Hong Kong Football Club

HKFC
Full name Hong Kong Football Club
Founded 1886

Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC; Chinese: 香港足球會) or Natixis HKFC Select (name of the rugby union club) is a private members sports and social club in Hong Kong. It is situated in Happy Valley, with the sports pitches being inside the Happy Valley Racecourse.

History

The HKFC main entrance

Hong Kong Football Club was founded in 1886 by Sir James Haldane Stewart Lockhart, following a meeting that was held at the Victoria Recreation Gymnasium on 12 February 1886.[1][2] The names derives from its establishment as a club for playing Association and Rugby Football (now known as rugby union) – not just as an association football (soccer) club as many think today.

The first sport the club played was in fact rugby union, on 16 February 1886, four days after the club formed. The first soccer match of the club was played on 16 March 1886, against the Royal Engineers.[1]

The now famous Hong Kong International Rugby Sevens was founded by and first played at the Club in 1976. Sports Road continued to be the venue until it outgrew its home and was moved to the Hong Kong Government Stadium (now the Hong Kong Stadium) in 1982.

The clubhouse and pitches were situated adjacent to the racecourse. But in 1995, as part of a redevelopment of the racecourse, the club into a brand new, 64,000 square metre, purpose-built home,with the main building being outside the race track with the main pitch, all weather hockey pitch, bowling green and sports bar being inside the racetrack.

In 2011, HKFC celebrated their 125th anniversary as a club.

Present day

Today HKFC has facilities for lawn bowls, rugby, football, hockey, squash, and tennis. The indoor sports hall has facilities for netball, basketball, badminton and table tennis. The swimming pool complex is used for triathlon and swimming training as well as leisure swimming.

Since 1986 the Club has held an International 10-a-side rugby tournament, which has grown to become a leading competition, hosting international standard teams from around the world. It is held at the Club in the week immediately preceding the Hong Kong Sevens.

Another well known event held at Sports Road is the International Soccer 7s Tournament. Primarily comprising teams filled with junior players, it attracts international teams from the English and Scottish Premiership, J-League (Japan) and Dutch First Division.

Sports

Rugby

With over 300 Members, the Natixis HKFC Select supports 7 senior rugby teams within the domestic league (including a ladies team) and approximately 400 mini rugby players (4- to 12-year-olds) and 120 Colts (12- to 18-year-olds) and Youth rugby players, making it one of the largest rugby clubs in Hong Kong. The rugby union club play at the 2,750-capacity Hong Kong Football Club Stadium.

These teams compete in every local league and cup competition, with the 1st XV having been crowned Grand Champions of the league on many occasions – most recently completing the league and cup double in the 2007/08 season. The second team 'Dragons' is also very successful and have won the NL1 (National League 1) Almost 4 times in a row. Scorpions (The third team) have won the NL2 two times and have recently been moved up to NL1 and have reached the semi final. The fourth and fifth team, Select and Bulls compete for NL2 now Scorpions have moved up and Select have won that on their most recent occasion.

2013–2014 Squad

in bold = players internationals
Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Tom Bolland Hooker
Stephen 'Horse' Noland Prop
Ian Ridgway Prop
Antony Philipps Lock
Charles French Lock
Michael Woodward Lock
Will Hunt Flanker
Guy Payne Flanker
Marcus Neill Flanker
Will Hunt Flanker
Jamie Chapman Flanker
Tom Hayman Number 8
Dan Falvey Number 8
Player Position Union
Stephen Dowse Scrum-half
Pete McKee Scrum-half
Patrick McFarland Scrum-half
Michael Glancy Fly-half
Jamie Hood Fly-half
Hugh Baggie Fly-half
Lloyd Jones Centre
Jake Phelps Centre
Sebastien Alfonsi Wing
Patrick Hone Centre
Nick Smith Centre
Mike McKee Wing
Joelin Rapana Wing
Adam Raby Wing
Steve Megaw Wing
Rob McDermott Fullback
James Richards Fullback

Notable players

Soccer

Main article: HKFC Soccer Section

While the soccer team has won many titles in the second-tier competition in recent years, they have rarely enjoyed success when playing against the professional sides in the First Division.

In the past few years, HKFC opted not to take promotion to the First Division. In 2006, finally, the club accepted the promotion after winning the Second Division.

After showing initial promise, they lost 4 league matches in a row between March and April 2007, and were relegated to the Second Division, until April 2010 as they obtained another championship of Second Division, then promoted to First Division in next season.

The Hong Kong International Soccer Sevens is an annual 7-a-side soccer tournament organised by the Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC). The event is held annually in the middle weekend of May in Hong Kong, commencing on the Friday evening, and concluding on the Sunday evening.

Honours

Manchester United Premier Cup Hong Kong Champions U 15 2010

Henderson Elite Youth League U 15 Champions 2011

References

  1. 1 2 Twydell, Dave (1994). The Little Red Book of Chinese Football. Yore Publications. ISBN 1-874427-80-1.
  2. ↑ The China Mail, 1886-02-13, page 3

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.