Hong Kong Football Thread (R)

South China AA striker Chan Siu Ki is training with Spurs for a week and he started yesterday. It is part of the club partnership deal that Spurs and South China signed last month.

 

If Pavlyuchenko does leave Spurs then Chan Siu Ki could seriously join them

 

Chan Siu Ki was given no. 10 to wear during a training match he played for Spurs.

I think Spurs are looking to buy Van Nistelrooy in January. They already reserved the no. 10 for him...

 

Chan Siu Ki is HK's best attacker in awhile.

 

Great news for Hong Kong

 

Congrats to Hong Kong team!!!!!!!

Hope Indian team too starts givin such stellar performances

 

Hong Kong First Division League resumed last night at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground.

South China 6:0 Shatin.

Chan Siu-Ki scored a hat-trick, Kwok Kin Pong 2 goals and Tales Schutz the other scorer.

Leandro Carrijo has left South China due to contractual issues, basically his manager requested too much money. South China is now looking for a replacement striker.

Chan Siu-Ki is being courted by a CSL club, rumoured to be Shanghai Shenhua. If they are willing to pay RMB2m or more, then I think Steven Lo will let him go.

 

Wofoo Tai Po 1:2 TSW Pegasus
Sunhei 4:0 Shatin
Citizen AA 0:1 Kitchee

The EAG gold medal winning U23 team was on parade on a tram in HK yesterday. They were very popular with the pedestrians, shoppers, shop owners...etc.



HKFA announced that they cannot afford to operate the Lunar New Year Cup anymore. They will only have U14 and U17 teams playing at HK Stadium in Chinese New Year. Entry will be free of charge.

 

Preparations for Asian Cup qualifier on 6. January and EAFF Championship ?

How many from East Asian Games team will be playing for NT ?

 

Hong Kong NT will play Guangdong (mainly players drawn from Guangdong Sunray Cave FC) tonight at the Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground for the annual Guangdong - Hong Kong Cup. This team features no players from either South China, TSW Pegasus, Wofoo Tai Po or Tai Chung, because they are involved in league matches on Sunday. It is coached by Yan Lik-Kin. One interesting thing is the debut of Julius Akosah as striker. He has given up his Cameroon passport and became a naturalized HK citizen. It will feature 7 EAG gold medal winning players.

Then a different NT, featuring mainly younger players and coached by Kim Pan Gon, will form and travel to Bahrain for the Asian Cup qualifier. From what I heard, since there is no hope of qualifying, HK will only send a young squad to gain experience.

Steven Lo is organizing tours for HK supporters to go to Tokyo for the EAFF in Feb. I therefore expect a full strength squad to travel as well.

 

1st leg Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup (Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground)

Hong Kong 2-1 Guangdong
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Julius Akosah scored twice from corners on his debut for HK. It is good to have him in the HK team, now we might have a chance in the EAFF in Feb.

 

TSW Pegasus fired Dejan Antonic and re-signed Ricardo to be their head coach, just four days before their big match against South China at home, despite Antonic's good league results and the win against Citizen to put them in the Silver Shield semis at the weekend.

The fans are very unhappy with the decision. There is a conspiracy theory that TSW Pegasus has to give in to South China as they are the little brother in Steven Lo's bma family.

 

Guangdong 2:0 Hong Kong. Hero of the previous leg Julius Akosah turned villain when he was sent off in the second half, leaving HK with no bite in its 4-5-1 formation. HK thus lost the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup for the first time in 4 years.

TSW Pegasus 2-2 South China. 3,900 fans saw the game at Yuen Long Stadium. Chan Siu-Ki and Bai He scored for South China in the first half before Itarparica scored twice to equalize for TSW Pegasus.

 

TSW Pegasus 2:2 South China

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okvtL7wHGKA"]YouTube- bma?????? - ????? 2:2 ??[/ame]

 

There is news report that Hong Kong Jockey Club will finance fully the construction of a dedicated football training centre at Tseung Kwan O, on grounds previously allocated for this purpose but work did not start because of uncertainties in funding. There will likely be 5 to 9 football fields available when complete.

If it is only for HKFA representative teams and first division teams, it will be extremely welcome. This is much needed for local football development.

 

Shatin SA signed Dejan Antonic, just fired by TSW Pegasus, to be its head coach, along with 5 Brazilians players, in its fight against relegation. The total no of foreigners in the team is at the maximum 8 now.

Dejan Antonic's first game as coach will be on 23 Jan against TSW Pegasus at Shatin Sports Ground.

 

The posts leave quite a bit as unknown. Particularly as a question for those whohave been in Hong Kong this season - has the individual grounds situation been a success - will it be continued in the future.
Mention was made of the possible South China v Kitchee crowd before the game - what was the figure?
Would Hong Kong football be better with a team in the Chinese League? Does the HKFA fear for its independence if this were to happen.

 

I feel like one of the reasons as to why this won't happen for awhile is due to the fact that football in China is such a complete mess right now that there is no incentive to have a unified HK team there. Not to mention that with promotion and relegation, there are no guarantees that a HK would stay in the top division in China. I don't think the punters are going to come out to watch a 2nd division Chinese league match at HK Stadium...

 

This question has been asked before for quite awhile now, I personally would want to see clubs from HK move to to China because right now the ouside world views the HK league very poorly, remember Xiangxue Eisiti who were the reserve team of Shenzhen F.C. and how they were allowed to play in the league last year? Right now the HKFA are trying to see if the league can be profitable by making each team have their own stadiums, however they're going to quickly find out that outside a few clubs A) most team are not profitable and B) there isn't a strong enough fanbase for most of the teams to exist. I would prefer have 4 or 5 HK teams with a genuine fanbase go to China because whatever your opinion about them they are viewed as top AFC league who average 15,000 attendance and as we've seen with South China fans if there is something to play for they will show up. The HKFA shouldn't fear for their independence because New Zealand teams are allowed to play in a foreign league and keep their national team, however as sgnerdboy pointed out there is no guarantee that teams would even enter the top flight, plus the fear of relegation means that it could be a risky venture, however it is a risk that the clubs have to take because the rewards are significantly bigger in China then in HK

 

Silver Shield Semi-Finals yesterday at Yuen Long Stadium

TSW Pegasus 2:3 Kitchee
Sunhei 0:2 South China

Attendance: 3,526, income: HK$128,000.

Kitchee and South China will play in the final at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground on 30 Jan. The winner will qualify for an 2011 AFC Cup place.

Last year it was meant to go to the Silver Shield winner as well, but TSW Pegasus, the winner, was not a full member of the HKFA then, so the AFC Cup place was awarded to FA Cup winner Tai Po FC instead.

 

It is highly unlikely right now for teams to make a move to the China Super League, with the corruption cases going on. The clubs in HK also feel that they have not fully exploited the Hong Kong market yet. They are very ancient in their marketing, except maybe South China.

They sell the league's TV rights for nothing, they sell next to no merchandise, gate receipts are still only improving...etc.

They think they should first try to gather more govt support for training facilities (more facilities and more time on the facilities) so they can play better football and attract more fans. The gold medal in the East Asian Games has made the govt more aware of what good football can do and they are now under pressure to provide more support.

Next month's East Asian Football Championship will be crucial. Steven Lo (HK team manager) promised the strongest team possible (all the best players without injuries will travel). If we achieve good results, particularly against China, then there will be even more pressure on the govt. The Chinese fans actually seem to want HK to do well so that the CFA and all the officials must get their act together.

Steven Lo also revealed that South China is in an advanced stage to sign Korean player Seol Ki-Hyeon from Fulham. His biggest concern is that he wants to play in the World Cup and being in the HK league is unlikely to help his chances. South China coach Kim Pan-Gon is doing his best to persuade him to come.

 

As for teams making money with the Home-Away format, I think none of them make anywhere near enough money. But I think some teams have noticed that by using district sports grounds and linking up with the local fans, they can actually cover the ground rental and generate quite a good atmosphere at the matches, whereas they could not do in the past. I think even after Mong Kok Stadium re-opens in 2011, many will not move back to Mong Kok.

South China is determined to stay at HK Stadium; TSW Pegasus likewise at Yuen Long Stadium; Tai Po and Shatin are a district teams and only make sense for them to play at home.

Kitchee might stay at HK Stadium but they struggle to generate enough fans and gate receipts to pay for the expensive rent. Sunhei seems quite content at Tsing Yi atm. Happy Valley and Tai Chung will likely not move back to Mong Kok because Kowloon Bay is so cheap.

The most likely team to move back is Citizen AA. Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, even with all the good facilities and 12,000 capacity, is not attractive to fans due to its location and distance between fans and the pitch. (The spectators stand is in a curved shape away from the field, making viewing very hard and distant.)

Next season the new Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground is likely to be available for First Division teams. (Tai Po will play there in their AFC Cup campaign.) The sports ground is near TKO MTR station and the surrounding area has a huge and young population. It will be interesting to see which team will re-locate there.

 

Kitchee is taking over the Lunar New Year Cup for the Year of the Tiger. The newspapers in HK today claim that AFC Champions League winners Pohang Steelers will take part in the event scheduled for 18th February.

 

Holmes on HK's goalgoalgoal.com compiled the attendance and income results for all First Division teams.

Sunhei＠Tsing Yi

Date Match Attendance Paying Attendance Income
4/10/09 Sun Sunhei vs Kitchee 1166 739 36340
24/10/09＊ Sat Sunhei vs Rangers 280 129 4620
8/11/09 Sun Sunhei vs Tai Po 869 538 24280
22/11/09 Sun Sunhei vs South China 944 755 43500
19/12/09 * Sat Sunhei vs Shatin 150 61 2420
Average 681.8 444.4 $22,232

(Sunhei charged $100 per ticket for South China game.)

Happy Valley＠Kowloon Bay
11/9/09＊ Fri HVAA vs Kitchee 562 260 14800
16/10/09＊ Fri HVAA vs Sunhei 239 76 3000
Average 400.5 168 $8,900

(Happy Valley charged $80 per ticket for Kitchee game.)

Tai Chung＠Kowloon Bay
19/9/09＊ Sat TCFC vs Kitchee 406 133 5340
25/9/09* Fri TCFC vs TSW Peg 322 127 3820
4/10/09＊ Sun TCFC vs TM Progoal 171 46 1480
29/11/09* Sun TCFC vs Sunhei 292 74 2160
3/1/09* Sun TCFC vs Tai Po 331 83 2440
9/1/10+ Sat TCFC vs Rangers 266 78 2440
Average 298 90 $4,473

Citizen＠Siu Sai Wan
27/9/09＊ Sun Citizen vs Sunhei 617 408 9920
2/10/09＊ Fri Citizen vs Shatin 275 130 3920
17/10/09 Sat Citizen vs TCFC 262 150 4020
25/10/09 Sun Citizen vs HVAA 278 171 4640
20/12/09 Sun Citizen vs Kitchee 961 565 14480
Average 478.6 284.8 $7,396

Fourways Rangers @ Sham Sui Po
13/9/09 Sun Rangers vs Shatin 653 430 11700
20/9/09 Sun Rangers vs TM Progoal 283 159 4360
3/10/09 Sat Rangers vs HVAA 442 326 8480
18/10/09 Sun Rangers vs TSW Peg 746 595 15540
Average 531 378 $10,020

Shatin
19//9/09 Sat Shatin vs HVAA 662 410 15360
24/10/09 Sat Shatin vs Tai Po 750 351 12940
14/11/09 Sat Shatin vs TCFC 420 239 7900
28/11/09 Sat Shatin vs Kitchee 744 432 14720
Average 644 358 $12,730

TSW Pegasus @ Yuen Long Stadium
20/9/09+ Sun TSW Peg vs Sunhei 649 459 18340
25/10/09+ Sun TSW Peg vs TM Progoal 394 192 7320
15/11/09+ Sun TSW Peg vs Citizen 581 370 14400
27/11/09+ Fri TSW Peg vs HVAA 530 277 10300
3/1/09 Sun TSW Peg vs South China 3953 3511 151546
Average 1221.4 961.8 $40,381.2

(South China game alone managed $150,000.)

Tai Po
12/9/09 Sat Tai Po vs Citizen 923 526 13420
27/9/09 Sun Tai Po vs HVAA 933 528 13560
21/11/09 Sat Tai Po vs Rangers 1115 527 12620
19/12/09 Sat Tai Po vs TSW Peg 987 623 15680
Average 989.5 551 $13,820

As can be seen, even the worst performing club is managing at least $4,000 on average. Anyone who can get more than $10,000 per game should cover their ground rental easily.

Strangely Holmes did not compile figures for South China and Kitchee.