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Manila Nomads Sports Club

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Manila Nomads
Full nameManila Nomads Sports Club 1914
NicknameThe Nomads
Short name
  • Manila Nomads
  • Nomads Sports Club
  • Nomads SC
  • Nomads
Founded1914; 110 years ago (1914)
Home groundPaco Park, Manila (1914-1949)
Pasay Road-EDSA, Makati (1950-1968)
Merville, Parañaque (1969-2017)
San Lazaro Leisure Park, Carmona (2017)
Carmona, Makati (present)
Colours        White, Green, Black, Grey
ChairmanJena Fetalino
Uniforms
Home
Away

Manila Nomads Sports Club, also known as Nomads Sports Club, Nomads SC or simply Manila Nomads and Nomads, is a Filipino sports club now based in Carmona, Makati, Philippines. For much of the club's history, its beginnings and roots were situated within the city of Manila at the Paco Park from 1914 to 1949 and around Metro Manila, with its former grounds in the metropolis located, again, in Makati from 1950 to 1968 and at the Merville area in Parañaque from 1969 to 2017.

The Manila Nomads Sports Club is the oldest active multi-sport club in the Philippines, starting its involvements in sports continuosly since 1914 and is parent to a number of different departments including football, rugby sevens, cricket, tennis, squash, and lawn bowls. The sports club is mostly known for its activities in football and rugby.

Its men's football team, established in 1914, is now the oldest and last selection of the teams that partecipated in the first National Championships, since it started in 1911. Nomads is also the third ever club to win the Philippines National Football Championship in 1914. The team, however, last played in the now-defunct United Football League, the highest level of Philippine club football in which, in 2011, the Nomads football team won it's second division after being the runner-up in 2010. Nomads SC also took part in the United Football League domestic cup and in the PFF National Men's Club Championship. The Nomads saw their last involvement in the league and cup in 2016, which were also their last edition, but is yet to partecipate in the Philippines Football League. The women's football team is also one of the club's most supervised department as the Philippines women's national football team, with the win in the 2022 AFF Women's Championship, the results obtained in the Asian Cup and the first ever partecipation in the World Cup sparked more interest and engagement in the sport. The Nomads organized a team that is now competing in the PFF Women's League and in the PFF Women's Cup.

Rugby, like football is a staple for Nomads SC, as it is one of the main promoters of the sport. The Club, thanks to its efforts, was one of the factors for the birth of the Philippine Rugby Football Union in 1998. The club host one of the oldest and most popular rugby 10s tournaments in Asia, the Manila 10s International Rugby Festival and is working to get more local players involved in the sport. Nomads has its own team in rugby, for both men's and women's, called Manila Nomads Rugby Club and compete in both rugby 7s and rugby 15s. The club also boasts a number of representatives in the Philippine Volcanoes national team, the Philippine Residents XV, and the National Development Team (for Philippine Heritage players).[1]

History

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Nomad Sports Club 1914

Manila Nomads Sports Club was founded in 1914 by members of the Manila Club which primarily was a club for Britons and the oldest existing club in the country. James Walker Cairns, who was born in Scotland in 1870 was the first president of the sports club and served the position from 1914 to 1934. The FIFA Book of Record, lists the football team of Manila Nomads as one of the first Philippine Football Champion, winning the local league in 1914, the same year of its foundation and pioneered football in the country. The initial site of the club was built near the Manila Club on the corner of Marquins de Comillas and Padre Faura next to the Paco Cemetery. World War II interrupted the activities of the club.[2][3]

The facilities of the Manila Club were destroyed during the Liberation of Manila. After the war the Nomads used the grounds for their activities and were involved with the rebuilding of the Manila Club, which is now occupied by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. It was proposed for the Manila Club and Manila Nomads to be merged but did not push through with the plan after members decided on the matter during a general meeting of the Manila Club.[3]

On 14 January 1949, the Nomads Sports Club was registered as a non-profit corporation in accordance to the Philippine law. In 1949/50, a new ground and clubhouse of the Nomads was constructed in Makati, near the corner of current Pasay Road and EDSA. In the 1960s, the club looked for another location after an offer to sell the property to the club was declined by the Board of Directors of the Nomads.[3]

The sports club moved to Merville in 1969[3] on a land leased to them by Emilio Nery.[4] The facility was improved upon with the addition of two tennis courts in 1977, a junior Olympic size swimming pool and changing room was added in 1981 as a result of a joint venture with the British School, the first and only lawn bowls green in the Philippines was added in 1988.[3]

After the death of Emilio Nery, his heirs expressed interest to sell the land with Manila Nomads reportedly had the first right to purchase the property. The club has raised funds to purchase the Merville grounds but the land was sold to Multisphere Trading of businessman Kishore Hemlani who legally challenged Nomad's claim on the land and won forcing the club to move out of Merville.[4]

In 2016, the forced closure of the Nomad's grounds was announced. The last event held in the venue was a rugby match at the 2016 SPI 15s league grand final between the Nomads and the Alabang Eagles Rugby Club where the latter won over the former, 24–16.[5] By early 2017, the club has moved to the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite home to another historical institution, Manila Jockey Club. The two historical clubs partnered together and organized the annual Manila 10’s International Rugby Tournament, which was supposed to be held in Parañaque before the Nomads were forced out.[6] The club then returned to Makati, in Carmona where it established its sporting and recreation facility at the circuit site.

Football

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Men's football team

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An early Nomads team photo

The men's football team of Manila Nomads is the oldest section of the sports club, having partecipated in the first editions of the Philippines National Championships in the first decades of the 20th century and pioneered the sport alongside Manila Jockey Club (1900s), Manila Sporting Club (1906), Sandow Athletic Club (1906), Bohemian Sporting Club (1910) and Aurora Athletic Club (1910s).[7][8]

Philippines National Championship

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Nomads SC saw the debut of its football team in the Philippines National Championship in the same year of its foundation in 1914. Nomads, in that same year, was already able to establish itself as the top team in the country dethroning the back to back champions Bohemian SC and became the third ever club to be crowned as "Filipino football champions" in Philippines history, after All Manila (1911) and Boheman (1912).[9]The Nomads, however, were not able to repeat their feats in those early years but were joined and teamed-up with, Filipino legend, Virgilio Lobregat in the late 1920s.

United Football League

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Manila Nomads was one of the founding members of the United Football League and played in both divisions since the league started as a semi-professional football league in 2009.

Nomads started its new chapter in football in the second division of the UFL. The team finished second in the UFL Division 2 in 2010 while in the 2010 UFL Cup Nomads was able to advance from the group stage but were stopped by Philippine Army F.C.. After coming up short in the in the previous season, the Nomads won the title in the 2011 season, finishing the season with 37 points in 14 games and were promoted to the UFL Division 1 along with Stallion FC and Pasargad FC. in the cup the Nomads topped their group and advanced to the quarter-finals before being stopped by Kaya FC.

In the 2012 season, Nomads returned to what was considered the top flight football competition in the Philippines after years of absence. The club, coached by Michael Denison ended the season in the 7th position of the table with 19 points in 18 games. In the 2013 season, the club finished 8th in the table.

However, before the start of the 2014 season, Manila Nomads chose to self-relegate to the second division due to a new 5-foreign player cap rule, being a team that consists mainly of expats. They decided not to participate of the league tournament of the 2015 season to build a roster that would comply with the newly imposed regulation. They participated in the 2015 UFL Cup finishing at the bottom 16 but advanced to the play-offs following Global's disqualification.[10]

They returned to the 2016 season and participated at the 2016 UFL Cup. For the 2016 edition it was mandated that there would be no guest teams at the UFL Cup, and all participants are to enter the league competition.

Home venue

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Manila Nomads men's played its home games at the Nomads Field in Parañaque, which has a capacity of 3,000 spectators.

Records

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Season Division Tms. Pos. PFF NMCC UFL Cup FA LC FA Cup UFL PSC
2010 2 8 2nd Group Stage
2011 2 8 1st Quarter-finals
2012 1 10 7th Quarter-finals
2013 1 10 8th Round of 16 Group Stage 4th
2014 2 12 7th
2015 Did Not Partecipate Round of 16
2016 1 12 8th Group Stage
Key
  • Tms. = Number of teams
  • Pos. = Position in league
  • TBD = To be determined
  • DNQ = Did not qualify

Note: Performances of the club indicated here was after the UFL created (as a semi-pro league) in 2009.

Honors

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Type Competition Titles Seasons
Domestic Philippines National Championship 1 1914[9]
UFL Division 2 1S 2011
  •   Record
  • S Shared record

Other

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Women's

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Cricket

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Cricket has been played in the Nomads since the club's inception. The Manila Nomads hosts the only grassed cricket-playing arena in Manila. The Philippines Cricket Association has its official base within the sports club's grounds.[11]

Other sports

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Badminton, Tennis, Squash and Lawn Bowls are other sports accommodated by Manila Nomads.

References

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  1. ^ "Rugby".
  2. ^ "Lifestyle". BusinessWorld. 23 January 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e "History". Nomads Sports Club. Archived from the original on 16 March 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b Guerrero, Bob (21 June 2016). "Why we should care about the fate of Nomads Sports Club". Rappler. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Alabang Eagles Rugby Club retains local SPI League championship". The Manila Times. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Rugby: Manila 10s finds new home at San Lazaro Leisure Park". ABS-CBN News. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  7. ^ Ylanan, Regino R.; Carmen Wilson Ylanan (1974). The history and development of physical education and sports in the Philippines. University of the Philippines Press. p. 57. OCLC 255309206.
  8. ^ Alcazaren, Paulo (9 April 2011). "The first & future Azkals". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  9. ^ a b Schöggl, Hans. "Philippines – List of Champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  10. ^ Saldajeno, Ivan (13 August 2015). "Nomads set to return to UFL next season". Dugout Philippines. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Sports – Cricket". Retrieved 5 August 2015.
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