2021–22 Hong Kong Premier League

The 2021–22 Hong Kong Premier League (also known as the BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was an abandoned season of the Hong Kong Premier League, the top division of Hong Kong football.

Hong Kong Premier League

Season	2021–22
Dates	23 October 2021 – 12 December 2021 (season cancelled)
Champions	None
Relegated	None
Matches played	15
Goals scored	65 (4.33 per match)
Biggest home win	Kitchee 6–0 HK U23 (30 October 2021)
Biggest away win	Resources Capital 0–4 Southern (31 October 2021)
Highest scoring	Resources Capital 3–5 Rangers (24 October 2021)
Longest winning run	4 matches Southern
Longest unbeaten run	4 matches Southern Kitchee
Longest winless run	4 matches HKFC HK U23
Longest losing run	3 matches Resources Capital
Highest attendance	3,163 Kitchee 1–0 Eastern (23 October 2021)
Lowest attendance	260 HK U23 2–2 HKFC (21 November 2021)
Total attendance	13,498
Average attendance	900
← 2020–21 2022–23 → All statistics correct as of 12 December 2021.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 5 January 2022, the Hong Kong government announced a tightening of social distancing measures between 7 January to 20 January in order to control the Omicron outbreak.^[1] Public recreation facilities, such as football pitches, were closed and members of the public were barred from gathering in groups of more than two, making it impossible for the season to continue. The Hong Kong Football Association announced on the same day that it would also postpone any scheduled matches in the successive two week period.

After the measures were extended several times in the following weeks, the government announced on 22 February that it would extend the measures until 20 April, making it nearly impossible to complete the season before most player contracts expired on 31 May.^[2] The HKFA held an emergency meeting with the clubs on 25 February, after which it was determined that the remainder of the season would be cancelled.^[3]

Teams

A total of 8 teams contest the league, including six teams from the 2020–21 Hong Kong Premier League, one team promoted from the 2020–21 Hong Kong First Division and one newly established team. Pegasus and Happy Valley decided to self-relegate to amateur leagues due to lack of funds.

Club	Founded	Position Last Season
Kitchee	1931	1st
Eastern	1932	2nd
Lee Man	2017	3rd
Southern	2002	5th
Rangers	1958	6th
Resources Capital	1982	7th
HKFC	1886	1st in First Division
HK U23	2021	N/A

• Pink denotes a newly promoted/established club entering the league this year.

Stadia and locations

Southern

Rangers

HKFC

Resources Capital
HK U23

Eastern
Kitchee

Lee Man

Locations of the Hong Kong based teams.

Primary venues used in the Hong Kong Premier League:

Kitchee Eastern	Rangers	Lee Man
Mong Kok Stadium	Sham Shui Po Sports Ground	Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground
Capacity: 6,664	Capacity: 2,194	Capacity: 3,500
HK U23 Resources Capital	HKFC	Southern
Tsing Yi Sports Ground	HKFC Stadium	Aberdeen Sports Ground
Capacity: 1,500	Capacity: 2,750	Capacity: 4,000

Personnel and kits

Team	Chairman	Head Coach	Captain	Kit Manufacturer	Main sponsor
Eastern	Lam Kin Ming	Roberto Losada	Leung Chun Pong	Adidas	Upbest Group
Kitchee	Ken Ng	Chu Chi Kwong	Huang Yang	Nike	EDPS Systems Ltd.
Lee Man	Norman Lee	Chan Hiu Ming	Fernando Recio	Adidas	Lee & Man Chemical
Rangers	Peter Mok	Chiu Chung Man Wong Chin Hung Lai Ka Fai	Lam Ka Wai	Ucan	Biu Chun Watch Hands & Parts Manufacturers Ltd.
Southern	Matthew Wong	Zesh Rehman	Shu Sasaki[4]	Macron	Isuzu
Resources Capital	Hanson Wong	Joan Esteva	Cheng King Ho		Future Hong Kong Football Development Charity Limited
HKFC	Tony Sealy	Tony Hamilton-Bram	Freek Schipper	Adidas	The Executive Centre
HK U23	Eric Fok	Cheung Kin Fung	Wong Wai	Lotto	Key Connect

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Kitchee	Chu Chi Kwong	Change of Role	2 August 2021	Pre-season	Kim Dong-jin	2 August 2021
Kitchee	Kim Dong-jin	Change of Role	3 March 2022	2nd	Chu Chi Kwong	3 March 2022

Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to six per team, with no more than five on the pitch during matches, the fifth player must be a marquee player.

According to the decision made by Hong Kong Football Association Board of Directors on 15 July 2020, the marquee player must fulfil one of the following criteria:

i) played for a club which is in a world's top professional league of one of the top 50 associations in the FIFA ranking published by FIFA on 11 June 2020 for at least 1 season or ii) fielded by his association in an international match, which his association is one of the top 50 associations in the FIFA ranking published by FIFA on 11 June 2020.

Marquee Player

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Former/Unregistered Players
Eastern	Marcos Gondra	Mikael	Tamirlan Kozubayev	Víctor Bertomeu			Everton Eduardo Praes Toni Dovale
Kitchee	Dejan Damjanović	Park Jun-heong	Raúl Baena	Manuel Gavilán	Cleiton	Charlie Scott	Ruslan Mingazow
Lee Man	Jonathan Acosta	Junior Dutra	Gil	Kim Seung-yong	José Ángel	Manolo Bleda
Southern	Stefan Pereira	Zesh Rehman	Dudu	Luciano	Kota Kawase	Shu Sasaki
Rangers	Leandro Bazán	Oleksii Shliakotin	Juninho	Ryota Hayashi	Kim Min-kyu
Resources Capital	Albert Canal	Felipe Sá	Jordon Brown	Joan Esteva	Carles Tena|	Diego Peláez

There are no restrictions on the number of foreign players HKFC can register. However, the team must have at least nine Hong Kong players in the squad, with no less than three on the pitch during matches.

Club	HK Player 1	HK Player 2	HK Player 3	HK Player 4	HK Player 5	HK Player 6	HK Player 7	HK Player 8	HK Player 9
HKFC	Stephen Liu	Robert Bacon	Matthew Hoare	Ghislain Bell Bell	Chan Wai Hin	Tristan Cheung	Christopher Chung	Noa Fjelddahl	Brian Fok
	HK Player 10	HK Player 11	HK Player 12	HK Player 13	HK Player 14	HK Player 15	HK Player 16	HK Player 17	HK Player 18
	Oliver Laxton	Liu Sui Man	Poon Ka Ming	Hardikpreet Singh	To Chun Kiu	Lucas Yan	Yue Yixing	Freek Schipper	Robert Scott

HK U23 is not allowed to register any foreign players. Meanwhile, the number of overaged players is restricted to five for the team, with no more than three on the pitch during matches. The rest of the players must meet the registration status of U23 local players.

Club	Overaged Player 1	Overaged Player 2	Overaged Player 3	Overaged Player 4	Overaged Player 5
HK U23	Chan Ching Him	Kwok Tsz Kaai	Law Hiu Chung	Wong Ho Yin	Wong Wai

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
1	Southern	4	4	0	0	12	1	+11	12	Qualified to Championship Group
2	Kitchee	4	3	1	0	15	3	+12	10
3	Lee Man	3	2	1	0	9	2	+7	7
4	Eastern	4	2	0	2	8	4	+4	6
5	Rangers	4	2	0	2	11	15	−4	6	Qualified to Challenge Group
6	HKFC	4	0	1	3	4	11	−7	1
7	HK U23	4	0	1	3	3	16	−13	1
8	Resources Capital	3	0	0	3	3	13	−10	0

Updated to match(es) played on 12 December 2021. Source: Hong Kong Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Fair-play points; 8) Drawing lots (Play-off if the winner has to be decided).
Notes:

1. Teams are split into two groups (Championship Group and Challenge Group) after each have played 14 matches.

Results

Home \ Away	KIT	EAS	LEE	SOU	RAN	RES	HKF	U23
Kitchee	—	1–0	16 Mar	23 Jan	5 Mar	6 Apr	2 Mar	6–0
Eastern	26 Feb	—	2 Apr	0–1	4–2	4–0	5 Feb	19 Mar
Lee Man	2–2	15 Jan	—	6 Feb	20 Mar	20 Feb	23 Apr	4–0
Southern	20 Mar	5 Mar	12 Mar	—	15 Jan	23 Apr	3–0	4–1
Rangers	1–6	24 Apr	23 Jan	5 Apr	—	27 Feb	10 Apr	6 Feb
Resources Capital	5 Feb	16 Apr	6 Mar	0–4	3–5	—	19 Mar	3 Apr
HKFC	16 Jan	13 Mar	0–3	25 Feb	1 May	23 Jan	—	6 Mar
HK U23	20 Feb	23 Jan	27 Feb	17 Apr	2–3	16 Jan	2–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 12 December 2021. Source: HKFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4
Kitchee	3	2	3	2
Eastern	6	3	2	4
Lee Man	4	5	5	3
Southern	1	1	1	1
Rangers	2	4	4	5
Resources Capital	7	7	8	8
HKFC	8	6	6	6
HK U23	4	8	7	7

	Qualification for the Championship Group
	Qualification for the Challenge Group

Updated to match(es) played on 12 Dec 2021. Source: Hong Kong Football Association website

Fixtures and results

Round 1

Kitchee v Eastern

23 October 2021 (2021-10-23)	Kitchee	1–0	Eastern	Mong Kok, Kowloon
15:30 (UTC+8)	Gavilán 14'	Report		Stadium: Mong Kok Stadium Attendance: 3,163 Referee: Ho Wai Sing

Southern v HKFC

24 October 2021 (2021-10-24)	Southern	3–0	HKFC	Aberdeen, Hong Kong
15:30 (UTC+8)	Pereira 16', 21', 31'	Report		Stadium: Aberdeen Sports Ground Attendance: 451 Referee: Tang Hing Fu

Resources Capital v Rangers

24 October 2021 (2021-10-24)	Resources Capital	3–5	Rangers	Tsing Yi, New Territories
18:00 (UTC+8)	Lau Kwan Ching 5' Ho Sze Chit 49' Wong Wai Kwok 50'	Report	Lo Kwan Yee 54' (pen.) Juninho 61' Kim Min-kyu 63' Bazán 69', 73'	Stadium: Tsing Yi Sports Ground Attendance: 424 Referee: Tam Ping Wun

Lee Man v HK U23

5 December 2021 (2021-12-05)	Lee Man	4–0	HK U23	Tseung Kwan O, New Territories
17:30 (UTC+8)	Ángel 6' Chang Hei Yin 40' Dutra 60', 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground Attendance: 382 Referee: Ho Wai Sing

Round 2

Kitchee v HK U23

30 October 2021 (2021-10-30)	Kitchee	6–0	HK U23	Mong Kok, Kowloon
15:30 (UTC+8)	Baena 2' Chan Siu Kwan 9' Damjanović 12', 76', 86' Orr 36'	Report		Stadium: Mong Kok Stadium Attendance: 1,192 Referee: Law Bik Chi

Resources Capital v Southern

31 October 2021 (2021-10-31)	Resources Capital	0–4	Southern	Tsing Yi, New Territories
15:30 (UTC+8)		Report	Canal 21' (o.g.) Ju Yingzhi 29' Ha 35' Luciano 81'	Stadium: Tsing Yi Sports Ground Attendance: 514 Referee: Poon Chun Kit

Eastern v Rangers

31 October 2021 (2021-10-31)	Eastern	4–2	Rangers	Mong Kok, Kowloon
18:00 (UTC+8)	Marcos 34' Fung Hing Wa 40' Everton 47' Mikael 87'	Report	Bazán 38' Juninho 86'	Stadium: Mong Kok Stadium Attendance: 925 Referee: Luk Kin Sun

HKFC v Lee Man

12 December 2021 (2021-12-12)	HKFC	0–3	Lee Man	Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island
19:30 (UTC+8)		Report	Chang Hei Yin 6', 61' Thomas Harrington 56' (o.g.)	Stadium: Hong Kong Football Club Stadium Attendance: 537 Referee: Luk Kin Sun

Round 3

Southern v HK U23

6 November 2021 (2021-11-06)	Southern	4–1	HK U23	Aberdeen, Hong Kong
15:00 (UTC+8)	Pereira 5', 15', 61' Sasaki 50'	Report	Wong Wai 45+1'	Stadium: Aberdeen Sports Ground Attendance: 396 Referee: Woo Chun Sing

Eastern v Resources Capital

7 November 2021 (2021-11-07)	Eastern	4–0	Resources Capital	Mong Kok, Kowloon
15:00 (UTC+8)	Fernando 7' Sun Ming Him 42' Bertomeu 78', 88'	Report		Stadium: Mong Kok Stadium Attendance: 908 Referee: Liu Kwok Man

HKFC v Rangers

7 November 2021 (2021-11-07)	HKFC	2–3	Rangers	Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island
19:30 (UTC+8)	Sahaghian 74' Lau Hok Ming 90+2' (o.g.)	Report	Bazán 3', 58', 68'	Stadium: Hong Kong Football Club Stadium Attendance: 441 Referee: Wong Wai Lun

Lee Man v Kitchee

21 November 2021 (2021-11-21)	Lee Man	2–2	Kitchee	Tseung Kwan O, New Territories
17:30 (UTC+8)	Kim Seung-yong 45' Bleda 79'	Report	Damjanović 6' Baena 20'	Stadium: Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground Attendance: 1,504 Referee: Ho Wai Sing

Round 4

Eastern v Southern

20 November 2021 (2021-11-20)	Eastern	0–1	Southern	Mong Kok, Kowloon
17:30 (UTC+8)		Report	Pereira 84'	Stadium: Mong Kok Stadium Attendance: 1,325 Referee: Lau Fong Hei

HK U23 v HKFC

21 November 2021 (2021-11-21)	HK U23	2–2	HKFC	Tsing Yi, New Territories
15:00 (UTC+8)	Wong Wai 22' Yuen Sai Kit 76'	Report	Léo 40' Schipper 45+2'	Stadium: Tsing Yi Sports Ground Attendance: 260 Referee: Tam Ping Wun

Rangers v Kitchee

5 December 2021 (2021-12-05)	Rangers	1–6	Kitchee	Sham Shui Po, Kowloon
15:00 (UTC+8)	Bazán 45+1'	Report	Tomas 2', 30' Chan Siu Kwan 62' Ichikawa 63' Cleiton 82' Roberto 90+4'	Stadium: Sham Shui Po Sports Ground Attendance: 1076 Referee: Liu Kwok Man

Lee Man v Resources Capital

20 February 2022 (2022-02-20)	Lee Man	Cancelled	Resources Capital	Tseung Kwan O, New Territories
15:00 (UTC+8)		Report		Stadium: Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of matches played 12 December 2021^[5]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Stefan Pereira	Southern	7
	Leandro Bazán	Rangers
2	Dejan Damjanović	Kitchee	4
3	Chang Hei Yin	Lee Man	3
4	Juninho	Rangers	2
	Víctor Bertomeu	Eastern
	Wong Wai	HK U23
	Raúl Baena	Kitchee
	Chan Siu Kwan	Kitchee
	Tomas	Kitchee
	Júnior Dutra	Lee Man

Hat-tricks

Note: The results column shows the scorer's team score first. Teams in bold are home teams.

#	Player	Nationality	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
1	Stefan Pereira	Brazil	Southern	HKFC	3–0	25 October 2021	[6]
2	Dejan Damjanović	Montenegro	Kitchee	HK U23	6–0	30 October 2021	[7]
3	Stefan Pereira	Brazil	Southern	HK U23	4–1	6 November 2021	[8]
4	Leandro Bazán	Argentina	Rangers	HKFC	3–2	7 November 2021	[9]

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Match(es)
1	Ng Wai Him	Southern	3
2	Paulo César	Kitchee	1
	Wang Zhenpeng	Kitchee
	Yapp Hung Fai	Eastern
	Chan Ka Ho	Lee Man
	Yuen Ho Chun	Lee Man

Attendances

As of matches played 12 December 2021

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Kitchee	4,355	3,163	1,192	2,178	+31.8%†
2	Rangers	1,076	1,076	1,076	1,076	+75.5%†
3	Eastern	3,158	1,325	908	1,053	−9.4%†
4	Lee Man	1,886	1,504	382	943	+10.7%†
5	HKFC	978	537	441	489	n/a1
6	Resources Capital	938	514	424	469	−18.4%†
7	Southern	847	451	396	424	−32.4%†
8	HK U23	260	260	260	260	n/a1
	League total	12,580	3,163	260	973	+0.4%†

Source: HKFA
Notes:
1: Team did not play in the Premier League last season

Remarks