Ceres Negros to be rebranded as United City Football Club

The signing of the agreement cemented the transfer of ownership of the Ceres Negros Football Company, three-time defending champions of the PFL, to a group of private investors which is managed by MMC Sportz Asia.

“We would like to thank Mr. Yanson and his team for agreeing to the transfer of the club into our name as this allows the players to continue participating in the Philippines Football League and hopefully also in the AFC Cup for the 2020 season,” stated Eric Gottschalk, CEO of MMC Sportz Asia.

“We will now immediately apply for permission with the PFF to re-name the Club to “United City Football Club” and request the PFF to support our statement of intent to continue participating in the AFC Cup”, states Gottschalk.

“We would like to honor the legacy which Mr. Yanson created when he founded the Ceres Negros Club and we will try to continue the development of Philippines football, especially the professional league and the National Team.”

We will make additional announcements regarding the players and staff that have already committed to join the new team and give a clear insight into the new ownership structure in the coming days. We believe transparency on all levels is key to the success of the new team and will unveil the names in due course.

“Our marketing activities are well underway, with the fans at the heart of everything we do starting with a LOGO COMPETITION, with the final decision to come from the players and the Fans.”

We are proud to also announce that we have received the commitment 16 of the original 21 registered Ceres Negros players (not including James Younghusband who has retired recently from football), to play for the new Club with more details to be shared in the coming days”.

“We are also retaining almost the entire staff around General Manager Ace Bright, and it is our intent to have Coach Risto return as the Head Coach. The aim is to keep the team and staff together as much as possible, and allow them the well-deserved chance to continue to play football amid all the challenges that everyone has been facing”