Football in Hong Kong

Tracing back to early 20th century, the Hong Kong football league was founded in 1908.

Most records before the Second World War have been lost and not many people can remember the old glory of Hong Kong's professional football.

[4] In the 1970s and 1980s, football in Hong Kong was strong and popular, with competitive local teams boosted by well known overseas players and managers, playing in front crowds of tens of thousands.

In 1985, in a famous match, Hong Kong upset China, 2-1, in Beijing to move towards a place in the 1986 World Cup.

Among them, the HKFA Cup and Senior Shield are probably the oldest professional football competitions in Asia - even earlier than the league.

On 14 January 2024, Hong Kong midfielder Philip Chan Siu-kwan scored the 1,000th goal in Asian Cup history in the team’s return to the competition’s finals for the first time since 1968, despite the team losing 3-1 to the United Arab Emirates.