https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/sport/20240813/bkn-20240813162330121-0813_00882_001.html Chinese Taipei is unable to secure the stadiums required to host the EAFF East Asia Cup qualifiers, therefore the hosting rights might come to Hong Kong. So Hong Kong Stadium may gets its final farewell after all. But actually I think Macau might have a chance to host as well. Mongolia is very unlikely due to its location, while Guam and NMI lack facilities for 6 teams. North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands will take part.
Macau is highly unlikely IMO. Firstly, their FA isn't motivated enough to organize such things. Secondly, only the Macau Stadium meets international standards.
I think it is more likely that Hong Kong will be the more viable and suitable replacement for the upcoming EAFF East Asia Cup qualifiers. Other than that, there is speculation and rumours regarding to the national team's new manager and it seems like Kim Dong Jin may not be Kitchee's Under-22 manager.
The new season of the Hong Kong Premier League will commence on August 30th starting with Eastern and BC Rangers who will kick start the 2024/25 season. This will be followed on Saturday as HKPL champions Lee Man face off against KC Southern whilst Kitchee will hope to redeem themselves after a disappointing 2023/24 season as they travel away to Crowncity North District and on Sunday, newcomers Kowloon City will start their HKPL debut against Tai Po.
The new season will comprise of a 3 round robin format, meaning each club faces each other 3 times. But HKFA has not disclosed how they decide which club will play host against which club for the third match. The full fixtures list is up: https://www.hkfa.com/competitions/fixtures?year=2024-2025&competition=1859
...But they have done that (check your link). Each club will have four opponents against whom they will play x2 home, x1 away. Against the other four opponents they will play x1 home, x2 away. In total, everyone plays 12 home games, 12 away games. The triple round robin works for the league right now because we have an odd number of teams. If there were an even number of teams then there would be a debate about fairness.
They have not explained HOW they decide who is the host or who is to play away though? I don't think any club wants to play away to Lee Man twice.
Kitchee's Sohgo Ichikawa is currently on trial to Spanish club Real Union (the club where Shinichi Chan went on loan two seasons ago.) Tai Po has added 24 year old Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Henrique Pierini to the squad. Curious, but had Eastern made any new transfers other than Lam Hin Ting and the return of Alex Jojo?
HKPL champions Lee Man are drawn in Group G with Bangkok United, Nam Dinh and Tampine Rovers whilst FA Cup winners Eastern will have a rather tough draw as they are grouped with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Sydney FC and Kaya FC-Iloilo in Group E of the AFC Champions League 2 competition.
BC Rangers signed Brazilian/Mexican striker Hugo Alexsander de Oliveira Rocha Ferreira， Hugo for short, to replace Ibrahim who has left for Chinese Jia League.
2024-25 HKPL season press conference was held yesterday. They announced that all HKPL matches will have VAR support. A new U22 league will also be introduced, all HKPL clubs except Kowloon City will join. Kowloon City needs to focus its resources on the HKPL proper in its first season. Eastern and Lee Man did not send any players to the conference as they are busy preparing for the ACL2. New Hong Kong national team coach position is in the final stage of selection. HKFA have received over 200 applications. HKFA hopes to host the EAFF E1 qualifiers. Fok Kai Shan will be going to attend the EAFF meeting this week to discuss the matter.
BC Rangers held their press conference today in which the club unveiled 15 new signings. However, it seems that promising youngster Sergio Chiu Ching Yu who was awarded the best youth player award during last season's Sapling Cup final had departed in which it is speculated that he is set to join a third tier Thailand club.
It is officially confirmed that Hong Kong will indeed host the E-1 EAFF Preliminary qualifiers in December, taking over from Chinese Taipei who were the original hosts.
The ACL2 group matches do not finish until early December, which means Lee Man and Eastern might not release their players for the HKNT's training for the EAFF E-1 qualifiers. The EAFF E-1 qualifiers will take place between 7 - 17 Dec.
Very unfortunate for Clement Benhaddouche as he sustained a fractured injury to his arm whilst on club duty for Suzhou Dongwu FC. This means that he is likely to be ruled out of the Hong Kong national team's September fixtures against Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
Hong Kong Football Club coach Chancey Cooke revealed that they have added former Sham Shui Po forward Chen Hao to the club. Chen was notably known for scoring a wonderful goal during Sham Shui Po's loss to Lee Man last season.
Here is the 23 man final squad named for the Fiji and Solomon Islands matches in September: The likes of Tsui Wang Kit, Helio, Poon Pui Hin, Chang Hei Yin, Law Tsz Chun, Stefan Pereira all miss out whilst Timothy Chow and Ng Yu Hei both made the list. A press conference will take place on Wednesday in which it is likely that the HKFA will reveal their new head coach.
The HKFA have appointed Englishman Ashley Westwood as the new head coach of the men's national team. Westwood's coaching credentials include managing Indian club Bengaluru FC where he guided them to two I-League championships and a Federation cup. He was appointed as head coach of Malaysian club Penang SA in the 2016-17 season which he drafted in former Hong Kong international Andy Russell to the club but left by mutual consent after a poor run. He had managed a few other Indian based clubs for a few years until he was appointed as head coach of the Afghanistan national football team in 2023.
The first game of the 2024/25 season of the Hong Kong Premier League kicked off today with Eastern securing their first three points against BC Rangers courtesy of goals from Ma Hei Wai and the return of Victor Bertemou. Rangers did had some opportunities with Barak Braunshtain coming rather close to scoring a goal from long range that ended up hitting the crossbar whilst Luizinho and newcomer Hugo de Oliveira both squandered several chances to score.
Leon Jones and Everton Camargo both withdrew from the national team squad due to injuries in which Eastern's Alex Jojo and Kitchee's Poon Pui Hin had been called up as replacements.
Hong Kong Football Club revealed their squad list: They have added several foreign players which include the likes of Americans Jesus Salazar, Auston Kranick, Scottish-born Daniel Scally and South Korean Shin Jae Ho. Will be very interesting to see how this newly revamped HKFC will fare with its fresh and ambitious direction.
Solomon Islands vs Hong Kong line up. First time ever we play Solomon Islands who are ranked 141. Hopefully we can get a win.
Fuji Tri-Nation tournament Solomon Islands 0-3 Hong Kong It was not a good performance from Hong Kong in my opinion. Yes the field was not good but they played worse than the field. They controlled the game but created very few chances. They were rather lucky to get 2 penalties.
Having watched the highlights, even though Hong Kong ended their nine game losing streak, there are still areas that needed to be worked upon. The first goal was gifted after the Solomon Islands goalkeeper made an error in which the ball found its way to Juninho and then two of the Solomon Island defenders made two rather silly fouls in which both Matt Orr and Wong Wai scored. But at least Ng Wai Him, Timothy Chow and Ng Yu Hei made their first senior appearances. Hopefully Alex Jojo will get his chance on Sunday. The national team will face their final Tri Nation tournament against Fiji on Sunday.