The Rise, Fall and Coming Rebirth of Air Force Football
Philippine Air Force FC has been relegated. My favorite club team in the world, will play Football in the UFL's second division next year. It's a harsh reality to accept.
Air Force finished the season with two wins and sixteen losses, for last place in the league table behind Army, who mustered seven points.
It's been a difficult road for this Air Force fan.
The first UFL game I ever took in was Air Force versus Global in the 2010-2011 UFL Cup Final in Umak. Global took a two-nil lead but the Airmen battled back with an Ian Araneta penalty and another Araneta strike after a Chieffy Caligdong cross to level at 2-2. But minutes before the final whistle, Global's Izo Elhabbib headed home the winner to give Global the title.
Months later the two teams would meet again in the final game of the 2011 League season. Air Force needed just a draw to wrap up the league title while Global needed a win.
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With the game knotted at one-all and with mere minutes left on the clock, Global's Ayi Nii Aryee stood over the ball for a free kick. The Ghanaian struck it sweetly over the wall, on target.
But Air Force keeper Tats Mercado leapt just in time to make the save, ensuring that the Airmen would get their second League title in a row.
Flash forward to December 2011. The UFL Cup Final, Air Force versus Loyola. Araneta would again score, an unlikely left-footer in the first half, to put PAF in the driver's seat.
Loyola scores off a James Younghusband header, but the goal is waved off because the corner kick that set up off the goal, from Mark Hartmann, was taken a foot outside of the corner circle.
With minutes to spare Meralco's JP Merida gives up the ball carelessly and Yanti Barsales pounces, taking the ball goalward and beating Ref Cuaresma for 2-0. That's how the game ends, and Air Force have their League and Cup double.
As Mercado, who made several terrific saves, walks up to the dais to collect his medal, I run up to him and give him a big kiss on his cheek.
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Air Force were a shining example of how Filipino born-and-raised players, in an era of looming foreign dominance, could still achieve greatness. They were my heroes. They were on the summit of Philippine Club Football.
And in just a few weeks, it would all start tumbling down.
January 2012. Club Football Internacional de Madrid are in town. After dismissing the Azkals 3-1, the Madrileños square off against Air Force in a friendly in Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
“Bibigyan natin sila ng magandang laban” intoned Barsales to me before kickoff. Barsales and his mates were unable to back up his words.
Air Force had barely recovered from the Christmas holidays, while CFIM was in midseason form. The Spaniards massacred PAF 10-0, barely allowing the Filipino champs time and space to breathe, all while eviscerating their defense with textbook Spanish short-passing play. It was painful to watch.
The 2012 League resulted in a mid-table finish. There were moments of magic, like Air Force's dramatic last-minute 3-3 draw with Loyola. But other than that, there was little to cheer about as the Airmen's aging core had difficulty coping with a brave new world of Pinoy club Football.
The Cup was even worse. Air Force drew with Army and Sta. Lucia, and were defeated 4-1 by Stallion, knocking them out of the playoffs. The finish was so poor that they didn't even qualify for the SMART National Club Championship.
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But 2013 brought new hope. An infusion of fresh young blood was meant to energize the club. From Stallion came Vince Braga, Tapoy Martinez, Bulldog Albor, keeper Amay Sobrevega, and the hellaciously gifted Ansing Gustilo. They would join defender Neckson Leonora and left back Rodolfo Bebanco, plus two San Beda products, Paul Concepcion and Mark Anthony Fernandez. Another young defender, Glen Bulaquina, was already there, as was Ken Dolloso in goal.
Hopes were high for the 2013 league. But they would not be fulfilled.
The new-look Airmen had a dreadful first round, losing all nine assignments. And the reasons for the downfall are, in hindsight, clear. Many veterans didn't play due to Air Force schooling requirements and some internecine conflicts within the team.
Tats Mercado wasn't activated. Neither was former Azkal midfielder Peter Jaugan. Ditto for Herbert and Harold Bayona. Barsales appears to have retired. Chieffy Caligdong fled to Archers. These veteran losses were too much to sustain.
Every Air Force game last league seemed to follow the same plot: opponents press the callow back four, compelling them to hoof the ball forward and therefore lose it. Meanwhile the midfield cannot create, starving Ian Araneta of possession. Someone makes a bad giveaway and next thing you know Dolloso is fishing the ball out of his net.
Another Achilles heel: poor discipline. Time and time again, Air Force betrayed a disturbing propensity to aim their rifles at their toes and squeeze the trigger.
Braga, Albor, Leonora, Dolloso, Concepcion and vet Martin Doctora all received red cards in the campaign, many of them silly. Some were caused by excessively dirty play, others by vociferous complaining. Truly, Air Force was losing the mental game.
The Airmen were given hope when they beat Nomads 2-0 in the second round, (the Merville-based club didn't press the back four and paid for it) then grabbed a vital win over Army with an Albor long-range strike.
Air Force gave Kaya a tough ninety minute shift, holding them goalless. Unfortunately there is such a thing as stoppage time, and in the 91st, Logan McDaniel broke Air Force hearts with a free kick winner.
When Air Force succumbed to Pasargad 6-0 in the last game of the season, their fate was sealed. They remained at six points, one less than Army. Their goal difference is an ugly -50.
Division Two could be kind to Air Force. It will help the team circle the wagons against more manageable opposition.
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The team hopes to pop right back up to the top tier after next year's league. But it won't be easy. The transformation of Socceroo from recreational club to Division Two champions, thanks to a crop of Koreans from General Trias International, shows how tough the second tier can become.
Colonel Alberto Masuda, the team's manager, says he will continue recruiting in Iloilo, Cebu and Bacolod. His target is to bring five new players to the team.
Hopefully by next year the youngsters will gel and mature. Many of the new recruits, who hadn't had their enlistments fully processed, will by then be soldiers, with proper salaries. Neckson Leonora waited a year and a half before getting his serial number that allowed him to receive pay. Players like Jalor Soriano, goalie Irl Tomodos, and Mark Ferrer, who were in schooling during the 2013 league, can contribute next season.
I'll be there too. Air Force gave me, as a fan, two titles. I cannot possibly abandon them now. It's part of the sacred pact between team and fan. You stick with your team through good times and bad. As Nick Hornby wrote in “Fever Pitch,” his semi-autobiographical tome about his lifelong love affair with Arsenal, being a sports fan is mostly agony and pain. The few moments of joy somehow make it all worthwhile.
Why do I love Air Force so much? It's a team with an identity and a history. It's a hardscrabble, working-class, blue-collar club. No merceneries, no high-priced foreigners who may come and go. Just honest Pinoy Football.
In my mind at least, they have a great mission: to give poor kids from the province, who have little else in life aside from their love for Football, a chance at a better life.
Their Football skills are a ticket to a military career that gives them a lifetime of employment, useful skills, personal and professional growth, and the privilege to serve your country. That appeals to me. That's my kind of team.
The Pinoy Footballing landscape has changed dramatically. The influx of foreigners and overseas-born Pinoys has meant no room for Air Force at the top of the mountain. Call me nostalgic, but I'll stick with my old school club.
After the Pasargad game, Lupoy Bela-ong, one of the team's remaing veterans, handed me a token of appreciation for my support: a yellow Air Force jersey, with the words “Defenders of Freedom, Wings of Peace” on the front.
I'll wear it with pride.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
