The 2021 Philippines Football League season was planned to commence in late 2021 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] and was eventually replaced by the league cup tournament, the 2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara.
The success of the Copa, as well as the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the return of fans, prompted the league season to resume in August.
While all matches were held at the PFF National Training Center for the 2020 season, matches are played in the home stadiums of the PFL clubs for the 2022 season, with plans to allow fans back after the success of the 2022 Copa Paulino Alcantara.
While the 2020 edition was held under closed-circuit format to limit the spread of COVID-19, this season marks the first time since 2019 that the league reverts to a home-and-away Round-robin tournament, with all teams playing each other 4 times, for a total of 24 matches.
Two potential new entries in the 2022 season were LAOS (Leyte Association of Organized Sports), who last competed in the 2016 United Football League, and new club Rapids F.C.
[9][10] The two clubs started their license application process at the same time as Dynamic Herb Cebu.
United City plan to hold their future home matches in their "field of dreams" in Pampanga while Mendiola 1991 will build their stadium in Taytay, Rizal.
This is in line with the upcoming AFC regulations that allow for more foreigners to be signed by clubs.
However, only 4 foreign players can be registered in the starting 11 during a matchday, with one of them being from an AFC member nation.
The window lasted from 1 January 2023 to 26 March 2023, with the initial deadline for registered squads set on February 9.