Taiwan Premier League set to kick off on Sunday
By Jason Pan / Contributing reporter
The Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL) is to start on Sunday, with four matches on the day, as clubs seek to dethrone Tainan City TSG as defending champions.
Eight teams are contesting the 10th season of Taiwan’s top men’s competition, with the Kaohsiung Attackers added to the roster after they won the second-division title last season, earning promotion to the top flight.
New Taipei Hang Yuan host TSG in the first game at the Fu Jen University Soccer Stadium in New Taipei City, while hosts Taichung Futuro take on the Tatung Taiwan Leopard Cats at Situn Soccer Stadium in Taichung.
Captains, coaches and Chinese Taipei Football Association officials pose for a photo at a Taiwan Football Premier League news conference in Taipei on Tuesday last week ahead of the season’s launch on Sunday.
Photo: CNA
Elsewhere, Taipower FC host Sunny Bank AC Taipei at the Nanzhih Soccer Stadium in Kaohsiung and the Attackers face Taichung Rock FC at the same ground in the evening match.
Players, coaches and officials of the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) governing body at a news conference on Tuesday last week unveiled the new season of 21 regular-season rounds, or 84 games, through May next year.
Officials said that the slogan for the season was “Beyond Limits.”
“This is an important milestone for the TFPL reaching its 10th year and we hope it will usher in a new era for Taiwan soccer,” CTFA chairman Michael Chang told the news conference.
The top men’s competition was once the national soccer league before turning semi-professional in the 1980s with the Enterprise Football League and rebranding as the Intercity Football League in 2007-2008. The TFPL launched in 2017-2018.
Chang said that the CTFA would push for more reforms, initiate new programs and plan for expansion of the TFPL.
“We are working toward adding two new teams to the current format so that 10 clubs are competing in the TFPL’s 2027-2028 season,” he said. “The plan is for each club to operate at its own home ground so it will be a full home-and-away competition,” he added.
The TFPL’s eight clubs are based in five major urban centers. Taipei (formerly the Leopard Cats), New Taipei City, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung (Taipower).
“Expanding would improve the competition and provide more opportunities for players,” Chang said. “Taiwan has many youngsters who are gaining experience at international tournaments, so the top-league TFPL is the stage for them to grow, cultivate and hone their skills, and challenge for higher honors.”
“That is the way Taiwan can sustain the future generations of soccer talent,” he added.
However, there are barriers, Chang said.
“Among the most urgent issues is the lack of fields that are up to the standard for a top-flight competition,” he said. “We must address this important task now, which requires the CTFA and all clubs to work toward upgrading pitches.”
Chang said that the sport needs more resources and funding from local governments, as well as more corporate sponsorship, citing the cost of booking certified soccer stadiums.
The Ministry of Sports should plan new stadiums dedicated to soccer, and provide more resources and funding to underwrite ground rental to reduce the financial burden on clubs, he said.
“Overall, we need more certified soccer grounds throughout Taiwan, for the men’s and women’s top-flight competitions, and also so we can host international tournaments,” he said.
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