The Hong Kong Football Association is planning a new knockout tournament designed to enhance the qualification process for the AFC Cup, the only regional cup competition Hong Kong clubs can participate in.
The Super Cup is scheduled to kick off at the end of next season and will feature four teams - including the winners of the two cups (the Senior Shield and the FA Cup) and the teams that finish second and third in the league. The league winners qualify automatically for the AFC Cup.
The winners of a two-day knockout tournament comprising three matches will represent Hong Kong in the AFC Cup the following year, along with the league champions.
In the event either of the cup winners are also first or second runners-up in the league, the Super Cup slot will be filled by the team who finishes fourth or even fifth in the league table. Losing cup finalists will not be allowed to participate.
According to AFC rules, the two AFC Cup representatives should be the champions of the top domestic league and a knockout competition. In the event that the league champions are also cup champions, the place should be given to the league runners-up.
In the case of Hong Kong, the Senior Shield champions have always been given AFC Cup priority, followed by the winners of the FA Cup, then the League Cup. If all four champions, including the league winners, are the same club, the second AFC Cup place is traditionally awarded to the league's first runners-up. This happened in the 2004/05 season when Sun Hei clinched a clean sweep of all domestic titles and Happy Valley won the place as runners-up.