leo Rey Yanson decided to stop being involved in the club's affairs, and it is negotiating with an investor which may potentially take over the management of the club. If a deal is sealed, the club will be known under a new name. Yanson decided to prioritize the management of Vallacar Transit and its bus transport line Ceres Liner which was affected by the pandemic.
Emirati-Philippine sports marketing firm MMC Sportz Asia was officially announced as the new owner of Ceres–Negros and renamed the club as United City F.C. The new owners said that the core of the original club, 16 out of 21 players will remain with the club. MMC Sportz Asia had prior involvement in Philippine football, as sponsors of Global F.C. in 2019, however they did not renew the agreement the following season due to internal issues with said club.
The new management of United City, proceeded to re-sign Ceres' former players intending to keep the core of its immediate predecessor. This includes team captain Stephan Schröck who was appointed as a playing assistant coach.

Crest and colors

As Ceres FC, the club crest was derived from the main emblem of Ceres Liner bus liner. It was encircled in green to represent the colors of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod, which is known for its football team. The center is the oval logo of the Yanson Company – Vallacar Transit Incorporated which owns and manages the club.
Following the renaming of Ceres-Negros to United City FC due to the takeover of MMC Sportz Asia as new club owners, a new club crest will be adopted with the owners planning to organize a logo design competition with fans and players involved in the selection process of the winning design. The new crest was formally unveiled on July 29, 2020 which consist of a circular design featuring a football in its center.
The design of the United City crest was made by Gerard Endaya, creative director of Grit Sports. Some of the crest elements references United City's past as Ceres; its circular shape was carried over from its predecessor, and the two stars symbolizes United City's incarnations as Ceres—La Salle and Ceres—Negros.

Youth department

United City as Ceres—Negros also maintained a youth club under the same name. The youth side competed in the 7's Football League.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

PeriodKit manufacturerShirt partner
2012–16 AdidasCeres
2016–17 PumaCeres
2018–2019 AdidasCeres
2019– Grand SportCeres

Head coaches

NameYear
Freddie Lazarito2012–13
Ali Go2013–14
Cha Seung-ryong2014–15
Ali Go2015–16
Franklin Muescan2016
Risto Vidaković2016–

Players

First team squad

Honours

Domestic

League

Overall Record

CompetitionPlayedWonDrewLostGFGAGDWin%
AFC Champions League
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AFC Cup
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AFC President's Cup
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Total
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Invitational tournament

AFC Club ranking

Current Rank Country Team
31Sydney FC
32Ceres–Negros F.C.
33Johor Darul Ta’zim F.C.
34Al Jazira
35FC Tokyo

Records