The historical absence of a continuously operating national league and a multi-division football system has made it difficult to truly determine and recognize the highest level tournament in the Philippines. The Philippine Football Federation, the governing body of football in the Philippines, has held men's national championship tournaments in various forms since 1911. The winners of these tournaments are therefore considered the de facto football champions of the Philippines. The latest of these national competitions is the Philippines Football League, which began its inaugural season in 2017.
Given the complex history of football in the Philippines, this article takes into account all notable "national" football competitions organized by the Philippine Football Federation. Also included are newer leagues such as the United Football League, the Filipino Premier League, and the current Philippines Football League.
Various tournaments and leagues have been directly organized by the Philippine Football Federation, such as the Men's National Club Championship, the Philippine Football League (P-League), the Manila Premier Football League (MPFL), the Filipino Premier League, and currently the Philippines Football League. These leagues were often short-lived, and thus do not have a champions list readily available. The champions of these tournaments are lumped together in the following tables as "national champions".
| Champions | From | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | All Manila | Manila | |
| 1912 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1913 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1914 | Manila Nomads | Parañaque | |
| 1915 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1916 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1917 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1918 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1919 | No tournament | ||
| 1920 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1921 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1922 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1923 | Ferencvárosi TC | Hungary | |
| 1924 | Cantabria F.C. | Spain | |
| 1925 | International | Manila | |
| 1926 | Ateneo F.C. | Manila | |
| 1927 | Bohemian Sporting Club | Manila | |
| 1928 | San Beda Athletic Club | Manila | |
| 1929 | Peña Iberica | Spain | |
| 1930 | San Beda Athletic Club | Manila | |
| 1931 | San Beda Athletic Club | Manila | |
| 1932 | San Beda Athletic Club | Manila | |
| 1933 | San Beda Athletic Club | Manila | |
| 1934 | University of Santo Tomas | Manila | |
| 1935 | Malaya Command | Singapore | |
| No tournament from 1936 to 1966 | |||
| 1967 | Manila Lions | Manila | |
| 1968 | Meralco Reddy Kilowatts[1] | Quezon City | |
| No tournament from 1969 to 1970 | |||
| 1970–71 | Dragons | Manila | |
| 1972 | Meralco Reddy Kilowatts[2] | Quezon City | |
| No tournament from 1973 to 1976 | |||
| 1977 | San Miguel Corporation | Mandaluyong | |
| 1978 | U/Tex Wranglers | Manila | |
| 1978–79 | San Miguel Corporation[3] | Mandaluyong | |
| 1979 | Barotac Nuevo F.C.[4] | Iloilo | |
| 1980 | San Miguel Corporation[5] | Mandaluyong | |
| 1980–81 | CDCP | Manila | |
| 1981–82 | Philippine Navy | Manila | |
| 1982–83 | Philippine Air Force | Manila | |
| 1983–84 | San Miguel Corporation | Mandaluyong | |
| 1985 | Philippine Air Force | Manila | |
| 1986 | No tournament | ||
| 1987 | Dumaguete F.C. | Dumaguete | |
| 1988 | M. Lhuillier Jewelers | Cebu City | |
| 1989 | Philippine Air Force | Manila | |
| 1990 | Bacolod F.C. | Bacolod | |
| 1991 | Philippine Navy | Manila | |
| 1992 | Philippine Army[6] | Manila | |
| 1993 | Davao City F.C.[7] | Davao City | |
| 1994 | Pasay[8] | Pasay | |
| 1995 | Makati | Makati | |
| 1996 | No tournament | ||
| 1997 | Philippine Air Force | Manila | |
| 1998 | National Capital Region-South | NCR | |
| 1999 | National Capital Region-B | NCR | |
| 2000 | National Capital Region-South | NCR | |
| 2001 | Philippine Army | Manila | |
| 2002 | West Negros College | Negros Occidental | |
| 2003 | Kaya | Makati | |
| 2004 | National Capital Region | NCR | |
| 2005 | Philippine Navy | Manila | |
| 2006 | USLS | Negros Occidental | |
| 2007 | National Capital Region | NCR | |
| 2008 | Tournament not finished[9] | ||
| No tournament from 2009 to 2010 | |||
| 2011 | Teknika | Tacloban | |
| 2012–13 | Ceres | Bacolod | |
| 2013–14 | Ceres | Bacolod | |
| 2014–15 | Loyola Meralco Sparks | Quezon City | |
| 2015–16 | No tournament | ||
| 2017 | Ceres–Negros | Bacolod | |
| 2018 | Ceres–Negros | Bacolod | |
| 2019 | Ceres–Negros | Bacolod | |
| 2020 | United City | Capas | |
| 2021 | Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2022–23 | Kaya–Iloilo | Iloilo City | |
| 2024 | Kaya–Iloilo | Iloilo City | |
The Philippine Football Federation did not hold a national tournament from 1936 to 1966. Only the Manila Football League was organized. This league began in 1930 and was restricted to clubs from the Manila metropolitan area. The winners of the Manila Football League are not considered "national champions". Its final competition was in 1967.
| Champions | From | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | De la Salle College | Manila | |
| No tournament from 1931 to 1935 | |||
| 1936 | De la Salle College | Manila | |
| 1937 | De la Salle College | Manila | |
| 1938 | De la Salle Football Club | Manila | |
| 1939 | YCO Athletic Club | Manila | |
| 1940 | YCO Athletic Club | Manila | |
| 1941 | YCO Athletic Club | Manila | |
| No tournament from 1942 to 1946 | |||
| 1947 | Turba Salvaje | Manila | |
| 1948 | Turba Salvaje | Manila | |
| 1949 | Turba Salvaje | Manila | |
| 1950 | No tournament | ||
| 1951 | San Miguel Brewery | Manila | |
| 1952 | Turba Salvaje | Manila | |
| 1953 | IL-FGU (Insurance Life Fidelity Guaranty Underwriters) | Manila | |
| 1954 | YCO Athletic Club | Manila | |
| 1955 | Manila Lions | Manila | |
| 1956 | Manila Lions | Manila | |
| 1957 | Manila Lions | Manila | |
| 1958 | Manila Lions | Manila | |
| 1959 | Manila Lions | Manila | |
| 1960 | Manila Lions | Manila | |
| 1961 | Manila Lions | Manila | |
| Not known from 1962 to 1965 | |||
| 1966 | Philippine Navy | Manila | |
| 1967 | Electron | Manila | |
First attempt of the Philippine Football League.
| width=2% | Season ! | width=15% | Champions ! | width=8% | Score/s ! | width=15% | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Makati | No playoffs | Lipa-Pasay | ||||
Second attempt of the league. Renamed as the "P-League" in 1998.
| width=2% | Season ! | width=15% | Champions ! | width=8% | Score/s ! | width=15% | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | National Capital Region-South | 3–1 | Negros Occidental | ||||
| 1999 | National Capital Region-B | Davao | |||||
| 2000 | National Capital Region-South | 3–1 | Negros Occidental | ||||
| width=2% | Season ! | width=15% | Champions ! | width=8% | Score/s ! | width=15% | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Philippine Air Force | Philippine Army | |||||
Note: The Filipino Premier League was planned to have three regional tournaments, one each in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao which was supposed to be followed by the Filipino Premier League National Championships to be held in late 2009. However, the Visayas and Mindanao regional tournaments that was planned for the first half of 2009 was not held, as well as the subsequent national championship. Thus, the Luzon tournament winner, Philippine Army, is not considered a "national champion".[10]
| width=2% | Season ! | width=15% | Champions ! | width=8% | Score/s ! | width=15% | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2–0 | Giligan's F.C. | ||||||
| width=2% | Season ! | width=15% | Champions ! | width=8% | Score/s ! | width=15% | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teknika F.C. | 3–0 0–2 Aggregate: 3–2 | Smart–San Beda F.C. | |||||
| Ceres F.C. | 1–0 | PSG F.C. | |||||
| Ceres F.C. | 2–1 1-0 Aggregate: 3-1 | Global F.C. | |||||
| Loyola Meralco Sparks F.C. | 2–0 | Global F.C. | |||||
| width=2% | Season ! | width=15% | Champions ! | width=8% | Score/s ! | width=15% | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceres–Negros | 4–1 | Global Cebu | |||||
| Ceres–Negros | No playoffs | Kaya–Iloilo | |||||
| Ceres–Negros | No playoffs | Kaya–Iloilo | |||||
| United City | No playoffs | Kaya–Iloilo | |||||
| Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines | |||||||
| Kaya–Iloilo | No playoffs | Dynamic Herb Cebu | |||||
| Kaya–Iloilo | No playoffs | Dynamic Herb Cebu | |||||
| width=2% | Season ! | width=15% | Champions ! | width=8% | Score/s ! | width=15% | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981[11] | University of the Philippines | No playoffs | Philippine Air Force | ||||
| width=2% | Season ! | width=15% | Champions ! | width=8% | Score/s ! | width=15% | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De La Salle University | No playoffs | University of Santo Tomas | |||||
| De La Salle University | No playoffs | University of Santo Tomas | |||||
| De La Salle University | No playoffs | Far Eastern University | |||||
| 2020 | Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines | ||||||
| 2021 | |||||||
| Kaya–Iloilo | 1–0 | Manila Digger | |||||
The United Football League Division 1 was established as a premier league in 2009. The League is a round-robin tournament with a First Division and Second Division. The winners listed below do not include the winners of the UFL Cup, a knockout-tournament which allows teams to participate regardless of their division. In a season, the Cup competition is held first from mid-October to mid-December, followed by the League competition from January to June of the following year. The winners of the United Football League are not considered "national champions".
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Leading goalscorer | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Philippine Air Force | Kaya | Union | Izzo Elhabbib (Kaya) | 14 |
| 2011 | Philippine Air Force | Global | Philippine Army | Izzo Elhabbib (Global) | 7 |
| 2012 | Global | Kaya | Loyola | Phil Younghusband (Loyola) | 23 |
| 2013 | Stallion | Global | Loyola |  Rufo Sánchez (Stallion) | 18 |
| 2014 | Global | Loyola | Kaya | Mark Hartmann (Global) | 27 |
| 2015 | Ceres | Global | Loyola | Adrián Gallardo (Ceres) | 18 |
| 2016 | Global | Ceres | Loyola | 30 |