| Season | 2018–19 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 25 September 2018 – 13 January 2019 |
| Champions | Khan Research Laboratories 5th Premier League 5thPakistani title |
| Relegated | Karachi Port Trust Baloch Nushki Ashraf Sugar Mills Pakistan Airlines |
| Matches | 182 |
| Goals | 398 (2.19 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Ansar Abbas (15 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Tanvir Mumtaz(Khan Research Laboratories) |
| Biggest home win | Pakistan Navy 6–1Baloch Nushki (7 December 2018) National Bank 5–0Baloch Nushki (19 December 2018) Pakistan Airforce 5–0Baloch Nushki (9 January 2019) |
| Biggest away win | Baloch Nushki 0–5Pakistan Army (17 November 2018) Karachi Port Trust 0–5Pakistan Army (17 December 2018) Afghan Chaman 0–5Khan Research Laboratories (23 December 2018) |
| Highest scoring | Pakistan Navy 6–1Baloch Nushki (7 December 2018) Karachi Port Trust 2–5Civil Aviation Authority (30 December 2018)[1] Sui Northern Gas 4–3Afghan Chaman (8 January 2019) |
| Longest winning run | 5 matches Khan Research Laboratories Pakistan Airforce Sui Southern Gas[2] |
| Longest unbeaten run | 13 matches Khan Research Laboratories[2] |
| Longest winless run | 26 matches Baloch Nushki[2] |
| Longest losing run | 8 matches Baloch Nushki[2] |
| Highest attendance | 15,000 Khan Research Laboratories 4–0Sui Southern Gas (13 January 2019)[3] |
The2018–19 Pakistan Premier League was the 61st season ofPakistan domestic football and the 12th season of thePakistan Premier League. It was the first edition of the league to be played since the2014–15 season.
The league was reportedly not recognised byFIFA andAFC, as it was organised by two different federations.[4][5][6]Faisal Saleh Hayat controversially-ledPakistan Football Federation, which was internationally recognised, started the league and non-FIFA recognised Ashfaq Hussain Shah group, who was elected PFF president in an election ordered by theSupreme Court a month before the termination of the season completed the event.[4][5][6]
The PPL matches for the season were held inMultan,Karachi andLahore from 25 September 2018 to 11 January 2019, with 16 teams participating (12 PPL teams and 4 winner teams of second-tier playoffs).[7] Each team would get to play each other twice, meaning in a season they would play 30 games. The bottom four teams got relegated to the second tier. The team that finished first would get qualification in theAFC Cup, butAFC denied entry of Pakistani football clubs in2019 AFC Cup because of incomplete licensing regulations due to absence of footballing activity since the end of2014-15 season.[8]
The Pakistan Premier League was reportedly not recognised byFIFA andAFC, as it was organised by two different federations.Faisal Saleh Hayat controversially-ledPakistan Football Federation, which was internationally recognised, started the league and non-FIFA recognised Ashfaq Hussain Shah group, who was elected PFF president in an election ordered by theSupreme Court a month before the termination of the season completed the event.[4][5][6] The Hayat group also initially ended the league, making final payments and forcing the referees to boycott the remaining matches.[4]
SSGC's promotion was also controversial, occurring through a one-match playoff that violated FIFA and AFC rules on team promotion and relegation.[4] Further complicating matters, one of the promoted teams, Ashraf Sugar Mills, withdrew from the league midway, citing the high costs of competing at the top level. With football effectively stalled in the country for years, SSGC took advantage by recruiting leading players from thePakistan national team.[4] Once Hayat regained his position as PFF president in March 2018, after a six-month FIFA ban, international players along with team head coachTariq Lutfi became hesitant to compete in the second division. Consequently, the PFF decided to promote four teams through a single-match playoff, bypassing the second-division league.[4] The leading clubs were also refused a spot in theAFC Cup mainly due to club licensing issues.[5]
The standard of the pitches, the refereeing and the introduction of qualifiers were also criticised along with spectators attacking a referee atMalir, and there was a lack of proper ambulance facilities. Referees also pulled out of the event when the new body took the league control.[5]
However, positive changes introduced were live streaming of matches, subsidy and introduction of match bonuses, 80 percent increase in dailies for referees and match commissioners, fine accommodation for referees and payment of ground fee by the PFF itself. The total cost of the league was 20 millionPKR.[5]
The 2018–19 Pakistan Premier Football League was staged in only three city legs rather than at individual club home grounds. TheMultan leg atQila Kohna Qasim Bagh Stadium (late Sep till early October),[9] theLahore leg primarily atPunjab Stadium (late October till November),[10] and theKarachi leg atKPT Stadium (Dec till January), with some fixtures atKMC Stadium.[10]
Baloch Quetta andPakistan Railways were relegated at the end of2014–15 season (no league was held until current season).[11]
Pakistan Navy got promoted after winning2014–15 Pakistan Football Federation League, defeatingBaloch Nushki 1–0 in the finals.[12]
Civil Aviation Authority, Sui Southern Gas Company, Ashraf Sugar Mills and Sui Northern Gas Company won their matches and promoted toPakistan Premier League.
Ashraf Sugar Mills andPakistan Airlines withdrew from league with former withdrawing after playing first phase inMultan and latter not playing a single match due to financial issues.Baloch Nushki got relegated after failing to win a single match and ended third last in relegation zone with six points from 6 draws. On 9 January 2019,Karachi Port Trust got relegated to Federation League for the first time ever, after they lost 2–0 toMuslim and 12th placedSui Northern Gas winning their game match 4–3 againstAfghan Chaman, leaving Karachi Port Trust 5 points from safe zone with only one match to play.[13]
KRL FC won the league on the final match day.Pakistan Air Force F.C. (PAF FC) were sitting at the top of table with 51 points, one point ahead ofSSGC FC and three ahead of Khan Research Laboratories, who both had to face each other on final match day. Sui Southern Gas victory would hand them the title and for Khan Research Laboratories, they to beat the Sui Southern Gas by four goals to secure the title. Khan Research Laboratories the last game of the season, defeating title contenders Sui Southern Gas 4–0, finishing first on goal difference ahead of PAF FC. This is the smallest title winning margin in the history ofPakistan Premier League, with Khan Research Laboratories winning with a goal difference of just +1, as PAF FC had a goal difference on +27 and winners Khan Research Laboratories had +28.[14]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khan Research Laboratories(C) | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 40 | 12 | +28 | 51 | |
| 2 | Pakistan Airforce | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 40 | 13 | +27 | 51 | |
| 3 | Sui Southern Gas | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 32 | 16 | +16 | 50 | |
| 4 | Pakistan Army | 26 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 38 | 19 | +19 | 46 | |
| 5 | WAPDA | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 32 | 18 | +14 | 45 | |
| 6 | K-Electric | 26 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 41 | |
| 7 | Civil Aviation Authority | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 31 | 27 | +4 | 39 | |
| 8 | National Bank | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 33 | |
| 9 | Pakistan Navy | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 33 | |
| 10 | Muslim | 26 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 16 | 17 | −1 | 28 | |
| 11 | Afghan Chaman | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 24 | 44 | −20 | 28 | |
| 12 | Sui Northern Gas | 26 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 28 | 33 | −5 | 23 | |
| 13 | Karachi Port Trust(R) | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 19 | 46 | −27 | 18 | Relegation to2020 PFF League |
| 14 | Baloch Nushki(R) | 26 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 12 | 69 | −57 | 6 |
| Home \ Away | AFG | ASM | BAL | CAA | KE | KPT | KRL | MUS | NBP | PAF | PAR | PAN | PIA | SSGC | SNGP | WAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghan Chaman | — | [a] | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–5 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 3–2 | [a] | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Ashraf Sugar Mills | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Baloch Nushki | 0–4 | [a] | — | 0–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–5 | 0–1 | [a] | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Civil Aviation Authority | 0–1 | [a] | 6–1 | — | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | [a] | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| K-Electric | 0–0 | [a] | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | [a] | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Karachi Port Trust | 0–2 | [a] | 2–2 | 2–5 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–5 | 0–1 | [a] | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Khan Research Laboratories | 3–0 | [a] | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | [a] | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Muslim | 2–0 | [a] | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | [a] | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| National Bank | 0–1 | [a] | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | [a] | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Pakistan Airforce | 2–0 | [a] | 5–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | [a] | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Pakistan Army | 1–1 | [a] | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–2 | [a] | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Pakistan Navy | 0–0 | [a] | 6–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | — | [a] | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Pakistan Airlines | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sui Southern Gas | 2–0 | [a] | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | [a] | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Sui Northern Gas | 4–3 | [a] | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | [a] | 1–2 | — | 0–0 |
| WAPDA | 2–1 | [a] | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | [a] | 1–2 | 1–0 | — |
^ a: Both Ashraf Sugar Mills andPakistan Airlines withdrew from the league.[15]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ansar Abbas | Pakistan Army | 15 |
| 2 | Muhammad Mujahid | Pakistan Air Force | 13 |
| Muhammad Naeem | Civil Aviation Authority | ||
| 3 | Muhammad Rasool | K-Electric | 12 |
| Mansoor Khan | Pakistan Air Force | ||
| 4 | Iftikhar Ali Khan | Khan Research Laboratories | 11 |
| 5 | Ahmed Faheem | WAPDA | 10 |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iftikhar Ali Khan | Khan Research Laboratories | National Bank | 3–0 (H) | 28 September 2018 | [17] |
| Ahmed Faheem | Pakistan Air Force | Pakistan Navy | 4–2 (H) | 18 October 2018 | [18] |
| Ansar Abbas4 | Pakistan Army | Baloch Nushki | 5–0 (A) | 17 November 2018 | [19] |
| Hassan Faiz | Pakistan Navy | Baloch Nushki | 6–1 (H) | 7 December 2018 | |
| Muhammad Waheed4 | Civil Aviation Authority | Karachi Port Trust | 5–2 (A) | 30 December 2018 | [20] |
4 Player scored four goals
| # | Football club | Average attendance |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | KRL FC | 1,838 |
| 2 | Muslim FC | 1,626 |
| 3 | AFC Chaman | 1,548 |
| 4 | Pakistan Army FC | 933 |
| 5 | NBP FC | 837 |
| 6 | PCAA FC | 688 |
| 7 | KPT FC | 648 |
| 8 | Pakistan Navy FC | 596 |
| 9 | K-Electric FC | 572 |
| 10 | SNGPL FC | 414 |
| 11 | WAPDA FC | 342 |
| 12 | PAF FC | 290 |
| 13 | BFC Nushki | 248 |
| 14 | SSGC FC | 158 |
