Sapling Cup

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Sapling Cup
Founded2015
RegionHong Kong Hong Kong
Number of teams8
Current championsEastern (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Kitchee (2 titles)
2021–22 Sapling Cup

Hong Kong Football Association Sapling Cup (Chinese: 香港足球總會菁英盃), more commonly known as Sapling Cup (Chinese: 菁英盃), is a Hong Kong domestic football competition contested by all the teams in the Hong Kong Premier League. The objective of the Cup is to provide more playing opportunities for youth players in Hong Kong.

The champions will receive HK$100,000 in prize money while the runners up will receive HK$40,000. The MVP of the final will receive a bonus of HK$10,000.[1]

The current Sapling Cup holders are Eastern.

Rules[]

  • 2015–2017: During the course of competition, each team must have on the pitch no fewer than two players under the age of 22 and no more than six foreign players at any time, or to send no more than four foreign players at any time.[2]
  • 2017–2019: During the course of competition, each team must have on the pitch no fewer than two players under the age of 22 and no more than four foreign players at any time.
  • From 2019: During the course of competition, each team must have on the pitch no fewer than three players under the age of 22 and no more than four foreign players at any time.

Finals[]

Key[]

* Match went to extra time
† Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time

Results[]

Season Winner Score Runners-up Venue Attendance
2015–16 Pegasus 1–1 † South China Mong Kok Stadium 2,150
2016–17 Tai Po 2–1 Pegasus Mong Kok Stadium 2,956
2017–18 Kitchee 2–1 Tai Po Hong Kong Stadium 2,165
2018–19 Lee Man 3–2 * Yuen Long Mong Kok Stadium 2,685
2019–20 Kitchee 3–1 Southern Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground 0[1]
2020–21 Eastern 2–0 Happy Valley Mong Kok Stadium 2,243

Notes[]

  1. ^
    Match was played behind closed doors due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.[3]

Performance by clubs[]

Club Winners Runners-up Winning years
Kitchee
2
0
 2017–18, 2019–20
Pegasus
1
1
 2015–16
Tai Po
1
1
 2016–17
Lee Man
1
0
 2018–19
Eastern
1
0
 2020–21
Southern
0
1
Yuen Long
0
1
South China
0
1
Happy Valley
0
1

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Fixtures of 2019–20 Sapling Cup". HKFA. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  2. ^ "HKFA Announcing new cup competition "Sapling Cup" and full match schedule". Hong Kong Football Association. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  3. ^ Chan, Kin-wa. "No showers for players with Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground to host domestic games again behind closed doors". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 March 2020.

External links[]

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