Copa Paulino Alcantara
| Organising body | Philippine Football Federation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 |
| Region |
 Philippines
|
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Qualifier for | AFC Cup |
 2018 Copa Paulino Alcantara
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The Copa Paulino Alcantara, also known as the PFL Cup, will be an annual association football tournament in Philippines. The cup will first be held in October 2018. It replaced the PFF National Men's Club Championship and the UFL Cup as the country's top domestic cup tournament.
Following the success of the Philippines national team in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, Philippine football experienced a renaissance. However, the country had no true national league nor a cup competition (the national cup competition was last held in 2007, to celebrate the Philippine Football Federation's centennial). To help address this issue, Smart Communications on January 2011,approached the PFF with an offer to finance a new local football competition. The proposed partnership was set to last 10 years, with Smart releasing ₱80 million in funds with the aim of providing more playing opportunities for skilled football players, and the eventual creation of a national league. Newly-installed PFF president Mariano V. Araneta subsequently approved the proposal. In March 2011, the new tournament commenced under the name PFF–Smart Men's Club Championship. However, the competition only lasted for four years, with the last edition being held in 2014–15 PFF National Men's Club Championship.
After the PFF announced the creation of a new national league, the federation confirmed that a new domestic cup competition will also be formed.
The proposed competition was tentatively named as the PFL Cup, which later became the official name but was ultimately changed into "Copa Paulino Alcantara" in March 2018, in commemoration of former FC Barcelona legend and Filipino footballer Paulino Alcántara. It was planned that the cup will be held simultaneously with the Philippines Football League regular season. However, the cup was not played in the inaugural year, in 2017, with the cup being replaced by the Finals Series, a playoff for the top teams of the regular season. Ceres–Negros F.C. won the inaugural Finals Series and the regular season.
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