bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

1886
First soccer team in Hong Kong established by expatriates - Hong Kong Football Club 
1896
Shield competition, a knock-out event, introduced 
1908
League competition started among clubs such as Hong Kong Football Club, Kowloon Club, and The Buffs, who are the first league champions
The first Chinese team, South China, are founded. The first interport is held - against Shanghai 
1914
Hong Kong Football Association is established   
1918
South China became first Chinese team to play in the top flight and are champions in 1924
1936
Fourteen Hong Kong players selected for China for Berlin Olympic Games; eight of them, including team captain Lee Wai-tong, feature in their only match in a 2-0 defeat by England 
1937
Inaugural Hong Kong-Macau Interport Cup held in Macau
1938
Opening of Fa Hui Stadium in Mong Kok (now the Police Football Stadium). Kitchee join Third Division  
1945
League resumed after second world war 
1948
 Hong Kong players again selected for China at the London Olympics with Lee Wai-tong as their coach
1951
 One of the most memorable matches is staged between South China and KMB, where fans queued the night before for tickets. The match ends in a 1-1 draw
1953
Lo Man-kam becomes the first Chinese HKFA president 
1954
Hong Kong and 11 other countries found the Asian Football Confederation in Manila. Lo is elected first AFC president, while Lee  is general secretary. Lee coaches the Republic of China (Taiwan) at the Asian Games and win a the gold medal with mostly Hong Kong players 
1955
Opening of the old Government Stadium with 28,000 seats 
1956
Hong Kong hosts the first international event - the inaugural Asian Cup finals and finish with a bronze medal
1957
Hong Kong win inaugural Merdeka tournament in Kuala Lumpur; the oldest international soccer tournament in Asia
1958
Lee Wai-tong coaches the Republic of China team to successfully defend their Asian Games gold medal. Most of the players are from Hong Kong
1960
Tung Wah player Cheung Chi-doy  joins English First Division side Blackpool 
1965
Lee Wai-tong elected Fifa vice-president and the professional era arrives
1968
The first professional league in Asia is set up by the HKFA, with three professional clubs - Jardine, Sing Tao and Rangers; five more join the following season
The first Professional Cup (renamed Viceroy Cup later) offers HK$100,000 in prize money 
1970
Rangers boss Ian Petrie introduces the first batch of overseas players; Henry Fok Ying-tung is elected HKFA president 
1972
Corporate team Seiko promoted to the First Division and clinch four titles in their debut season
1973
Hong Kong take part in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time 
1977
Hong Kong win the first round of the World Cup Asian zone qualifiers in Singapore 
1979
Seiko win the first of their seven league championships in a row (1979-1985), a record that still stands 
1981
All teams in the First Division must be professional; amateur clubs cannot be promoted to top flight; South China employ their first batch of foreign players
1985
Hong Kong pull off one of their greatest victories, shocking China 2-1 at Beijing's Workers Stadium to win the first round of the World Cup Asian zone qualifiers
1986
Seiko pull out of domestic soccer following a ban on overseas players, which is lifted three years later
1994
New Hong Kong Stadium opened  with 40,000 seats
1997
Henry Fok steps down as HKFA president after 27 years and is replaced by his son, Timothy Fok Tsun-ting 
1998
Soccer loses its elite status at the Sports Institute
2001
HKFA is restructured; board of directors replaces council members as the policymakers. Teams from the mainland invited to play in the First Division due to insufficient local teams
2003
Real Madrid visit Hong Kong with a star-studded line-up, including Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo and David Beckham. Full house at Hong Kong Stadium 
2008
Hong Kong's domestic league is rated one of the poorest in Asia by the AFC. A Legislative Council motion is passed on promoting the game's development and, in response, the government proposes a consultancy study to review the sport 
2009
Hosts Hong Kong win a gold medal at the East Asian Games, beating Japan 2-1 in a penalty shootout Government reveals details of the consultancy study to overhaul the game



HK players have proved mettle in game once dominated by expats