Hong Kong First Division
League ( ) is the top division football league in Hong Kong
established in 1908.
It does
not affiliate to any football leagues in the People's
Republic of China
, such as Chinese
Super League and Jia
League.
Competition format
- Each team plays the other teams twice, one home and one away
game. The ticket profits go to the home team. If there are two
matches in the same stadium on the day, the profits are shared
between the two home teams.
- Since
most of the teams do not have a home ground, the games are mostly
played in Hong Kong
Stadium
or Mongkok Stadium
. It happens that one team plays their home
games in both stadiums in the same season.
- The bottom two teams are relegated to the Hong Kong Second Division
League.
- Each season, HKFA
decides the maximum number of foreign and mainland Chinese players
each club can have and how many can play in each game. This season,
a maximum of 9 foreign players (mainland Chinese players included)
can be registered for a team, where no more than 6 of them could be
played simultaneously on the pitch, with 2 more can be placed as
substitutes.
Exceptions
There were two teams, The Army and The Police, that are not
required to be relegated. The league explained that soldiers in The
Army team were frequently redeployed to another country and hence
it was very difficult to establish teamwork. The Police team were
not required to be relegated as they supply the venue
Police Sports and Recreation
Club for the league.
Another
relegate exception was made to South China
Athletic Association
during the 2006/07 season. The
Hong Kong Football
Association approved a request from South China to remain in
the first division
June 14,
2006. The reason for exception was not disclosed. The
public believed that this application was allowed probably because
South China has a long history in the First Division League and it
would otherwise be humiliating for the club to relegate to Second
Division League. Another reason is that other football clubs rely
on the large fan base of South China to generate more revenues.
Relegation would result in a lose-lose situation for both
sides.
Stadiums
As Hong Kong is a small place, most clubs do not have space to
build home stadiums.
Even if they have their own training ground
(as in the case of South
China
), the league matches are played elsewhere.
The First
Division League games are usually played in Hong Kong
Stadium or Mong Kok Stadium
.
List of soccer facilities used in season 2008–09:
But with the renovation of the Mong Kok Stadium in autumn 2009, the
HKFA worked with the
Leisure and
Cultural Services Department to arrange home grounds for all
the competing teams in the 2009-10 season as follows:
Competing clubs
2008–09 season
The following 13 clubs are competing in the Hong Kong First
Division League during the
2008–09 season.
Records
Unbeaten teams
References:
Since 1945 (ie. after WWII, when
HKFA has held a complete
record of the competition), there are 4 teams which have remained
unbeaten throughout the whole season.
1977-78 There were 12 teams in the First Division.
South China finished as the Champions with a magnificent result
of 20 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses. South China became the first team in the League to go unbeaten
in a season. The two drawn matches were against
Eastern and
Tung
Sing.
In
1985-86 there were 2 unbeaten teams in the
league.
Both South China and Happy Valley
topped the league with 10 wins and 8 draws. South China won the league with a goal difference of +21 five
goals better than the +16 held by Happy
Valley. South China became the first team to hold a record of 2
unbeaten seasons.
1978-79 In the season
immediately after South
China becoming the first unbeaten team, Seiko became the
second team which achieved this result. With a slightly
poorer result (19 wins and 3 draws) compared to the previous year's
South
China, Seiko still became the Champion of the
season. The draw matches were against
Kui
Tan,
Eastern and Caroline Hill. A
more marvellous result for Seiko was that it won 5 out of the 6
competitions that season. The only trophy it failed to get was
FA Cup, losing to
Yuen Long by penalty kicks.
1985-86 Happy Valley was unbeaten in the season,
same as South
China (10 wins and 8 draws). However,
Happy Valley just claimed the Runners-up
because a worse goal difference. It became the first unbeaten team
which could not gain the title for the season.
2002-03# Actually, according to the league table
Happy Valley did not go unbeaten
during this season. The 'losing' match was against
Fukien. In that match,
Happy Valley was originally the winning
team. However, it was later discovered that an ineligible player
was used during the game.
Happy
Valley was penalised with a 0-3 loss.
2002-03 Sun Hei became the
fourth team to go the whole season without losing a game in the
history of the league. However, they were only able to achieve a
second place finish, one point behind
Happy Valley.
Top goal scorers
References:
- Season: 1957–58
- Number of goals: 40
- Team:
South
China
Winning Seasons:1989-90, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95
Total goals: 160
Played
Teams: Eastern, South China, Kitchee
- Yuen Kuen To (4 times Top Goal Scorer
Runner-up)
Runner-up seasons: 1967-68, 1968-69, 1971-72, 1972-73
Goalkeeper records
References:
Record: 827 min
Season: 1992-93
He assisted
Eastern to maintain a record
of 0 conceded and 9 straight wins in the first 9 matches of 1992-93
season.
His record ended when they played the second
round match against South China at the 17th minute. The goalscorer was
Loh Wai Chi.
Opening matches
References:
- First Opening Match with last year's Champion vs
Runner-up (1988-89)
South
China 2:2(6:7 pen) Happy
Valley
- Biggest Goal Difference
(2008-09)
South
China 9:0 Tuen Mun
Progoal
- Highest Scoring Game (1997-98)
Instant-Dict 5:4 South China
- First Unrecognised Game
(1998-99)
Instant-Dict 2:2 South China (original score)
As there was a suspended player played in
Instant-Dict's squad, the team was penalised
by losing 0-3.
Highest disclosed transfer fee records
Champions
| Team |
Champions |
Winning seasons |
| Overall |
Before WWII |
After WWII |
|
| South China |
39 |
9 |
30 |
1923–24,
1930–31,
1932–33,
1934–35,
1935–36,
1937–38,
1938–39,
1939–40,
1940–41,
1948–49,
1950–51,
1951–52,
1952–53,
1954–55,
1956–57,
1957–58,
1958–59,
1959–60,
1960–61,
1961–62,
1965–66,
1967–68,
1968–69,
1971–72,
1973–74,
1975–76,
1976–77,
1977–78,
1985–86,
1986–87,
1987–88,
1989–90,
1990–91,
1991–92,
1996–97,
1999–00,
2006–07,
2007–08,
2008–09 |
| Seiko |
9 |
– |
9 |
1972–73,
1974–75,
1978–79,
1979–80,
1980–81,
1981–82,
1982–83,
1983–84,
1984–85 |
| Happy Valley |
6 |
– |
6 |
1964–65,
1988–89,
1998–99,
2000–01,
2002–03,
2005–06 |
| R.G.A. |
5 |
5 |
0 |
1909–10,
1912–13,
1914–15,
1915–16,
1917–18 |
| Eastern |
4 |
0 |
4 |
1955–56,
1992–93,
1993–94,
1994–95 |
| C.A.A. |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1927–28,
1928–29,
1929–30 |
| Kitchee |
3 |
0 |
3 |
1947–48,
1949–50,
1963–64 |
| Convoy Sun Hei |
3 |
– |
3 |
2001–02,
2003–04,
2004–05 |
| Buffs |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1908–09,
1910–11 |
| King's Own Rifiles |
2 |
2 |
– |
1911–12,
1922–23 |
| South Welsh
Borderers |
2 |
2 |
– |
1931–32,
1933–34 |
| K.M.B. |
2 |
– |
2 |
1953–54,
1966–67 |
| Double Flower |
2 |
– |
2 |
1995–96,
1997–98 |
| D.C.L.I. |
1 |
1 |
– |
1913–14 |
| Royal Engineers |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1916–17 |
| Royal Navy |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1918–19 |
| HKFC |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1919–20 |
| Wiltshire
Regiment |
1 |
1 |
– |
1920–21 |
| HMS Curiew |
1 |
1 |
– |
1921–22 |
| East Surrey
Regt. |
1 |
1 |
– |
1924–25 |
| Kowloon FC |
1 |
1 |
– |
1925–26 |
| Recreio |
1 |
1 |
– |
1926–27 |
| Ulster Guards |
1 |
1 |
– |
1936–37 |
| Royal Air Force |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1945–46 |
| Sing Tao |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1946–47 |
| Yuen Long |
1 |
– |
1 |
1962–63 |
| Jardines |
1 |
– |
1 |
1969–70 |
| Rangers |
1 |
– |
1 |
1970–71 |
See also
References and notes
- 傳媒報導 - 2006-08-01 羅傑承主政班費千萬增兵 南華搵摩連奴師兄執教,
SCAA Fans Club
official site, Accessed on October 20, 2007.
- 2009/10賽季各球會主場
- HKFA Webpage (in Chinese)(聯賽不失球紀錄的保持者─希福特)
- HKFA Webpage (in Chinese)(甲組足球聯賽揭幕戰回顧(一))
- HKFA Webpage (in Chinese)(甲組足球聯賽揭幕戰回顧(二))
External links
: Citizen AA
: Fourway Rangers
Athletics
: Sun Hei, Tuen Mun Progoal
: Tai Po FC
: TSW Pegasus
FC
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