Nickname(s) The Voltes Website Club home page Head coach Yu Hoshide | 2016 4th Manager Yu Hoshide Founded 2009 | |
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Full name Japan Philippines Voltes Football Club Corporation League Philippines Football League | ||
Japan Philippines Voltes Football Club, formerly known as Manila All-Japan Football Club and commonly known as JP Voltes Football Club, is an association football club based in the city of Manila, Philippines that currently plays in the Philippines Football League, the highest level of Philippine club football. The team consists of Japanese and Filipino players. It is one of the founding members of the United Football League in 2009, where the team played in UFL Division 2 and later in the only division of the league following the merger of UFL Division 1 and 2 in 2016.
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In the 2015 United Football League Division 2 season, the team achieved promotion to the United Football League First Division by winning the 2015 promotion/relegation play-off, allowing them to play in the Philippines' top flight for the first time in its history.
The name of JP Voltes FC was derived from the mecha anime series, Voltes 5 which was popular in the Philippines. Its name was also inspired from the word "Vortex". The club is registered as a corporation.
History
JP Voltes' history can be traced as early as 1993, when a football team composed of Japanese players participated the 3rd Manila Mini Soccer World Cup, a seven-a-side tournament. From 1994-1997 The team participated in the next four editions of the tournament. The standard 11-a-side format was introduced in the 1997 tournament. In 1998, the Japanese football team along with a French team and the Manila Nomads Sports Club decided to participate at the E-League (Expat League) and on the next year the Japanese team registered with the E-League as the Manila All Japan FC.
In 2000, the E-League became under the Philippine Football Federation and was renamed the United Football League (U-League). In 2009 the United Football League (UFL) was launched as a semiprofessional league. Manila All Japan joined inaugural season of the league. The club started from the league's second division. At the inaugural season there is no foreign player cap and the club fielded a Japanese-majority squad.
In 2013, the club began to accept more Filipino players since a foreign player cap was imposed by the UFL. As part of Manila All Japan's club to earn a place in UFL Division 1, in 2014 the club was split into two - MAJ FC and Manila All Japan FC, with the latter focusing on expatriate players. Manila All Japan FC, participated in the Weekend Football League while MAJ FC remained in the UFL. MAJ FC was renamed as JP Voltes in late 2015 and managed to secure a promotion after finishing second place and winning a playoff match. The UFL merges its two divisions and JP Voltes participated in the now single-division football league. They finished fourth.
JP Voltes was confirmed in December 2016 to be among the participating clubs in the inaugural season of the Philippines Football League. They plan to use Baguio or Marikina as their home venue. Previously they considered the cities of Biñan or Iloilo City for their home.
Current squad
As of 19 February 2017Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.