In the first year of an expanded eight-team league, the Mulan League turned in arguably its most exciting ever finish as Hang Yuan finished the season as champions for the first time ever. The Taipei-based outfit did it the hard way, having lost star striker, Pu Hsin-hui to injury and were forced to overtake Kaohsiung Attackers in the final couple of weeks in the season.

Indeed, the ongoing duel between Hang Yuan and Kaohsiung both defined the season and also represented a very exciting future for Taiwan’s womens league. Both sides played excellent football throughout the year, which culminated in a thrilling 1-0 for Kaohsiung back in March. At that point, Hang Yuan could have folded at that point but instead they kept pace with their rivals and eventually closed out their title run.

Key to their eventual championship was the team’s roster strength. Even after Pu went down with a long-term during Taiwan’s AFC Finals run during the spring, the side was able to fill the gaps and find goals elsewhere. Strikers He Jia-shiuan and teenager Chen Yu-chin each played eighteen games for Hang Yuan and helped steady the line-up in the last few weeks of the season. Critically, Chen had the opening goal and then an assist in the last game of the season against AC Taipei.

But it would be naive not to acknowledge that Hang Yuan’s difference makers were their overseas stars from Japan. Defender Moe Ota led the team in minutes and started almost every game this year and her experience at the back alongside Taiwanese national team players like Teng Pei-lin was huge. Further up the lines, midfielders Miwa Tanaka, former Japanese youth international, Kano Miyamoto and midseason arrival, Kotomi Nitta. Combined together, the three imports supplied eighteen goals and fourteen assists. In particular, Tanaka was a revelation as the team’s no.10 and her ability to move into space and create something arguably made her the league’s most impactful player. If she can be persuaded to stay in Taiwan for a couple more years, she would undoubtably be a top target for nationalization and would join a couple of other Japanese-born players into the national side.

So for now, Hang Yuan will be celebrating but behind the scenes, the CTFA will also be thrilled at how well the new-look league format has turned out. Three excellent teams in Hang Yuan, Kaohsiung and Taichung Blue Whale plus a couple of improving sides in Hualien, Taichung Sakura and AC Taipei mean that the league is in good health and has a bevy of teams that could win the league in 2027.

Photo Credit: Hang Yuan IG