{{Short description|Pakistani football club}} <!-- Please do not remove or change this AfD message until the discussion has been closed. --> {{Article for deletion/dated|page=Higher Education Commission cricket team|timestamp=20260516111917|year=2026|month=May|day=16|substed=yes|help=off|outcome=merging|target=Higher Education Commission (Pakistan)#Sports teams}} <!-- Once discussion is closed, please place on talk page: {{Old AfD multi|page=Higher Education Commission cricket team|date=16 May 2026|result='''keep'''}} --> <!-- End of AfD message, feel free to edit beyond this point --> {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox football club | clubname = Higher Education Commission FC | image = | fullname = Higher Education Commission Football Club | nickname = | founded = | dissolved = | ground = | capacity = | chrtitle = | mgrtitle = | manager = | league = | season = | position = | current = | owner = Higher Education Commission | website = | short name = HEC }}
'''Higher Education Commission FC''', previously known as '''University Grants Commission''', serves as the football section of Higher Education Commission. The team consists of football players among Pakistan's university students. The club played in the National Football Championship, and also featured in the PFF League. It also regularly plays in other nationwide football tournaments including the National Games and National Challenge Cup.
== History == At the 1999 National Football Championship, the University Grants Commission team failed to advance past the H Group, comprising Allied Bank and Sindh Reds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 1999 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki99.html |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
At the 2001 National Football Championship, the team qualified from the group stage but fell in the round of 16 against KRL.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2001 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki01.html |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
In 2002 after institutional reforms, University Grants Commission changed its name to Higher Education Commission. At the 2003 National Football Championship, the team failed to qualify from the group stage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2003 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki03.html |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
From 2004 till 2014, the team played at the second tier PFF League, ending up unsuccessful in all their campaigns to achieve the promotion to the Pakistan Premier League.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan Second Level 2004 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki2-04.html |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2012/13 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki2012.html#pff |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan - B. Division League 2014 - Standings, Fixtures & Stats - Soccer {{!}} Global Sports Archive |url=https://globalsportsarchive.com/en/soccer/competition/b-division-league-2014/5472 |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=GSA Website |language=en}}</ref>
Following the domestic football revamp in the country in 2023, departmental clubs including Higher Education Commission remained competing in the National Football Challenge Cup, a competition the team already participated in before.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wasim |first=Umaid |date=2023-01-25 |title=Domestic football returns as Challenge Cup kicks off |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1733459 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PFF National Challenge Cup kicks off today |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1033655-pff-national-challenge-cup-kicks-off-today |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en}}</ref> At the 2023–24 National Football Challenge Cup, the team ended fourth, after losing against Pakistan Army in the third place match, and causing several upset wins against big teams such as KRL.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Correspondent |first=Our |date=2024-05-08 |title=HEC shock KRL to reach Challenge Cup semis |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1186473-hec-shock-krl-to-reach-challenge-cup-semis |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://globalsportsarchive.com/en/soccer/team/hec/20116/overview Higher Education Commission FC] at Global Sports Archive *[https://no.soccerway.com/team/higher-education-commission/vNmBelQi/ Higher Education Commission FC] at Soccerway
Category:Works football clubs in Pakistan