Hong Kong FC (football)

HKFC
*香港足球會*
Full name	Hong Kong Football Club
Nickname(s)	Chinese: 港會
Short name	HKFC
Founded	February 12, 1886; 135 years ago
Ground	Hong Kong Football Club Stadium
Capacity	2,750
Chairman	Tony Sealy
Manager	Tony Hamilton-Bram
League	Hong Kong Premier League
2020–21	Hong Kong First Division, champions (promoted)
Home colours	Away colours

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. The first team currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

International Soccer Sevens[]

The team is known outside Hong Kong for being the host of the annual HKFC International 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:^{[citation needed]}

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[]

Jaimes Mckee
Jack Sealy
James Ha
Cheng Lai Hin
Ho Kwok Chuen
Kwok Kar Lok
Li Hang Wui
Gergely Ghéczy
Calvin Harris
Yochanan Vollach: Israeli former international who played in the 1970 World Cup Finals^[4]

Honours[]

League[]

Hong Kong First Division/Hong Kong Premier League (Tier 1)
- Champions (1): 1919–20
Hong Kong Second Division/Hong Kong First Division (Tier 2)
- Champions (15): 1972–73, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2017–18, 2020–21
- Runners Up (5): 1988–89, 2007–08, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2018–19
Hong Kong Third Division/Hong Kong Second Division (Tier 3)
- Champions (2): 1978–79, 1986��87

Cup Competitions[]

Hong Kong Senior Shield
- Champions (5): 1898–99, 1907–08, 1915–16, 1918–19, 1921–22
Hong Kong Junior Challenge Shield
- Champions (6): 1976–77, 1978–79, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2004–05

References[]

^ "Team info: Hong Kong Football Club". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
^ "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)
^ "HKFC to professionalize, rejoin top flight". 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
^ "Yochanan Vollach - Maccabi Haïfa - Stats - titles won". www.footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 8 October 2021.

External links[]

[1] "Team info: Hong Kong Football Club". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 8 October 2021.

[2] "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)

[3] "HKFC to professionalize, rejoin top flight". 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

[4] "Yochanan Vollach - Maccabi Haïfa - Stats - titles won". www.footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 8 October 2021.

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v t Hong Kong Football Club
General	Club Stadium
Football	Football Section Lucky Mile Current Squad Players International Soccer 7s