Chinese Taipei Football Association officials handed out team awards and individual honors at a ceremony on Monday, with Taipei Tatung capturing the Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL) title, while Taichung Blue Whale claimed the crown in the women’s Mulan League.
Taipei Tatung, who racked up 17 wins, three draws, and one loss this season for 54 points, also received a NT$700,000 check.
Kaohsiung Taipower finished a distant second on 44 points after 13 wins, five draws and three losses.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Football Association
Taipei Tatung star striker Marc Fenelus hit 27 goals to win the Golden Boot Award for a second consecutive season after he scored 38 goals last year.
The Turks and Caicos Islands international also received a NT$100,000 check.
Fenelus began playing in Taiwan in September 2015, when he signed for Taipei Tatung, and he has represented the Turks and Caicos Islands in three World Cup qualification games, as well as at the 2014 Caribbean Cup.
Taipei Tatung’s Chiang Mu-tsai took home the Manager of the Year award.
Chiang, a former Taiwan national team manager, has been at Taipei Tatung since 1988, leading the team to five championship titles in the past three decades.
“For next year, our target is to defend this championship title again. I want to thank Tatung for its continued support and for providing funds for us to sign overseas players,” Chiang said.
Taipei Tatung and Kaohsiung Taipower are eligible to enter the qualification round for next year’s AFC Cup, but their participation has hit a snag.
“Our team got all the papers ready for the registration and we were looking forward to making a run in the AFC Cup, but CTFA officials of the old regime [prior to an election last month] did not submit the required papers to the AFC before the deadline, so we did not get registered in time,” Chiang told reporters.
The result of the Golden Glove Award for best goalkeeper was perceived by many as an upset, as Chiu Yu-hung of Kaohsiung Taipower took the honor, beating Taipei Tatung’s Pan Wen-chieh.
A regular for the national team in the past two years, Pan had replaced Chiu in goal for Taiwan.
Taichung Lions, Royal Blues Taipei and National Sports Training Center finished in the bottom three and are set to face-off in a relegation battle later this month to determine which two stay in the TFPL.
In the Mulan Football League, Taichung Blue Whale defeated Taipei PlayOne 2-0 in both legs of a playoff to claim the title.
Blue Whale, Taipei PlayOne and Hualien finished in the top three in the regular-season with 30, 27 and 24 points respectively after 12 matches.
Blue Whale forward Lee Hsiu-chin scored in each of the playoff matches and topped the regular-season scoring chart with 15 goals to claim the Golden Boot Award and a NT$100,000 check.
Liao Wen-chi of Inter Taipei picked up the Golden Glove Award.
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