KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) held Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) to a goalless draw as the curtain fell on the 9th Pakistan Premier Football League here at the KPT Stadium on Tuesday.
KRL, who had already emerged as champions, concluded their fantastic journey with 71 points from 30 matches.
Their splendid run included 21 wins and eight drawn encounters. They tasted defeat only once when they were beaten by Muslim FC 1-0 in their away game in Chaman.
This is the third time for KRL to wear the crown. They also won the 2009 and 2011 editions.
Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) ended as the runners-up, for the first time in history, with 62 points thanks to a better goal average than Chaman’s Muslim FC who also ended at 62 points.
Army ended fourth, followed by PAF, National Bank, Navy, PIA, Afghan FC, Baloch FC, WAPDA, Habib Bank, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL).
Faisalabad’s PMC Athletico and Lahore’s Wohaib FC were relegated as they took the lowest two seats on the table.
They will be replaced by Pak Afghan Clearing Agency (PACA) from Chaman and Faisalabad’s University FC in the top league next season.
At the end a colourful closing ceremony was held during which Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) secretary Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi was the chief guest.
Also present were PFF Director Development and Competitions Wing Commander Pervez Saeed Mir, Pakistan’s Serbian coach Zavisa Milosavljevic, KPT Sports Manager Shah Naeem Zafar and former snooker world champion Mohammad Yousuf.
The leading teams were handed over trophies and medals.
The rise of Muslim FC to the third spot was splendid as the outfit does not have any substantial support from any quarter.
The winners KRL were handed over a glittering trophy and handsome purse of Rs700,000; the runners-up KESC went away with Rs500,000; while the bronze medalists Muslim FC grabbed Rs400,000.
The fair-play trophy and Rs100,000 went to ZTBL.
The best player award of Rs150,000 went to international striker Saeed Ahmed of Muslim FC, while Rs100,000 each were given away to leading scorer Kaleemullah (KRL, 35 goals), best match commissioner Abdul Shakoor Baloch (Sindh), best referee Irshad-ul-Haq (Rawalpindi) and best goalkeeper Jaffar Khan (Army).
The best assistant referee Adnan Anjum (Okara) got Rs50,000.
In the event which spanned over four months, 240 matches were held on home and away basis.
The game between KRL and PIA did not provide much entertainment to the spectators who had thronged the stadium in large numbers to witness the last game of the league.
KRL received a heavy blow when their midfielder Bilawal-ur-Rehman fractured his thumb in the second half and was taken to hospital for treatment.
“It was a fine journey,” KRL manager Ayaz Butt told ‘The News’. “Now our main focus will be to prepare for the AFC President’s Cup. And we also plan to revamp the team by making some fresh induction to make it healthier,” Butt said.
KESC skipper Mohammad Essa termed his team’s second place finish a huge success. “It’s a great achievement and now we will try to finish at the top next season,” said Essa, a former Pakistan captain.
In 9th PPFL 2012 Kaleem Ullah of KRL is the highest Goal Scorer with 35 goals. Muhammad Rasool of KESC is second highest goal scorer with 25 goals. Third and fourth highest goal scorers are Ansar Abbas of Army and Muhammad of KPT 16 & 13 goals respectively. It is pertinent to mention here that in 9th PPFL 2012, Kaleem Ullah has made a record of 35 Goals and became Highest Goal scorer in the history of PPFL by any individual.
From 2004–2011 each player made a mark by scoring goals, in 2004 Arif Mahmood of Wapda with 20 goals, in 2005 Imran Hussain of Army 21 goals, In 2006 Arif Mahmood 12 Goals, in 2007 Arif Mahmood 21 goals, in 2008 Muhammad Rasool of KRL 22 Goals, in 2009 Arif Mahmood 20 Goals, in 2010 Arif Mahmood again scored 21 goals and in 2011 Jadeed Khan Pathan of Afghan FC scored 22 goals. It is a unique record that Arif Mahmood of Wapda, that he became 5 times highest goal scorer in the history of PPFL.
KRL is the current champion’s of 9th PPFL 2012 that make their tally to three League trophies of 2009, 2011 & 2012 whereas Wapda lead with 4 time champions of PPFL and Army 2 times.
Report written by Alam Zeb Safi [the News] and PFF Media Cell
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| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | D | P | Last 5 matches | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KRL | 30 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 65 | 15 | +50 | 71 | D D W D W | ||
| 2 | Karachi Electric | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 60 | 27 | +33 | 62 | W W L D D | ||
| 3 | Muslim | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 47 | 22 | +25 | 62 | W W W W W | ||
| 4 | Pakistan Army | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 36 | 14 | +22 | 58 | D L L W W | ||
| 5 | Pakistan Air Force | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 46 | 27 | +19 | 53 | L L L W D | ||
| 6 | National Bank | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 34 | 26 | +8 | 44 | W W D L W | ||
| 7 | Pakistan Navy | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 37 | D W L D W | ||
| 8 | Pakistan Airlines | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 36 | D W L D D | ||
| 9 | Afghan FC | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 28 | 38 | -10 | 35 | L L W L W | ||
| 10 | Baloch | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 28 | 37 | -9 | 34 | D W W D D | ||
| 11 | WAPDA | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 36 | 44 | -8 | 32 | L D L D D | ||
| 12 | Karachi Port Trust | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 34 | 44 | -10 | 32 | D D L L W | ||
| 13 | Habib Bank | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 28 | 38 | -10 | 32 | L D W W W | ||
| 14 | ZTBL | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 39 | -17 | 27 | L W D L W | ||
| 15 | PMC Athletico | 30 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 19 | 45 | -26 | 25 | D L W L L | ||
| 16 | Wohaib | 30 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 8 | 75 | -67 | 8 | L L L L L |