Hong Kong FC (football)

The football section of Hong Kong Football Club (Abbreviation: HKFC; Chinese: 香港足球會) fields a range of teams at various age divisions in the Hong Kong leagues.[1]The first team currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League.[2]

HKFC
香港足球會
Full nameHong Kong Football Club
Nickname(s)Chinese: 港會
Short nameHKFC
FoundedFebruary 12, 1886 (1886-02-12)
GroundHong Kong Football Club Stadium
Capacity2,750
ChairmanTony Sealy
ManagerTony Hamilton-Bram
LeagueHong Kong Premier League
2020–21Hong Kong First Division, champions (promoted)

History

While the football team has won many titles in the second-tier competition in recent years, they have rarely enjoyed success when playing against the professional sides in the First Division. In 1980 however, "CLUB" as they were commonly known, did manage to avoid relegation from the Professional First Division for the first time in their history. One of the highlights of the season was a 1–1 draw with eventual Champions Seiko SA. On 10 May 1980 at the HK Government Stadium CLUB defeated Kui Tan 1–0 with an 87th-minute penalty scored by John McGunnigle, meaning Kui Tan joined Yuen Long in the drop that year.

In the past few years, HKFC opted not to take promotion to the First Division. In 2006, finally, the club accepted the promotion after winning the Second Division. After showing initial promise, they lost 4 league matches in a row between March and April 2007 and were relegated to the Second Division. They did however become Champions of the Second Division again in April 2010 and returned to the First Division. Therefore, HKFC is known as the yo-yo club in Hong Kong.

In 2016, two years after the establishment of the fully professional Hong Kong Premier League, HKFC finally decided to seek promotion to the top flight after finishing as runners-up behind Tai Po in the 2015–16 season. Their stay in the top flight only lasted a single season, however, as the club finished bottom in 2016–17 season and dropped back down to the First Division.

HKFC won the First Division for the first time in a century during the 2017–18 season, going unbeaten throughout the entire league campaign. The club declined promotion as they did not want to field a professional side.[3]

After being crowned champions of the 2020–21 Hong Kong First Division League, on 19 August 2021 HKFC accepted the HKFA's invitation to be promoted to the 2021–22 Hong Kong Premier League, after the withdrawals of Happy Valley and Pegasus, having last appeared five years ago in the 2016–17 season.[4]

HKFC Soccer Sevens

The team is known outside Hong Kong for being the host of the annual HKFC Soccer Sevens youth-team seven-a-side tournament which attracts high-profile teams such as Manchester United, Aston Villa and Celtic.

Team staff
Position Staff
Head coach Tony Hamilton-Bram
Assistant coach Shane Jeffery

Source:

Current squad

First team
As of 9 October 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  ENG Frederick Toomer
2 DF  HKG Poon Ka Ming
3 DF  ENG Thomas Harrington
4 DF  ENG Oliver Rossiter
5 DF  HKG Ghislain Bell Bell
6 MF  ENG Adam Bailey
7 FW  SCO Robert Scott LP
8 MF  NED Freek Schipper (captain) LP
9 FW  ENG Robert Bacon LP
10 MF  FRA Antoine Sahaghian
11 FW  JPN Shunsuke Nakamura
12 MF  ENG Kieran Robinson
13 DF  HKG Chan Wai Hin
14 DF  HKG Christopher Chung
15 MF  SCO Marcus McMillan
16 MF  ENG Matthew Hoare LP
17 GK  HKG To Chun Kiu
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF  AUS Stephen Liu LP
19 MF  HKG Noa Fjelddahl
20 DF  HKG Liu Sui Man
21 GK  ENG Peter Smith
22 DF  ENG Rory Lonergan
23 FW  HKG Lucas Yan
25 MF  WAL Morgan Powell
26 FW  BRA Léo
28 FW  BRA Jean Maciel
29 MF  HKG Oliver Laxton
30 FW  HKG Tristan Cheung
31 MF  HKG Yue Yixing
32 MF  HKG Hardikpreet Singh
33 MF  ENG Laurence Reynolds
38 DF  HKG Brian Fok
88 DF  ENG Martin Fray

Remarks:
LP These players are considered as local players in Hong Kong domestic football competitions.

Notable players

Honours

League

Cup Competitions

See also

References
  1. Hong Kong FC | Worldfootball
  2. "Team info: Hong Kong Football Club". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  3. "梁孔德稱流浪無申請留級 元朗前途未決". Apple Daily. Retrieved 8 May 2018. (in Chinese)
  4. "HKFC to professionalize, rejoin top flight". 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  5. "Yochanan Vollach - Maccabi Haïfa - Stats - titles won". www.footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
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