The 2012âÂÂ13 PFF National Men's Club Championship (also known as 2012âÂÂ13 PFFâÂÂSmart National Club Championship) was the 2nd season of the PFF National Men's Club Championship, a Filipino association football competition organized by the Philippine Football Federation.
Global Teknika were the defending champions.
On February 2, 2013, Ceres defeated PSG with a 1âÂÂ0 scoreline to win the title.
Similar to the previous tournament, the Smart National Club championships this year had cluster and regional eliminations outside of Manila and the quarterfinal matches were hosted in the provinces. There were two clusters for Luzon, one for Visayas, four for Mindanao and one for the National Capital Region. After the cluster eliminations, there was a Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao eliminations, where the top two teams advanced to the quarterfinal round along with the top 10 teams that were participating in the UFL Cup. There was another drawing of lots for the quarterfinal round and if a provincial team faced a UFL club, that game will be hosted by the provincial football associations. The Provincial Football Association (PFA) teams who made the quarterfinal round was given a transfer window to allow teams to add or drop eight players for their 25-man squad. This was done to help boost the provincial teams.
Teams played in a single round-robin format with the top teams advancing to the regional eliminations. Top two teams from each group advanced to the Round of 16, the start of the knockout stage, wherein they were joined by the top 10 UFL teams. In the Round of 16, qualified teams were divided into two groups. The top 8 UFL teams comprised the first group and the remaining two UFL teams joined the six regional qualifiers from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in the second group. Only two matches were played in Manila as the rest were played in the provinces. If a provincial team drew a UFL team, the match will be played in their turf. The top eight teams from the Round of 16 advanced to the quarterfinals, top four to the semifinals and top two to the finals.
Top two teams in Mindanao joined top two teams of Luzon, top two teams from Visayas and top ten United Football League teams for the round of 16 which started on 12 January 2012. The tournament will also serve as a qualifying process of teams which have plans to join the countryâÂÂs premier football league â the United Football League (UFL).
Member Associations (MA) of the Philippine Football Federation organized their own tournaments as part of Provincial Qualifying Rounds to determine their representatives to the group stages.
Top ten teams of the 2012 UFL Cup from National Capital Region F.A. moved to the knockout stages.
<sup>1</sup> Competing as a guest club in the UFL; General Trias International FC is a member of Cavite Football Association. <br> <sup>2</sup> Competing as a Division 1 club in the UFL; Stallion is a member of Iloilo Football Association.
North, Central and South Luzon cluster eliminations were held in La Trinidad, Benguet on October 17, 2012.
Southeast Luzon cluster eliminations were held in Naga City
Visayas region with its lone cluster held its regional elimination in San Carlos City.
Iloilo Football Association and Negros Oriental Football Association withdrew participation later on.
Ceres and Cebu Queen City United qualified for the knockout stages.
Mindanao hosted the most number of cluster elimination rounds, taking place in Malaybalay on 17 October 2012 while South Cotabato and Dipolog commenced thereafter. Davao City commenced their qualification matches earlier, on October 3, 2012. 16 football associations in the Mindanao region took part.
North Mindanao cluster was held in Malaybalay City.
Central Mindanao cluster was held in South Cotabato.
South Mindanao cluster was held in Davao City.
West Mindanao cluster was held in Dipolog.
Games were played in single round-robin format where winners and runners-up advanced to the next round.
All times are Philippine Standard Time (PST) â .
Luzon will stage their regional eliminations in Laguna. Winners and runners-up from both Luzon clusters will advance to the All-Luzon Championship and will compete in single-round robin format.
<sup>3</sup> No data.
Mindanao will stage their regional eliminations in Davao City. Winners from the four Mindanao clusters will advance to the All-Mindanao Championship and will compete in single-round robin format.
Advocates FC back out at the last minute, leaving three clubs in the regional eliminations.
The draw for the qualified teams from regional qualifiers was made at the Philippine Football Federation headquarters on 7 December 2012. Knock-out stages was held starting January 19, 2013.
All times are Philippine Standard Time (PST) â .
Top Goal Scorers starting Round of 16.
<small>Correct as of 21:00, February 2, 2013</small>
The following were the competitionâÂÂs top individual awardees.