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
港會
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
2021–22HKPL, 6th of 8

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]

On February 5th 2023, goalkeeper Freddie Toomer became the first goalkeeper in the Hong Kong Premier League history to score a goal as he netted an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 90+6 minute to help the club equalize and salvage a point in a 1-1 draw to Resources Capital. [5]

Following the club's 2-0 victory over Sham Shui Po on February 19th, the football team broke their records as they recorded a 21 point finish following the game, breaking the former record of 20 points in the league way back in 1963.

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 coachEngland Tony Hamilton-Bram
Assistant coachEngland Stewart Montgomery
Assistant coachHong Kong John Pimlott
Assistant coachHong Kong Anto Grabo
Goalkeeping coachHong Kong Justin Wah
Technical coachEngland Stephen Tucker-Roberts

Source:

Current squad

First team
As of 5 March 2023

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 England ENG Freddie Toomer
4 DF Hong Kong HKG Alexandre Dujardin
6 MF England ENG Adam Bailey
7 FW Scotland SCO Robert Scott LP
8 MF Netherlands NED Freek Schipper (captain) LP
10 MF France FRA Antoine Sahaghian
11 FW Japan JPN Shunsuke Nakamura
12 DF Hong Kong HKG Timothy Chow
14 MF Hong Kong HKG Ng Tsz Chung
15 MF Scotland SCO Marcus McMillan
16 MF Hong Kong HKG Emmet Wan
17 FW Hong Kong HKG Wong Sheung Choi
18 DF Hong Kong HKG Jack Sealy
19 MF France FRA Raphaël Merkies
20 DF Hong Kong HKG Siu Ka Ming
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 GK Hong Kong HKG Fung Long Hin
22 DF England ENG Rory Lonergan
23 MF Australia AUS Thomas Busby
24 MF France FRA Rémi Depalmas
25 FW Hong Kong HKG Paul Ngue
26 FW Brazil BRA Léo
28 MF Brazil BRA Jean Maciel
30 MF Hong Kong HKG Paulinho
31 MF Hong Kong HKG Yue Yixing
32 MF Guinea GUI Habib Bah
85 GK Japan JPN Issey Maholo
88 DF England ENG Martin Fray
91 MF Brazil BRA Thiago
— MF Wales WAL Morgan Powell

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. "港超聯 門將費查補時入波 港會1比1逼和晉峰". on.cc東網 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 5 February 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  6. "Yochanan Vollach - Maccabi Haïfa - Stats - titles won". www.footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
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