Groundhopping in Hong Kong: What I learnt from watching 66 football games in HK.
Having spent nine months living in Hong Kong, I managed to get to 66 games of football at eight different grounds. In this article, I will detail the experiences of ground hopping around the city.
Game 1: Eastern Sports Club 3–2 R&F
1st September 2018
Hong Kong Stadium
Hong Kong Premier League
I decided before I went out to HK, I would try to see a fair amount of football. I choose to provisionally pick Eastern as my Hong Kong club.
This was because studying at HKBU, the closest top-flight ground to my room was Mong Kok Stadium. The two teams who played at the ground were Eastern and Kitchee.
I plumped for Eastern as they were formerly managed by Bobby Moore and during the 1980s also possessed Alan Ball in their squad.
Thus on my first Saturday in the former British colony, I decided to go and see Eastern. It was at this point, I found out that they had moved their games to the 40,000 seater Hong Kong Stadium, which was a bit of a trek from Kowloon Tong, but it was worth it as the picture above shows, the stadium has a quite spectacular view during the day. Nightfall reduces the visibility of the hill behind the goal though.
Eastern were at the time managed by former Hong Kong Women international Chan Yuen Ting. Chan had taken charge of Eastern in 2015 and won the league in her first year, becoming the first female manager to win a male domestic top flight league in the world, the following year she managed Eastern in the AFC Champions League becoming the first woman to manage in a senior men’s continental competition. She resigned at the end of 2016–17 to work on coaching badges, but this was her first game since returning after a year away.
The game was not watched by too many supporters but those that did were very passionate. With R&F being based in Mainland China, this was my first look at the tension between Hong Kong and the Mainland, with supports insistingly chanting “We are Hong Kong!” from time to time.
The game was not very aerial at all, something which would be clear from my future match visits in Hong Kong. Eastern feel behind after Leung Hok Hang headed home a free-kick, somewhat ironic given my earlier observations. In the second half, Everton Carmago, probably the best player in the game equalised before Tiago Lenoco put the visitors back in front.
R&F are the reserve/affiliate side of Guangzhou R&F, a midtable Chinese Super League club but in the summer of 2018 having struggled at the bottom of the league, they invested heavily to create a side capable of winning silverware. And despite Eastern having the better of play, they proved hard to break down and beat.
Lo Kwan Yee was sent off with ten minutes to go due to a poor challenge and then Eastern surged forward in the hope of winning the tie. The crowd got behind them and two well-worked corner routines resulted in two stoppage-time goals from Manuel Bleda and Jose Angel Alonso. Alonso’s winner sparked massive scenes of jubilation with the entire team going over to celebrate with Chan on the touchline.
Eastern started the season well but a poor dip in form resulted in Chan resigning in February, she has since been appointed manager of China U16 girls.
Game 2: Kitchee Sports Club 1–1 Eastern Sports Club
25th September 2018
Mong Kok Stadium
Hong Kong Premier League
Around three and a half weeks after the Eastern game, I did make it to Mong Kok Stadium to see Eastern play away at Champions Kitchee.
The game took place on the 25th September, the day after the Mid-Autumn festival, so a national holiday in HK.
Kitchee had signed former Liverpool and Juventus midfielder Mohammed Sissoko in the summer and had Diego Forlan up front at end of 2017–18.
Me and my roommate went to Mong Kok on the MTR, only to realise Prince Edward was the closest station. To get to the ground from the station, you must walk through a park on Boundary Street. It was here that I had my first sighting of domestic helpers sitting down having picnics as it was a day off for them. Domestic helpers for obvious reasons prefer to congregate away from their places of work. In Hong Kong, they aren’t always treated very well, it is, in fact, illegal to employ a local as a domestic helper and in malls, I have seen adverts for such helpers, listing their height and weight. These congregations act as a show of solidarity and minor protest.
Kitchee fans were very passionate as were the Eastern fans on the other side of the ground.
The game was generally even but Bleda put Eastern ahead with a penalty before a late equaliser from Josip Tadic. The result was generally fair with both teams being unable to cancel one another out.
Sissoko left Kitchee in January opting to return to France to care for his poorly father, with the Mali international signing for Sochaux.
Game 3: Hong Kong 0–1 Thailand
11th October 2018
Mong Kok Stadium
International Friendly
The next game was a return to Mong Kok Stadium, for the international friendly between Hong Kong and Thailand.
The game despite being played in a 6,000 capacity stadium was not sold out. A group of just over 20 of us exchange students went with myself buying and collecting tickets, and finding two rows back to back available for us.
I would have to organise a laptop repair which may have been costly, so I asked for the payment to be given to me first before I purchased the tickets, as a result, I spent much of a morning popping down to my mailbox to pick up cash and notes with the names of those who paid. I was a bit worried my room would be searched on suspicion I was dealing drugs but nothing at all occurred.
Mong Kok Stadium like Hong Kong Stadium sets aside a series of blocks for concessionary tickets. However, with members of our group turning up at different points, we were unable to sit together as despite tickets being assigned seat numbers for the game, not everyone abided by them. Many people had to move due to people sitting in their seats, which caused some of our group to also move.
The game began with much of the stadium booing the Chinese national anthem for political reasons. Now, I’m not going to criticise the fans who did boo, as I understand their unhappiness towards the actions of the central government, but I must admit having grown up hearing England fans boo opposition anthems at Wembley, the whole practice gives me a degree of unease, so I would never have joined in.
One thing I noticed was the team were stylised as “The Hong Kong Representative Team”, no doubt because national team would be considered too politically charged.
Just minutes into the game and Phillip Roller making a surging run from right-back to put Thailand into the lead. Hong Kong’s first-half performance was very sloppy with forwards Sandro and Paul Ngue missing some decent chances but the side was outfought and outplayed by Thailand.
After the break, Hong Kong played a lot better, showing fight and passion which was responded to by the crowd, however despite fashioning some decent chances, they were unable to make any of them count and the game finished goalless.
This was Garry White’s first match in charge of Hong Kong. The Englishmen had taken four nations to their highest FIFA rankings and possessed a very Cruyffian outlook on football, preferring performance to result. He would resign just a few weeks later after taking Hong Kong through a regional qualification tournament with success to take up a job in Japan.
Games 4–7: Lunar New Year Cup
5th-7th February 2019
Hong Kong Stadium
I would then go on to see all four matches at the Lunar New Year Cup, an invitational tournament played every year this year featuring Shandong Luneng, Sagan Tosu, Auckland City and a Hong Kong Chinese New Year XI, mainly consisting of foreign players playing domestically in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong CNYXI was managed by former West Ham and Portsmouth assistant Kevin Bond, who has enjoyed two spells in charge of Hong Kong Pegasus and he was given a hero’s welcome before the game.
Fernando Torres, playing for Sagan Tosu, was also given a fantastic welcome, with fans congregating to watch him warm up while an earlier game was still ongoing. Liverpool shirts with Torres’s name on them were very popular amongst the crowd.
Shandong Luneng were expected to be favourites for the tournament and did indeed win it. Marouane Fellaini was expected to make his debut for the club in Hong Kong but injury meant he returned to China. Guedes, on loan from Palmeriras, stole the show with a brace including a beautiful free-kick in the semi-final.
Graziano Pelle would score in the final too, with Shandong winning 3–1. Pelle looked bored to me in all honesty in the warm-up but during the matches,he was a handful for defenders.
Shandong’s goalkeeper and captain was Wang Delai, a player I usually sign when managing in China on Football Manager, he was given a lot of boos from the crowd, and I couldn’t work out why.
When playing for the China Under 23s in the Asian Games back in 2010, Wang was part of a side that came under heavy criticism for a 3–0 defeat to Japan and wrote on his blog: “It would be flattery to call you fans. You’re just a bunch of dogs. You bunch of morons are the main reason why Chinese football can’t make progress. You throw in stones after a man has fallen into a well.”
Wang appeared to have grown up and been away from controversy ever since that unsavoury episode which saw him banned from selection for a while by the CFA.
It became clear that the only reason Wang was booed was because he was China’s international goalkeeper. Whilst, I’m all for a bit of protest when people feel they have been mistreated, I think Wang’s abuse was uncalled for. He can’t exactly control his nationality or the place he was born in.
Still, he dealt with it perfectly, playing well to win the trophy for his side and draping himself in a PRC flag when he lifted the cup. Given the treatment he received, this gesture I feel was well within his rights, he left the field to a chorus of booes. He was stopped by a fan and despite still having abuse hurled at him, he stopped to speak to this fan for a couple of minutes and had a massive smile on his face.
The perfect way to deal with a hostile crowd.
Game 8: Woofo Tai Po 0–0 Ryomyong Sports Club
13th March 2019
Mong Kok Stadium
AFC Cup Playoff Stage Second Round Second Leg
It was my intention to see a Hong Kong side in both of AFC’s continental competitions, however, Kitchee were knocked out of the AFC Champions League on penalties by Perak in Malaysia in a single legged tie, so no Champions League visit was possible for me.
Thus I went to see Tai Po, who faced Ryomyong, a North Korean side who progressed to the play-off stage after defeating a Mongolian side 6–0 on aggregate.
Tai Po played their AFC games at Mong Kok Stadium too, which meant I had to find another time to visit Tai Po Sports Ground, which from social media posts looked like a fantastic ground in terms of atmosphere.
The first leg between the two sides finished 0–0 in Pyongyang. Away goals would count in this tie after 90 minutes, but not after extra time.
In terms of the game itself, it finished 0–0 after extra time. The two teams played over 3.5 hours and could not score a goal between them. Tai Po had more of the ball and forced good saves out of the opposition goalkeeper, but didn’t really produce too much from the play they had. Sandro looked a lot better than he did in Hong Kong v Thailand but never troubled the scorers.
It was to be Ryomyong who had the best chance during the 120 minutes with a long-range drive hitting the bar. When the opposition went forward, they did so with purpose and looked a lot more threatening, playing more as a team than the Hong Kong side.
When a defender went off injured towards the end of extra-time and trudged off to jeers from the crowd as received by Ryomyong’s keeper who strained his thigh but was able to continue, they bought on an attacker with a view to him taking a potential penalty, the unbalanced defence meant they were vulnerable for a few minutes in the closing stages, but they managed to reach penalties, despite their substitute blowing a decent chance from a counter due to a handball.
He took the first penalty and missed, all the others were scored with Sandro netting the winner sending Tai Po into the group stage.
Game 9: South China Athletic Association 3–1 Shatin Sports Association
31st March 2019
Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre
Hong Kong First Division
South China are the sleeping giants of Asian football.
The Caroliners have won the top tier in Hong Kong 41 times, only Penarol, Olympiacos, Celtic, Nacional, Rangers and Linfield have won more domestic top flight titles than them.
They have ad a fair share of international stars in the past with the likes of Frank McAvennie, Nicky Butt, Mateja Kezman, Keith Robson, Allen McKnight and Willie Johnstone all wearing their red strip in the past.
In 2017, the club’s main investor Wallace Cheung pulled out from the club and they were forced to voluntarily relegate, despite being the biggest club in the territory they have struggled in the second tier ever since.
They were set to host Shatin, a team in the upper half of the First Division at one of the six pitches on Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre. I went out the ground not far from LOHAS Park MTR, involving a nice walk through a pet garden and views across the harbour separating HKI and Kowloon.
There were about four or five South China fans and I’m pretty certain they all came in one taxi. They made a lot of noise though, so you have to respect them.
South China won 3–1, they opened the scoring with a header from a corner and doubled it with a penalty, a well worked moved after the break saw the lead increase to 3–0 before Shatin pulled one back with a header of their own.
Shatin had a big target man up front who had a great battle with South China’s centre-back Choi Chung Yin who also captained the side but generally, South China were in control and played some good football. They definitely did not look like relegation candidates.
Game 10: Wofoo Tai Po 2–1 Kwoon Chung Southern
21st April 2019
Tai Po Sports Ground
Hong Kong Premier League
My next visit included finally visiting Tai Po Sports Ground.
The top of the Hong Kong league was getting very heated with three points separating the top four with three left to play. Tai Po hosted Southern, 1st v 2nd at the time, the game would not determine the title but it might as well have done.
Getting to the ground was actually rather difficult, I knew it was a 10-minute walk from Tai Po Market Station, but when I got to exit B, the exit didn’t show if it was exit B1 or B2 to get out from. Both exits were tried but neither lead to a place with street signs to the ground. I eventually hailed a taxi but was taken to a random astroturf pitch, the driver said he had no idea where I was looking for and just left me at a random petrol station, he didn’t charge me and luckily the second taxi driver knew exactly where to go.
The game was the most full of any game I have seen in HK and was the most entertaining too. Michel Lugo put the home side in front with a smart placed shot after cutting inside from the right-wing.
Both teams had a plethora of chances with Tai Po tending to hit the ball straight at the goalkeeper and Southern firing over the bar. Tai Po went in at half-time leading 1–0 and deservedly so. Sandro was a menace, causing issues for the backline and linking up well with the supporting midfielders. As I joked to my roommate, he looked considerably better every time I saw him play, so if I stayed in Hong Kong and watched every Tai Po game next year, he would be winning the Balon d’Or.
Some members of staff at Tai Po come around the main stand offering cakes and pastries to fans, which was nice. Nikola Kozamec would get the equaliser from the penalty spot perhaps against the run of the play. Tai Po surged forward looking for another goal but it all looked like it was going pearshaped when Lugo was subbed off and did not look happy at all. Sandro was also subbed off before a corner was taken but refused to come off until after the corner was taken, his shot was cleared off the line and he ran off as soon as the ball went out of play.
Captain Wong Wai had a quiet game for Tai Po but produced a smart save with a 35-yard pile driver but as the clock ticked down, it looked unlikely that Tai Po would get the win. Igor Sartori picked up the ball in the fourth minute of injury time, and cut inside and scored to spark massive scenes of celebration on the touchline, including from Lugo who had calmed down since been subbed off.
Lee Ka Yiu nearly added a third before the game ended 2–1 sparking even more wild celebrations. Tai Po found themselves four points clear with two games left, with their next game seeing them travel away to R&F, who were second. Despite going 1–0 down, two late goals from Sandro took the league to the New Territories side, the first district side to win the Hong Kong top flight since Yeun Long in 1963.
Games 11–14: Jockey Club Youth Football Invitational Tournament Day 3
22nd April 2019
Po Kong Village Road Park
I caught the last day of a youth international tournament featuring U15 and U18 sides at Po Kong Village Road Park.
The ground had two pitches with games being held on both pitches simultaneously. I was only able to really concentrate on games going on the pitch in front of me and did not witness any of the goals on the other pitch.
In the first, Hong Kong U18 took on Vietnam U18 and Vietnam took the lead in the second half finishing off a well-worked move. A late equaliser came from a chip from Hong Kong’s left-winger who had almost caught the goalkeeper out with a long-range chip just seconds before.
Hong Kong’s captain their number 22 impressed me a lot. He was involved in everything exciting his side produced and tried lots of neat flicks and turns, not for flashness but out of necessity. Even though he was 18, he did look like he ought to bulk up a bit to be more effective on the pitch but I would not be surprised if he was to have a successful career in Hong Kong.
On the other pitch, Myanmar beat Singapore 2–1 to lift the U18 trophy, much to the delight of the large group of Burmese supporters at the game.
The Under 15s played next after a short break, a whole day of their fixtures had been called off due to thunderstorms on the weekend prior, so the tournament was cancelled and the games taking place considered friendlies, Singapore beat Myanmar 3–2 on the other pitch, while Hong Kong were torn apart by Malaysia. Malaysia found themselves 0–3 up at half-time, two of them scoring direct from free-kicks, with another goal ruled out for offside.
Within five minutes of the second half, Malaysia had another goal ruled out due to a foul and went 5–0 up. They had plenty of chances to add to their tally but just could not find the killer instinct needed to punish Hong Kong.
Game 14: Sham Shui Po 5–1 Yau Tsim Mong
28th April 2019
Tai Hang Tung Recreation Ground
Hong Kong Second Division
Up at the end of the week was a trip to the Hong Kong Second Division with Sham Shui Po taking on Yau Tsim Mong at Tai Hung Tung Recreation Ground, a ground literally just across from Mong Kok Stadium.
Taking place on a public park, it was a very surreal place to watch a game of football and when four Yau Tsim Mong players lit cigarettes on a bench next to me, I had a feeling they would lose.
The first half was largely uneventful and cagey full of heavy challenging and the like and ended goalless.
The second half was much better with Sham Shui Po taking advantage of a leaky and tiring defence to end the game and head home as 5–1 winners.
Game 15: Sai Kung 2–4 Ornament
1st May 2019
Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre
Hong Kong Third Division
I completed my HKFA Leagues groundhopping by returning to the Training Centre to see Sai Kung play Ornament in the third division, with both teams towards the bottom of the table.
Ornament took the league after some poor defending and doubled their lead with a penalty to go in at half-time 2–0 up, this was undeserved for Sai Kung who battled hard in a game between two evenly matched attacking sides on Labour Day.
Sai Kung would pull one back after half-time in front of a crowd of about ten, four of whom appeared to be girlfriends of the players before Ornament restored their two-goal advantage with a penalty, Sai Kung then scored another with a penalty of their own before Ornament’s goalkeeper was knocked out after diving to close down a Sai Kung attacker, due to the long delay I opted to leave at this point to ensure I arrived home on time and Ornament scored a fourth after I left.
Game 16: Dreams 6–0 Lee Man
5th May 2019
Tsing Yi Sports Ground
Hong Kong Premier League
Having been made aware of this tie due to a Facebook event, I decided to head to a Tsing Yi for my first game on an Outlying Island.
Dreams took on Lee Man, and this ground was a real headache to find. I left Tsing Yi MTR and found the ground but I was at the wrong side to the entrance to get in, I tried going around the side but having been diverted around a labyrinth of road design, I could not find the ground again, Google Maps kept changing directions randomly and after 30 minutes lost somewhere in the middle of Tsing Yi, I called a taxi to travel the short distance to the ground.
I must say Lee Man had passionate fans who sang even while the team were being torn apart but they had to have produced the worst performance I have ever seen on a football pitch. Dreams ran out 6–0 winners and the result did not flatter them but they were sloppy and did not look sharp at all.
Lee Man constantly had their wingers float very safe crosses into the goalkeeper and once one of their wingers under no pressure at all and with space to run into dribbled the ball out of play.
It amazed me that they won the Sapling Cup, though they did finish the league season in 9th place out of 10 teams. Only Hoi King finished below them and they only managed eight points.
Amazingly, it took me 30 seconds to walk from the ground to the MTR, so I appear to have had a ‘mare here.
Game 17: Yeun Long 0–2 Kwoon Chung Southern
12th May 2019
Mong Kok Stadium
Hong Kong FA Cup Semi-Final
There was remarkably good weather towards the end of my time in Hong Kong, so I decided to go to the second of the two FA Cup semi-finals between Yuen Long and Southern.
It also gave me the opportunity to say goodbye for now to Mong Kok Stadium, as I enjoyed three entertaining games of football there, though this was the first I attended on my own.
Zesh Rehman, Pakistan international and former Fulham man gave Southern the lead after converting following a goalmouth scramble.
The teams seemed to struggle a bit in the sweltering heat and humidity, and Yuen Long did not really threaten much and I’m pretty certain they failed to really trouble to the goalkeeper.
With the game being increasingly cagey, it kicked into life in the closing 20 minutes, with Yeun Long being unhappy with several Southern challenges, with some confrontations, albeit minor between players as a result. The fans grew increasingly frustrated as Southern got away with several dangerous looking challenges.
One fan in the same row as me got rather vocal in his criticism of the referee so I thought it was rather ironic that he was wearing a Roma kit, though that sort of thing isn’t uncommon at all in Hong Kong, with several fans wearing kits from European clubs at local games.
James Ha picked up the ball cut inside and put Southern 2–0 up to set up a final with Kitchee at Hong Kong Stadium on 26th May.
Games 17–66: Hong Kong Soccer Sevens Day One and Day Two
17th-18th May 2019
Hong Kong Football Club Stadium
Put of the reason I opted to travel to Hong Kong was because it was the only option where I had the chance to maybe see West Ham while I was there, with our reserve side being sent fairly often for the Soccer Sevens.
It happened this time with the Under 23s in action. A host of stars were out for the Soccer Sevens, which features a main tournament featuring Asian sides and reserve/academy sides from Europe and a Masters tournament.
The Main tournament featured West Ham, Fulham, Portimonense, Wolves, Aston Villa, Brighton, HKFA Red Dragons (Hong Kong Under 23), Hong Kong Football Club, HKFC Captain’s Select, Kashima Antlers, Kitchee, Leicester, Newcastle, Rangers, Singapore Cricket Club and Yau Yee League Select (the league contains some humorously named sides such as White Youth, French Kiss and Galloping Gweillos).
The masters tournament featured teams containing stars such as Emile Heskey, John Arne Riise, Grant Holt, David James, Carlton Cole, Jari Litmanen, Sean Davis, Jamie Cureton, Pascal Chimbonda, Marlon Harewood, George Boateng, Frank Sinclair and others.
Sevens were essentially games of two seven-minute halves with a one minute break played between tow seven-a-side teams with rolling subs and no offsides. The pitch looked in immaculate condition with plenty of space for fast, attacking football. There were several exhibition games including one for the Crusaders programme devised by HKFC to give children with special needs the opportunity to play competitive football.
I saw 49 matches on the first two days of the tournament and I left on the third day, so I did not see the finals. It would take forever to sum up the games but it was amazing fun. Grant Holt despite having retired was lethal up front in the masters for Nottingham Forest Mobsters, he absolutely bullied the opposition and on day two seeing West Ham was something really special. There were 20–30 West Ham fans in the corner of the ground and I must admit, despite having a great degree of bias, we were the best fans at the tournament. Indeed, only Wolves fans really attempted to have a sing-song, but this evening reminded me of proper West Ham, a fitting way to end my time in Kongers. I can’t understand how we lost the semi-final to Rangers, as they looked really poor in the group stages. But still, hopefully, it was a good experience for the lads to play in such a tournament. The younger players playing in exhibition matches seemed to really enjoy themselves which was, of course, great to see. The Sevens were just a fun couple of days of football full of exciting players, who all were more than happy to talk to fams pose for pictures as well as sign things.
If you’re ever in Hong Kong in mid-May, I would definitely recommend. The first day is usually free for the public and the food on offer is great. Hong Kong Football Club did a great job organising the event which has run since 1999.