2019 Ceres–Negros F.C. season

After winning their second consecutive league title in the previous season, Ceres–Negros participated in the qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Champions League.[1] However, before the competitions began, veteran players Patrick Reichelt and Manuel Ott left the club.[2] The notable pre-season signing was Philippines national team defender Álvaro Silva, who previously played under Risto Vidaković at Cádiz.[3] On February 5, Ceres began their campaign by hosting Myanmar National League champions Yangon United for the preliminary round 1, to whom they lost 2–1. As such, they were relegated to the group stage of the AFC Cup, the second-tier competition of Asian club football.[1][4]

In the AFC Cup, Ceres–Negros were in Group G alongside Vietnamese Cup winners Becamex Bình Dương, Myanmar National League runners-up Shan United, and Indonesian Liga 1 champions Persija Jakarta.[5] Ceres topped their group by winning all but one of their group matches, losing their last match—at home to Becamex Bình Dương 1–0.[6][7] Their notable group match was the comeback win away to Persija Jakarta on April 23. After a goalless first half, Ceres were down by two goals at the 57th minute until Miguel Tanton and Bienvenido Marañón managed to equalize. Mike Ott then scored the winning goal in injury time, ending the match 3–2.[8]

In the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals, Ceres faced V.League 1 champions Hà Nội who topped Group F.[9] The first leg, played at Panaad on June 18, ended in a 1–1 draw.[10] Ceres went on to lose the second leg in Hanoi on June 25, with a score of 2–1 (3–2 on aggregate), thus failing to make their third consecutive ASEAN Zonal final.[11] Although they were eliminated, Bienvenido Marañón was awarded as AFC Cup top scorer at the end of the season, with 10 goals in eight matches.[12]

In the domestic level, Ceres were supposed to participate in the Philippine Premier League (PPL)—the new top-tier league as the Philippines Football League (PFL) was dissolved after the troubled 2018 season, which Ceres won.[13] However, the PPL was also plagued with numerous issues, with Stallion Laguna and Global Makati withdrawing a day before the season commenced. Ceres later withdrew after the first matchday (in which they were not scheduled to play), and later the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) decided to withdraw its sanction of the PPL thus dissolving the league.[14]

The PFF then decided to revive the PFL for a third season.[15] Ceres' opening PFL fixture was at the Rizal Memorial Stadium against Stallion Laguna on May 25, which ended in a 2–2 draw.[16] On May 29, they earned their first league win of the season at the expense of debutants Philippine Air Force, 5–0.[17] The next day, Kevin Ingreso left the club; he played three and a half years with Ceres.[18] On June 28, notable pre-season signing Álvaro Silva announced his surprise departure.[19] While on July 4, Martin Steuble, who captained Ceres since 2017, left the club to join Port of the Thai League 1.[20][21] Despite the loss of several key players, Ceres continued to win their matches with Carli de Murga as the new captain.[22] They notably thrashed Philippine Air Force 12–0 on July 13, the league's largest home win of the season.[23]

In the midseason transfer window, Ceres made three notable signings: Senegalese striker Robert Lopez Mendy, who was the PFL's top scorer in 2018 with Kaya–Iloilo,[24] Philippines national team midfielder James Younghusband, and Japanese midfielder Takashi Odawara.[25] On August 28, Ceres thrashed Global Makati 13–0 away, the league's largest margin of victory in the season.[26] On September 28, a 1–1 draw with Stallion Laguna ended Ceres' winning streak at 17 games.[27] After winning the subsequent fixtures, Ceres secured their third consecutive league title by defeating Green Archers United 3–1 on October 12, with two matches to spare.[28] After winning the two remaining games, Ceres completed a historic unbeaten season with a total of 22 wins and 2 draws (68 points).[29][30] Goalkeeper Roland Müller won the season's Golden Glove while midfielder Stephan Schröck won the Golden Ball. With 30 goals, striker Bienvenido Marañón was the Golden Boot runner-up behind Kaya's Jordan Mintah, who scored 31.[29]

After failing to progress from the group stage in 2018, Ceres were determined to win the 2019 edition of the Copa Paulino Alcantara.[31][32] They were drawn in Group A alongside Mendiola, Green Archers United, and Philippines U22 (who are participating in preparation for the Southeast Asian Games[33]).[34] In their first group match, they were held to a 2–2 draw by Mendiola.[35] This was followed by wins over the two other clubs as Ceres topped the group.[36] In the semi-finals, they defeated Group B runners-up Stallion Laguna 4–3 to earn their first ever finals appearance.[37][38] On November 16, Ceres faced defending champions Kaya–Iloilo in the final. Ceres won the match 2–1, completing their domestic double.[39][40] Ceres won the final despite having only 14 players available in their squad, as the others were either resting or on international duty. Head coach Risto Vidaković was also absent for the final, thus it was assistant coach Jooc Treyes who managed the team.[40] The Copa's individual awards were all won by Ceres players: striker Robert Lopez Mendy, who scored five goals in the tournament, won the Golden Boot, goalkeeper Roland Müller won the Golden Glove, and midfielder Takashi Odawara won the Golden Ball for his defensive performances.[41][42] With the Copa win, Ceres finished their 2019 season without a single defeat in domestic competitions.[42]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

In

Date	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	From	Type	Ref.
Pre-season
January 21, 2019	MF		Dylan de Bruycker	21	Davao Aguilas	Free transfer	[47]
January 21, 2019	MF		Angélo Marasigan	26	Global Cebu	Free transfer	[47]
January 21, 2019	MF		Miguel Tanton	29	Kaya–Iloilo	Free transfer	[47]
January 21, 2019	DF		Dennis Villanueva	26	Davao Aguilas	Free transfer	[47]
January 29, 2019	GK		Ronilo Bayan Jr.	24	Davao Aguilas	Free transfer	[48][49]
January 29, 2019	DF		Álvaro Silva	34	Kedah	Free transfer	[50][49]
February 21, 2019	GK		Florencio "Jun" Badelic Jr.	24	Global Cebu	Free transfer	[51]
February 21, 2019	FW		Mahir Karić	32	Olimpik	Free transfer	[51]
Mid-season
July 19, 2019	FW		Robert Lopez Mendy	32	Uitm		[52]
July 2019	FW		Charles Barberan		University of St. La Salle		[52]
July 2019	MF		Tristan Robles		University of St. La Salle		[52]
August 2019	MF		Takashi Odawara	26	Unattached	Free transfer	[53]
August 15, 2019	MF		James Younghusband	32	Unattached	Free transfer	[25]

Out

Date	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	To	Type	Ref.
Pre-season
January 23, 2019	MF		Manuel Ott	26	Ratchaburi Mitr Phol	Free transfer	[2][54]
January 23, 2019	FW		Patrick Reichelt	30	Melaka United	Free transfer	[2]
January 29, 2019	DF		Jerry Barbaso	30	Unattached		[47]
January 29, 2019	GK		Toni Doblas	38	Unattached		[48]
February 20, 2019	DF		Amani Aguinaldo	23	PKNP	Loan out	[55]
	GK		Eduard Sacapaño		Retired
Mid-season
May 30, 2019	MF		Kevin Ingreso	26	Buriram United	Transfer	[18]
June 28, 2019	DF		Álvaro Silva	35	Suphanburi	Transfer	[19][56]
July 4, 2019	DF		Martin Steuble	31	Port	Transfer	[20]
July 17, 2019	FW		Curt Dizon	25	Chonburi	Transfer	[57]
July 2019	FW		Mahir Karić	32	Radnik Bijeljina	Released	[52]
August 15, 2019	MF		Omid Nazari	28	Persib Bandung	Transfer	[58]
	MF		Paul Mulders	38	Unattached	Released
	FW		Blake Powell	28	Unattached	Released

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