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| United Clark FC co-owner Eric Gottschalk and Bases Conversion Development Authority President and CEO Vivencio B. Dizon holding the forged memorandum of agreement with a smile. (Image Source: Interaksyon.com) |
Reigning Philippines Football League (PFL) champion United City FC has been officially renamed United Clark for the league's upcoming and future seasons after forging an agreement with the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) to have the Clark Freeport Zone in Angeles City, Pampanga as the site of its new stadium. Formerly known as Ceres Negros FC before a group of investors led by Eric Gottschalk bought the team from the Yanson family in 2020, United Clark will be the third active regional sports team in the province of Pampanga following the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's Pampanga Giant Lanterns and the National Basketball League's Pampanga Delta.
"This is a historic day for all of us within the organization as we are finally able to announce Clark as our permanent home. This has been in the works for several months, and we would like to thank Vivencio B. Dizon, president and CEO (chief executive officer) of BCDA, and his team for their support in bringing professional football to Clark," said Gottschalk. "Our move to Pampanga has a lot to do with the already existing sports mentality within the community, especially the love for football," he added. Regarding plans for the construction of United Clark's new permanent home, he stated, "We have already identified a prime location, and we are just waiting to complete the paperwork before the plot will also be announced."
In an interview with Philippine News Agency (PNA), the Dubai-based German businessman bared that the new stadium will be built near the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport and is expectedly slated to open before the end of 2023. For the meantime, the club will use the New Clark City Football Stadium in Capas, Tarlac as its temporary home. United Clark plans to hold its inaugural friendly match on early August which can serve as its main preseason clash prior to the start of its PFL title defense later within the year. The friendly match is yet to be approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force For The Management Against Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and the Philippine Football Federation. On the other hand, Gottschalk also revealed that the United Clark Football Academy is scheduled to be finished before the end of 2021.
