# 2021 Philippines Football League

The 2021 Philippines Football League (known as The Philippines Football League brought to you by Qatar Airways for sponsorship reasons) was to be the fifth season of Philippines Football League (PFL), professional football league of the Philippines. However, the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Cancellation

The league's 2021 season was scheduled to kick off on August 21, 2021, but was postponed due to the implementation of enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. It was postponed again for several times. The latest schedule for the season's start date was on October 27, 2021, provided that Cavite is under general community quarantine by October 16 and there are at least six confirmed participating clubs.
The 2021 season was cancelled on October 22, 2021, and it was announced that the league cup tournament, 2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara, would be held in its place. It will start on November 7, 2021. The organization of the Copa Paulino Alcantara was previously uncertain, having not been held during the previous season.

## Stadium

* Carmona, Cavite
* PFF National Training Center
* Capacity: 1,200
* Carmonaclass=notpageimage| Location of the PFF National Training Center
Like previously, all games of 2021 season were planned to be held at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite, under a close-circuit format due to prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. Biñan Football Stadium in Biñan, Laguna is being considered as a potential second venue.

## Teams

Cebu F.C. was given a provisional club license, which would have allowed the club to debut in the now cancelled 2021 season. Laos and Rapids F.C. from Cagayan de Oro were the other applicant clubs.

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
| Azkals Development Team | Scott Cooper | Jarvey Gayoso | Kelme | PHSD, Chooks-to-Go |
| Dynamic Herb Cebu | Oliver Colina | Evren Tasci | RAD Apparel | Dynamic Herb Sports, The Green Table, Tigertek Sports, Pocari Sweat, My Pinoy Teleserye, Borromeo Bros. Estate, Inc. |
| Kaya–Iloilo | TBD | Jovin Bedic | LGR | LBC, Fitness First |
| Maharlika Manila | Arvin Soliman | Joaco Cañas | Gameville Sportswear | Philam Life, Reparil Ice-Spray, Arepa Nootropics |
| Mendiola 1991 | Dan Padernal | Ashley Flores | FAT | Penson and Company, Focus Athletics, Mr. Swabber, Best Diagnostic Corporation |
| Stallion Laguna | Ernest Nierras | Ruben Doctora | Cutz Apparel | Giligan's Restaurant, Pi Tracer, Airlock389, TANIS, South Coast Industrial Door Inc. |
| United City | Jason Withe | Stephan Schröck | Chronos Athletics | Manila Regenerative Center, Midas Magnesium, Gatorade, BCDA, Allianz |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| United City | Trevor Morgan | Undisclosed | Undisclosed | Jason Withe | 31 March 2021 |
| Kaya–Iloilo | Yu Hoshide | Demoted to assistant manager | Undisclosed | Graham Harvey | 10 June 2021 |
| Maharlika Manila | Roxy Dorlas | Undisclosed | Undisclosed | Arvin Soliman | 30 July 2021 |
| Kaya–Iloilo | Graham Harvey | End of Contract | 17 July 2021 | Yu Hoshide | October 2021 |
    1. ^ Named head coach for the 2020 season but was not able to coach the team. Withe was hired for the 2020 AFC Champions League due to having the appropriate pro coaching license to lead a club in the continental tournament.
    1. ^ Coached for the club at the 2020 AFC Champions League.

## Foreign players

A maximum of five foreigners are allowed per club, with four players of any nationality and a fifth coming from an AFC member nation. This is a change from the previous four seasons which followed the AFC's "3+1" rule. This resulted from an earlier press conference dubbed We Are PFL 2021, where managers of the clubs expressed a desire to increase the foreign quota from four to five.
| Club | Players | Players | Players | Players | Players | Former Players |
| Azkals Development Team | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| Dynamic Herb Cebu | Ricardo Sendra | Joaco Cañas | | | | |
| Kaya–Iloilo | Patrick Asare | Ryo Fujii | Daizo Horikoshi | Carlyle Mitchell | Masanari Omura | Emmanuel Osei |
| Maharlika Manila | Henri Bandeken | Gary Epesso | Serge Kaole | | | Joaco Cañas |
| Mendiola 1991 | Daniel Ashley | Hosni Dosso | Hamed Hajimehdi | Kim Minsu | | Dini Ouattara Stephen Appiah |
| Stallion Laguna | Kim Sungmin | Abraham Placito | Gabriel Silva | Abou Sy | Juan Trujillo | Ibrahima Ndour Ricardo Sendra |
| United City | Jonny Campbell | Jai Ingham | Jung Da-hwon | Bienvenido Marañón | | Takashi Odawara Robert Lopez Mendy |
Notes
    1.^ Now a naturalized citizen of the Philippines. Sporting nationality change was subject to be confirmed by FIFA.
Foreign players by confederation :
| AFC | South Korea (3), Japan (3), Iran (1) |
| CAF | Ghana (2), Cameroon (2), Senegal (1), Ivory Coast (1), Democratic Republic of the Congo (1) |
| CONCACAF | Mexico (1), Trinidad and Tobago (1), United States (2) |
| CONMEBOL | Brazil (1), Argentina (1) |
| OFC | New Zealand (1) |
| UEFA | Spain (2) |