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After the controversy surrounding the once successful Global FC, a void remained in Philippine soccer in the wake of the club’s collapse. From the ashes emerged Maharlika FC, a new club built on what is essentially a love of the game, seeking to fill the void left behind.
Founded by former Filipino Azkals defender Anton del Rosario, Maharlika FC went almost completely in the opposite direction from fallen Global FC. Instead of promising salaries, which were ultimately not met, the newly minted club went radically in the other direction.
Compensation for a Maharlika FC player? A grand total of one weight on paper.
“At the end of the day, I think we are paying everyone a peso,” del Rosario said.
Basically your players play for free and your current staff also receive similar compensation. According to del Rosario, the club is in the long run and paying the players after training so quickly would not have been realistic.
“We have to start this club well, which is being sustainable,” said del Rosario. “If we had gone out and offered salaries to the players from the beginning, our club would not have been sustainable.”
Del Rosario clarified that the policy of asking footballers to play for practically nothing is only temporary. The former full-back said that once the club has sufficient support from sponsors and investors, Maharlika will pay its players and staff appropriately.
“The fact that we do not pay the players is temporary until we reach that point where we have created enough fan base, we have created enough support that the sponsors find us attractive enough to support,” del Rosario said.
So what kind of players can you sign with a single peso? The answer may be surprising.
Here is a list of the players that have been revealed by the club so far: Anton Del Rosario, Simon Greatwich, Cedric Martinez-Hodreal, Joaco Cañas, Enrique Ortiz, Julian Del Valle, Jerry Barbaso, Daniel Matsunaga, Manu Mariano, Misagh Bahadoran, Sam Taylor, Charlie Beaton, David Basa, and Serge Kaole.
The most prominent names are the former players of the national team who have signed up. Del Rosario, Greatwich, Bahadoran, Barbaso and Basa add international experience to the team, while veterans Serge Kaole and Joaco Cañas will fill the positions of foreign players on the team. The last foreign player spot goes to celebrity Daniel Matsunaga, who had experience playing for Team Socceroo, Pachanga and Kaya FC in the UFL.
Del Rosario also mentioned that he is trying to remove former Azkals captain Aly Borromeo and national team midfielder Chris Greatwich from retirement. The club’s founder also said that three spots are allocated for youth players, which he believes are good enough to play at the senior level.
The coaching staff is headed by former Philippine international Roxy Dorlas, who previously managed national youth teams.
The realistic goal of the club in its first season is simply to survive and lay the foundation for the future. Maharlika, the self-proclaimed ‘koponan ng masa’, also seeks to make sure they meet all the professional club licensing requirements.
“For the next six months, essentially for this PFL season, the goal is to last the next six months,” said Maharlika general manager Choy Calunsod. “So we are looking for partners to help the team. Getting licensed, there are compliances. We are working on development programs, yung mga youth programs, all those things that we are working on.”
The club has already gone through the necessary health protocols to prepare for the yet to be announced start of the 2020 PFL season. They have had a couple of training sessions at the PFF National Soccer Center in Carmona and are eager to embark on their first campaign.
Is a championship or even a top two result out of the club’s reach? Most likely. But it is a first step towards building the foundations of a soccer club, which will hopefully eventually pay decent salaries, initially fueled by a love of soccer.
“I made it very clear and transparent that you, the players of the team and anyone who is part of it, is here for the love and passion of the sport,” said del Rosario.
“That means a lot to me because it shows that they are here for more than just wanting to get paid.”
