Philippine Air Force

Early years

Historically, the Philippine Air Force has been one of the most successful football clubs in the Philippines. The Air Force Team started way back in the 60s, along with the other armed forces teams in the Philippines – the Philippine Army and Philippine Navy football clubs. For the longest time, the various football teams of the Armed Forces of the Philippines were the best clubs in the country. They are the so-called "big three" of Philippine football. For three decades(the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and early 2010s), they have dominated the Philippine club footballing landscape; they won most of the major football tournaments in the country during that period. During the absence of a real professional football league, the armed forces teams allowed many talented local footballers to extend their careers as feeders for the national team.

Philippine Air Force first got promoted to the First Division in 1971, beating Araneta U in their Promotion playoff match during the 1970–71 PFA Cup major soccer series.

Glory years (1977–1993)

Philippine Air Force dethroned San Miguel Corp. Braves as the strongest team in the land in 1977. The Airmen were led by the swift forward Roberto Benavides, nicknamed Beep-beep Bitoy after a cartoon character, playmaker Polly Arenal and rugged defenders led by Eddie Dumago, Conrado Tolentino, Pepsi de la Cruz, and Pancho Zulla plus gusty goalkeeper Noe Doctora. Benavides was instrumental in starting the Air Force's championship tradition in the 1970s along with Doctora and de la Cruz; they led the Philippine Air Force team's first championships when the Airmen won back-to-back Lobregat Cup titles in 1977 and 1978. Since then, the Airmen have been a force to reckon with in local competitions. The Philippine Air Force team in the 80s was managed by Lopi Pascual, who became the Philippine Football Federation President. San Miguel pirated some Air Force players. Pascual and coach Bertie Guanzon, always looking for talent, found Elmer "Lacknet" Bedia, who scored the winning goal that stunned San Miguel in the 1979 National Cup at Ugarte Field in Makati. During the 1980 National League, Air Force was suspended for one year after a brawl with E Razon Inc.

As the economic recession hit in 1983, commercial teams folded, and the military, upon Pascual's urging, recruited top players to sustain competition. The military's presence and the later Coke Go For Goal Program sustained football. The Air Force squad reigned in the National Men's Open Championship five times in the '80s and '90s.

The club participated in the 1993–94 edition of the Asian Cup Winners' Cup as the sole representative of the Philippines. The club, which qualified for the tournament as winners of the Ugarte Cup, was led by head coach Noel Casilao. They lose in the two-legged match against Japanese side Nissan with an aggregated score of 0–6. Their first match against the Japanese club was held in Japan, where they lost 0–5.

The Airmen during the sporadic years of the country's club football history(1995–2008)

There was the P-League that ran for three years in the late 1990s. The first one was held in Manila, which failed due to a lack of interest. It was moved to Davao, then Dumaguete, where it played to packed crowds. However, the lack of funds and corporate support eventually killed the fledging league.

The Airmen, then called the Eagles, also won the only edition of the Manila Premier Football League in 1997, beating the Philippine Army Tamaraws for the title. The only season of the semi-professional Manila Premier Football League was contested by eight clubs, namely Air Force Hawks, Army Tamaraws, Navy Dolphins FC, Alabang United, España United ("Tigers"), Loyola FC ("Falcons"), Mendiola United and Taft FC.

In 1999, 15 teams participated and played in Dumaguete during the second P-League relaunched. NCR-B, consisting of Navy and Air Force players, beat Davao in the final to win the title in the 3rd P-League edition.

In 2001, during the Army-Utilco Invitational Football Cup(1st edition), the Air Force beat Navy FC, 5–1, in their Third-place match. Also during that year, the Philippine Air Force pulled off an exciting 2–1 victory over the Navy to capture the Third Globe Super Cup football crown. The Airmen soared and banked on the heroics of national player Yanti Barsales in bagging the championship on top of the top cash prize ₱50,000. During that Globe Super Cup finals, Barsales received a 35-yard pass from a direct free kick by teammate Edsel Bracamonte, the enterprising striker booted in the marginal goal in the 75th minute from point-blank following a goalmouth scramble to seal the Seamen's fate.

In 2002, Philippine Air Force representing NCR lost in the PFF National Cup Finals 2–1 to a Negros Occidental FA representative team 2–1.

In 2003, Philippine Air Force avenged their loss to the Negros Occidental FA representative team, beating West Negros College – 1–0 in the Adidas Lightning Football National Finals held at the University of St. La Salle Football Field in Bacolod.

The Air Force did not join the Filipino Premier League in 2008, opting to stay at the Terry Razon Cup, which was similar to the FPL but had more teams with eleven. The PFF declared that the teams in the Terry Razon Cup could not play in the FPL (although the NCRFA, which ran the Razon Cup, allowed teams to cross). Rival Philippine Army won the only edition of the Filipino Premier League.