Potential 'giant killers' to join expanded FA Cup
HKFA hopes to spice up tournament with inclusion of four Junior Shield semi-finalists
The Hong Kong Football Association will introduce potential "giant killers" this season to add excitement to the FA Cup, which will be expanded to a 16-team tournament.
In a bid to boost youth development and make the FA Cup more exciting, the HKFA has taken the ambitious step of including the four semi-finalists from the Junior Shield competition to the 12 teams in the RedMR First Division for the knockout tournament later this season.
"We hope there will be some giant-killing feats," said Mark Sutcliffe, HKFA chief executive. "We need to make the FA Cup more interesting and the presence of these youth teams will go a long way to achieve that. Just imagine what a story it will be if one of them beats a senior team."
There will be no age restrictions on the four youth teams, however.
Sutcliffe said: "At the moment it is the same teams competing against each other in the League, Senior Shield and FA Cup. I think people get fed up watching the same teams all the time. Also we want to encourage 'junior' teams."
Further down the line, the HKFA is also toying with the idea of expanding the FA Cup to include other clubs in Hong Kong also taking part in the preliminary stages before joining the big boys in the latter stages.