Sapling Cup Wofoo Tai Po 2:1 HK Pegasus Kitchee 3:1 Dreams FC Alex Akande scored twice. Kim Dong-Jin was sent off in the second half after two bookable offences. Au Yeung Yiu-Chung played for Dreams FC in the second half after suffering a small injury in his debut match for Dreams FC. HKPL Biu Chun Rangers 1:3 R&F Guangzhou Biu Chun Rangers have lost the battle of survival in the HKPL. But will they actually be relegated? We still have to wait and see.
http://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/news/20171229/bkn-20171229131031447-1229_00822_001.html Somehow I missed this piece of news about the re-development of Yuen Long Stadium. It will become a 6,900 all seater stadium that is capable of hosting international football matches. It will be slightly bigger (capacity-wise) than Mong Kok Stadium. The work should be completed in 2023. Yuen Long FC will play in it but will it be in the HKPL?
I thought you were going to say that there are not enough local players who are good enough to play in the top flight. Look, having R&F play out of Siu Sai Wan and having HKFC in the league last year certainly did not help. Losing South China this year did not help. Attendance can't be the reason against expansion. Players, especially local players, need to play more games though if we want to improve football in Hong Kong. 18 league matches + 3 cups is not enough. 22 league matches + 3 cups is only slightly better, but it does mean an extra month of football. You're right though about sports grounds. A lot of them are old but the willpower do something is lacking. Even if you wanted to ban the public from using the grass pitches from August to May to preserve the grass some NIMBY group will complain and then nothing will get done.
Yes, I also don't think there are enough quality local players. Just look at how miserable Biu Chun Rangers' performances have been this year. They are another reason attendance was so low this season. I gladly paid $300 to watch Kitchee, complete with Forlan, play in the ACL. But who wants to PAY to watch Biu Chun Rangers? I certainly don't want to pay to watch some young players going through their training. I can watch that in the reserve league for free.
I believe In fact the whole HKPL needs a major re-think. I would like to see HKPL adopts a franchise system, there will be 10 franchises and there will be no promotion/relegation. There will be a regular season and a play-off season like the A League. 8 of 10 franchises will qualify for play-off season, giving the bottom 3 clubs reasons to play hard even in the late stages of the regular season. We can adjust the play-off season format if clubs want more games. (2 groups of 4 round robin? Double round robin? Or 8 clubs straight to quarter-finals?) Anyone (Hoi King for example) who wants to take part, they need to buy/takeover one of the existing franchises, pay a joining fee and provide a 3 year financial guarantee to HKFA. (Currently only 1 year.) The joining fee will be shared among existing clubs as well as used for HKPL promotion. This will create value for the franchise holders. Promotion/Relegation in the existing league structure is pointless anyway. Yuen Long FC wants to be relegated because they have no money, even though they are 6th in the HKPL; while Hoi King wants to be promoted even though they are 7th in the First Division. Last year 4th placed South China infamously dropped to first division. So why do we want to keep promtion/relegation?
I've thought about the merits of temporarily suspending pro/rel. Here in North America, no relegation has led to more wealthier businessmen who want to be owners and in turn, has led to bigger investment into the game. It's easier to convince an owner to build a private training ground for example when there's no risk that the club will have to field amateurs because they got relegated. On the other hand, you still have to find a way to motivate players without the threat of relegation. A playoff system could be interesting, but regardless of how many clubs qualify, you still need to motivate players to want to win the playoff. The AFC won't allow the playoff winner to receive a continental berth so perhaps you would need to create a prize fund. The question would then be how big the prize for the champions would be and how many sponsors are willing to contribute? If you're going to suspend pro/rel then I don't think you should charge a fee for joining the HKPL. Rather, you should charge a fee if a club wishes to leave before 2022 (four years), with the fee being lower every season as you approach 2022. Those who leave would be relegated to the Third Division. To solve the local player issue, clubs should be able to register as many foreigners as they wish. The 3+1 rule would be changed to a 4 foreigner limit and clubs would only be able to register a maximum squad of 25 so that Kitchee cannot hoard all of the best players. This allows locals to train against better players while ensuring that clubs don't sign too many foreigners. Clubs who have an eye towards Asian competition may want to ensure that they sign at least one Asian. Still not enough good local players? Become a J League Partner Nation and allow all Japanese players to count as locals while at the same time, giving Hong Kongers a chance to play/train in Japan as locals.
http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong...ed-hong-kong-footballers-career-risk-after-uk Sad story about Vas Nunez. I trust it will be resolved soon, and then we can draft this 6'4 22-year old to the senior team and start getting him ready for the EAFF qualifiers later this year.
Haha, I got too excited. But thinking of Lau Hok Ming, Tsui Wang Kit, and maybe even Leung Nok Hang, I feel like our CB position is pretty well covered.
I really do hope things will resolve for Vas Nunez and hopefully he can become eligible to represent Hong Kong. Speaking of the Asian Games, which players should be considered to be named in the squad?
http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong...t-papers-hand-desperate-young-footballer-ends Vas Nunez's passport issue is resolved. He should get his HKSAR passport on 4 May.
HKFA Cup semi finals Wofoo Tai Po 4:1 (a.e.t) KC Southern District Kitchee 4:1 HK Pegasus. Fernando scored twice, set up one for Alex Akande and won a penalty from which Sandro scored. Kitchee and Wofoo Tai Po will play in the final on 26 May at Hong Kong Stadium.
The first 60 minutes of this game was by far the best performance I've seen from any team this season against Kitchee in domestic competition. This includes Yuen Long's win against them in the Senior Shield. But of course, unlike Yuen Long, Pegasus forgot that you actually have to FINISH your chances. Of course after 60 minutes, the same predictable events occur. The Pegasus players run out of gas because they cannot keep up with Kitchee, Yuen Ching Kwong refuses to bring fresh players off the bench and Kitchee find a way to win. Pegasus had so many chances to win the game. Instead they beat themselves.
Diego Forlan, along with Tong Kin-Man, Fernando and Huang Yang, presented Kitchee's new for 2018-19 season shirt to a number of devoted Kitchee fans. Forlan will be playing his last match for Kitchee this Sunday (13 May) as his contract is up. He will miss both Sapling Cup and HKFA Cup finals.
HKPL final day Wofoo Tai Po 2:1 HK Pegasus. Sean Tse scored late in the match to earn Wofoo Tai Po second place in the league in the decisive match. Wofoo Tai Po thus qualify to play in the AFC Cup next year. Their financier said coach Lee Chi-Kin will definitely stay and he will ensure the majority of the players will remain and the club will only get stronger next season.
HKPL Kitchee 2:0 SunBus Yuen Long Diego Forlan played his last match for Kitchee. He said he will miss Hong Kong. He encouraged the local players to work hard and the fans to attend more matches. He will work for a US TV station as a commentator of the 2018 Russian World Cup. After that he said he has received no offers to play yet and will wait and see what happens.
Good to see Sean Tse fit and healthy; he's been playing some serious minutes recently and at a high level too. He is about to complete his 6th year of HK football and is just 25. This means next year, at 26, he will be eligible to naturalize for the national team. It will be good to have him in the rotation.
Legendary Hong Kong football club South China avoided the drop to the second division yesterday after winning in their last match. Sunhei SC will take the plunge instead.
http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong...tain-bury-hong-kong-born-soccer-star-sticking Tsun Dai has ruled out playing for Hong Kong U23 in the 2018 Asian Games football tournament. He wants to concentrate on the beginning of the English league season, although he is not sure what club he will play for yet.
While I agree with Tsun Dai, he has not given any strong indications he would play for the HK Senior Team... wonder if he is indeed called up for EAFF qualifiers or World Cup qualifiers, would be take it?
Massive achievement for a district club. I hope for their sake that they will 1) successfully acquire an AFC License next season and 2) be able to play their home games at Tai Po Sports Ground. I doubt it. If he's going to be with a new club next season, he's going to want to be at training as much as possible so that he can catch the eye of the manager. He doesn't have enough stature to leave for international duty and not worry about losing his place in the first team.
Long time Hong Kong football manager Peter Leung Shou-Chi has been ousted from Eastern Longlions. He said he got many opportunities this year and admitted that the club's poor performance is the reason why he is leaving. The club is set to go through a lot of personnel changes in the summer break.
Kitchee Football Academy alumni played Guangzhou Evergrande U19 in a friendly at Kitchee centre yesterday. Tsun Dai joined Kitchee for this match. Kitchee won 4-0 with Tsun Dai scoring twice. It does not mean Tsun Dai will play for Kitchee. It was just a training/friendly match. Tsun Dai reiterated that he may not be free to join Hong Kong U23 for the Asian Games, due to preparations for the new English league season.
Kitchee's Hungarian midfielder Kristizan Vadocz is awarded Hong Kong Player of the Year , Most Popular Player and Player's Player of the Year in a ceremony last night. Kitchee won a total of 13 awards in the ceremony, including Coach of the Year. 7 Kitchee players are among the Hong Kong Best XI, they are: Wang Zheng-Peng, Tong Kin-Man, Kim Bong-Jin, Huang Yang, Fernando, Vadocz and Lucas Silva. Kitchee's Cheng Chin-Lung and Dream FC's Lam Hin-Ting were awarded Best Young Player of the Year.
http://sportsroad.hk/archives/200511 The first moves of the summer transfer window have officially been announced. Southern have signed Ticao from Yuen Long and Marko Krasic from Rangers. They have also announced that Wellingsson and Zesh Rehman will remain and they hope to retain Marcos.