It took until the final day of the season to be completely sure but Tainan City FC are the Taiwanese Premier League champions for an incredible sixth season in a row. 

Similar to the tight finish in the Mulan League, Taiwan’s top mens league stayed highly competitive for most of the season as three contenders gradually emerged. At various points in the year, Tainan, Hang Yuan and AC Taipei all sat in first place but by week seven of the season, it would be the Hawks who established themselves at the top and never fell back. 

With the top three sides separated by just five points and the top two (Tainan and Hang Yuan) only separated by three, there was little margin for error. So it helped that Tainan posted what is probably the best strike partnership in the league in the form of Taiwanese international Jhon Benchy and Brazilian Matheus Porto. The duo combined for twenty goals as their side’s goals difference was comfortably the best in the league.

A veteran group of defenders, many of whom are former or current Taiwan national team players such as Fong Shao-Chi, Kuo Po-Wei, Wang Ruei and keeper, Pan Wen-Chieh were also vital for the Hawks having the second best defensive record.

All of this means that Tainan may well be good to keep this run going for a seventh year in a row. Pan, the oldest of the team’s Taiwanese core, will be 34 next year and everyone else will presumably want to remain with the side in the hope of more medals. The only red flag is Porto, whose contract expires at the end of the month. Among the best players in Taiwan for the last two year, the playmaker will have offers elsewhere in Asia, presumably including a return to Hong Kong, where he played previously.

However, even if Porto does leave, Tainan’s transfer acumen and local roster will mark them out as the favorites to repeat as champions once again for the 26/27 season.

Photo Credit: CTFA