The LFL Season 3 Division I and II Format Explained

Lipa Emmanuel and Coffee Millers in their Division II match on opening day of Season 3.

An innovation introduced by the Lipa Football League in Season 3 is the grouping of the league’s ten teams by strength based on each club’s final Season 2 placements or positions. Last season’s top five clubs are bunched together in Division I, while the clubs that placed sixth to last have been placed in Division II.

The move was made primarily to prevent blowout matches such as Real Molinillo’s 14-nil victory over Kings FC and Real Baraco’s 15-nil shutout of Lipa Emmanuel in Season 2. Apart from hopefully having more competitive – and therefore more exciting matches – the move is also designed to prevent younger players being psychologically scarred by these high-scoring games.

Thus, Division I is made up of the defending league champions La Salle FC, last year’s runners-up Mentors FC (second), ACF Real Molinillo de Lipa (third) and Green Stallions FC (fourth). Real Baraco, who won 7 points in the group stage of Season 2, pipped Legends FC, who had 6 points, to the last Division I slot.

Legends FC, therefore, is the highest ranked team in Division II, where it is joined by Coffee Millers (seventh), Lipa Emmanuel (eighth), FC Reigning Kickers (ninth) and Kings FC (tenth).

All five teams of each division will play each other for placement, with 3 points awarded for a win and 1 point for a draw. The top four teams of each division will then figure in knockout semi-final matches using the first-v-fourth and second-v-third format.

The two semi-finals winners of both divisions will then face each other in a one-off final, while the losers meet each other in the play-off for third place.

The winner of the Division I final earns the title Lipa Football League champion, while the winner of the Division II final earns the title Division II “winners” and gets promoted to Division I in Season 4.

Meanwhile, the fifth-placed club of Division I, or the club that fails to make the semi-finals, is relegated to play in Division II in Season 4.

Trophies are to be awarded to the champion club as well as to the first and second runners-up of Division I. A trophy will also be awarded to the Division II “winners.”