# 2023 Ang Liga season

The 2023 Ang Liga season was the nineteenth edition of Ang Liga, an inter-collegiate pre-season football tournament in the Philippines. This was the first season of Ang Liga under the sponsorship of Adidas. The season started on August 13, 2023, and concluded on November 4, 2023. The league's first division was contested by twelve teams, while each team played a minimum of 5 matches in total, the most since the 2019 season.
On July 24, the league announced that matches would be held at the new PALMS Arena in Quezon City. However, due to issues with the field, all Division 1 matches were held at the UP Diliman Football Field.
The league's return to an all-collegiate lineup of teams marked the end of its temporary admission of guest teams back in Season 18, where non-collegiate club teams participated due to a lack of entrants following the pandemic.
This season marked the first championship of the Adamson Soaring Falcons and the first time that the Ateneo Blue Eagles clinched a finals berth since 2016. The league partnered with the FPJ Panday Bayanihan foundation throughout the entirety of the season while Adidas was the title sponsor of the knockout round.

## Participating teams

All collegiate squads from the previous season, with the exception of the University of Makati, returned for the nineteenth edition of the league. This includes the Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde, Far Eastern University, and the University of Batangas.
Twelve teams entered the 2023 Ang Liga season's first division (collegiate). This includes seven teams from the UAAP, three teams from the NCAA, one team from the NCAA South, and one unattached team. On the other hand, twelve teams also entered for the season's second division (high school and secondary teams).

### Division I

| UAAP 7 teams | NCAA 3 teams | Other schools 2 teams |
| Adamson University Ateneo de Manila University De La Salle University Far Eastern University University of the East University of the Philippines University of Santo Tomas | De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde Emilio Aguinaldo College San Beda University | Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna University of Batangas |

### Division II

| UAAP 4 teams | NCAA 3 teams | Other schools 5 teams |
| Adamson University – B Ateneo de Manila – High School De La Salle University – B University of Santo Tomas – High School | La Salle Green Hills University of Perpetual Help System DALTA San Beda University – High School | Claret School of Quezon City De La Salle Lipa De La Salle University – Integrated School PAREF Southridge School Xavier School |

## Venues

In contrast to the previous season, which was held between FEU Diliman and DLSU Integrated School in Biñan, all first division matches were held at the UP Diliman Football Pitch, the same stadium where the UAAP Season 85 group stage matches were held. Fixtures were initially slated to be played at the newly opened PALMS Arena in Quezon City, but following issues with the pitch which resulted in the season opening date being pushed back, the venue remained unused for the rest of the season.
For the second division matches, the DLSU Biñan pitch was used in rotation with new venues around Metro Manila.
| Stadium | Location | Tournament | Tournament |
| Stadium | Location | D1 | D2 |
| UP Diliman Football Field | Quezon City | Y | Y |
| Claret Football Field | Quezon City | | Y |
| Xavier School Football Field | San Juan City | | Y |
| La Salle Green Hills Football Field | Mandaluyong | | Y |
| DLSU Biñan Football Field | Biñan, Laguna | | Y |

## Division I
### Group stage
#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | De La Salle University | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 12 | Qualified to the semifinals |
| 2 | Adamson University | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 12 | Qualified to the semifinals |
| 3 | San Beda University | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 10 | Qualified to the semifinals |
| 4 | De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | Qualified to the semifinals |
| 5 | Emilio Aguinaldo College | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 4 | |
| 6 | University of Batangas | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 0 | |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | University of Santo Tomas | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 11 | Qualified to the semifinals |
| 2 | Ateneo de Manila University | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 11 | Qualified to the semifinals |
| 3 | University of the East | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 8 | Qualified to the semifinals |
| 4 | University of the Philippines | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | Qualified to the semifinals |
| 5 | Far Eastern University | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3 | |
| 6 | Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 1 | |

### Knock-out stage

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| A1 | La Salle | 0(3) | | | | | | |
| B4 | UP | 0(2) | | | | | | |
| B4 | UP | 0(2) | A1 | La Salle | 0 | | | |
| | | | B2 | Ateneo | 2 | | | |
| B2 | Ateneo | 4 | B2 | Ateneo | 2 | | | |
| A3 | San Beda | 3 | | | | | | |
| A3 | San Beda | 3 | | | | B2 | Ateneo | 0 |
| | | | | | | A2 | Adamson | 2 |
| B1 | UST | 3 | | | | | | | A2 | Adamson | 2 |
| A4 | Benilde | 4 | | | |
| A4 | Benilde | 4 | A4 | Benilde | 0 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | A2 | Adamson | 2 |
| A2 | Adamson | 1 | A2 | Adamson | 2 | A1 | La Salle | 2(2) |
| B3 | UE | 0 | | | | A4 | Benilde | 2(4) |

#### Finals
### Final standing

| Rank | Team |
| | Adamson Soaring Falcons |
| | Ateneo Blue Eagles |
| | Benilde Blazers |
| 4 | De La Salle Green Booters |
| 5 | UST Golden Booters |
| 6 | San Beda Red Booters |
| 7 | UE Red Warriors |
| 8 | UP Fighting Maroons |
| 9 | EAC Generals |
| 10 | FEU Tamaraw Booters |
| 11 | MMCL Wizards |
| 12 | UB Brahmans |
* 2023 Ang Liga Division 1 champions
* Adamson Soaring Falcons 1st title

## Division II
### Final standing

| Rank | Team |
| | UST Junior Golden Booters |
| | San Beda Red Cubs |
| | De La Salle Green Booters – 2 |
| 4 | Adamson Soaring Falcons – 2 |

## Awards
### Individual awards

| Award | Player/s | Team |
| Golden Glove | Andrew Nalog | Adamson Soaring Falcons |
| Golden Ball | Leo Maquiling | Ateneo Blue Eagles |
| Golden Boot | Isaac Anoh | De La Salle Green Booters |
| Golden Boot | John Clyde Vitualla | Benilde Blazers |
| Best Defender | Arjay Buenaobra | Adamson Soaring Falcons |
| Best Coach | Darlton Digha | Adamson Soaring Falcons |

### Team of the Tournament

| Award | Player | Team |
| Keeper | Andrew Nalog | Adamson Soaring Falcons |
| Defenders | Arjay Buenaobra | Adamson Soaring Falcons |
| Defenders | Dexter John Chasing | Adamson Soaring Falcons |
| Defenders | Jethro Flores | Ateneo Blue Eagles |
| Defenders | Jet Gabriel Dela Cruz | Ateneo Blue Eagles |
| Midfielders | Leo Maquiling | Ateneo Blue Eagles |
| Midfielders | Fernando Suarez | De La Salle Green Booters |
| Midfielders | Roque Empledo | Adamson Soaring Falcons |
| Forwards | Kofi Agyei | Ateneo Blue Eagles |
| Forwards | Isaac Anoh | De La Salle Green Booters |
| Forwards | John Clyde Vitualla | Benilde Blazers |

## Media

For the first time, the league inked a one-year deal with a broadcast partner, as all Division 1 matches were broadcast and livestreamed via Smart Sports. Meanwhile, Division 2 matches were sporadically streamed on the league's page.