The new Hong Kong Premier League Season will start on Friday, August 26th, and kicks off with a duel of the champions between last year’s HKPL winners Eastern and First Division champions Tai Po at Mong Kok Stadium. The following day, Rangers take on Pegasus at Tsing Yi Sports Ground in a repeat of last season’s final game where Rangers defied the odds to stay up after a narrow 3:2 victory. Perhaps surprisingly, Rangers have opted to make the move from Kowloon Bay Park to Tsing Yi Sports Ground this season, where the use of drums is prohibited. This means that aside from three Rangers games that will be accommodated in Sham Shui Po when Tsing Yi is not available, there will also be no regular league games at the popular inner-city sports ground.
On Saturday evening, Hong Kong FC will make their Premier League debut against Yuen Long in the New Territories, while South China, who have decided to remain at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground, will host the re-established Hong Kong Sapling on Sunday. However, the Caroliners actually pulled off a very smart move: As Tseung Kwan O is scheduled for an extensive pitch renovation later this year, South China will play 8 of their 10 home games in Mong Kok instead. The first round will be finished off with a re-match of last season’s play-off finalists at Mong Kok Stadium, as Kitchee lock horns with Southern.
The 11the team, R&F from Guangzhou, will have no fixture in the first round. After a short FIFA break between August 28th and September 6th, during which Hong Kong will host the Cambodian national team, the Premier League will resume on September 9th.
The first trophy of the season will be awarded on September 16th, when champions Eastern and play-off winners Kitchee will battle it out in the Community Cup at Mong Kok Stadium.
Given the increase of teams in the league, the HKFA have also decided to drop one tournament – the relatively unpopular League Cup. However, all teams still participate in Senior Shield (knock-out, starts September), FA Cup (knock-out, starts December) and Sapling Cup (group stage & knock-out, starts October).
The only team left in the AFC Cup is South China, who will meet the reigning champions Johor Darul Takzim (Malaysia) in the quarter finals. The 1st leg will be held on September 13th at Mong Kok Stadium.
The tentative fixture list for the new season can be found here!
Premier League – Round 1:
26/08/2016 – 20:00 – Eastern vs Tai Po – Mong Kok Stadium
27/08/2016 – 14:30 – Rangers vs Pegasus – Tsing Yi Sports Ground
27/08/2016 – 17:30 – Yuen Long vs HKFC – Yuen Long Stadium
28/08/2016 – 14:30 – South China vs HK Sapling – Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground
28/08/2016 – 17:30 – Kitchee vs Southern – Mong Kok Stadium
HKFA Friendly Game:
01/09/2016 – –:– – Hong Kong vs Cambodia – Mong Kok Stadium
Premier League – Round 2:
09/09/2016 – 20:00 – HKFC vs Tai Po – HKFC Ground
10/09/2016 – 14:30 – Southern vs Rangers – Aberdeen Sports Ground
10/09/2016 – 17:30 – Eastern vs R&F – Mong Kok Stadium
11/09/2016 – 14:30 – HK Sapling vs Pegasus – Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground
11/09/2016 – 17:30 – Kitchee vs Yuen Long – Mong Kok Stadium
AFC Cup:
13/09/2016 – –:– – South China vs Johor Darul Takzim – Mong Kok Stadium
Community Cup:
16/09/2016 – 17:30 – Eastern vs Kitchee – Mong Kok Stadium
PREMIER LEAGUE CLUB NAMES (2016/17):
Eastern (aka Eastern SC)
Kitchee (aka Kitchee SC)
South China (aka South China AA)
Southern (aka Southern District or Kwoon Chung Southern District)
Pegasus (aka Hong Kong Pegasus FC)
Yuen Long (aka Yuen Long FC)
Rangers (aka Hong Kong Rangers FC)
Tai Po (aka Wofoo Tai Po FC)
Hong Kong Football Club (aka HKFC)
Hong Kong Sapling (aka Biu Chun Glory Sky)
R&F (aka Fuli or Guangzhou R&F)
NOTE: As offside.hk continues to strive for accessibility and continuity to attract football fans to the Hong Kong Premier League, we reserve the right to omit sponsorship names when referring to clubs in all of our media and journalism.
Stadiums (2016/17):
| Eastern | Mong Kok Stadium | 6,600 |
| Kitchee | Mong Kok Stadium | 6,600 |
| South China | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground / Mong Kok Stadium | 3,500 / 6,600 |
| Pegasus | Hong Kong Stadium / Mong Kok Stadium | 40,000 / 6,600 |
| Southern | Aberdeen Sports Ground | 4,000 |
| Yuen Long | Yuen Long Stadium | 5,000 |
| Rangers | Tsing Yi Sports Ground / Sham Shui Po Sports Ground | 1,500 / 2,200 |
| Tai Po | Tai Po Sports Ground | 3,200 |
| Hong Kong FC | HKFC Stadium | 2,750 |
| R&F | Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground | 12,000 |
| HK Sapling | Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground | 2,200 |
