With a heavily strengthened squad and coaching staff team, South China achieving the famous treble in the 2006–07 season, with continued domestic success and a semi-final appearance in the 2009 AFC Cup.

On 5 June 2017, South China announced their self-relegation into the First Division[8] and parted ways with Cheung, fielding an amateur squad with young players ever since.

Under former chairman, Steven Lo, South China had reinvented their image and partnered with several organisations and brands to reignite interest in Hong Kong football.

It was sung by Albert Cheung (張武孝, also known as 大AI or Big Al), and became very well known after being released during the late 1970s and the 1980s, when they're a perennial challenger for the top spots in the league.

In keeping with this policy, the club would only sign foreign players who had Chinese ancestry such as Edmund Wee, Chow Chee Keong and Chan Kwok Leung.

However, when professional football took off in Hong Kong, the club could not cope with the influx of foreign players and performed poorly at the beginning of the 1981–82 season.

On 6 June 1982, after the club drew an all-important match with Caroline Hill that relegated them, the fans rioted outside the stadium that spread onto Causeway Bay.

[13] However, on 14 June, the Hong Kong Football Association approved a request from South China to remain in the First Division with the promise of strengthening their squad.