Arsenal and Chelsea advise Hong Kong’s Eastern as they launch team in mainland China

Eastern are looking beyond Hong Kong’s borders to the mainland market after confirming plans to establish a sister team in Chinese football’s fourth tier from 2025. Shunde Eastern will play in the fourth-tier Guangdong Super League, with trials for a youth academy already under way. The Hong Kong Premier League side hope the tie-in with Shunde Football Association (SFA), whose training base will become the club’s mainland headquarters, will be a commercial success. But the immediate priority is to explore an untapped talent pool to produce more home-grown players. Damian Dai, Eastern’s development director, said a direct switch to the Chinese Super League was never considered, because “it would be like jumping from primary school to university”. Dai took soundings from major European clubs, including English Premier League pair Chelsea and Arsenal. Frankie Yau, the club’s vice-chairman, has trimmed the annual budget from HK$30 million (US$3.8 million) in an effort to stop “burning money”. Losses over a season still run to roughly $HK10 million, but Yau is confident the mainland link will begin to raise revenue. “There are four sources of football revenue: TV rights, gate receipts, sponsorship and player transfers,” he said. “In Hong Kong, we make almost nothing from any of them.” Dai, who has coordinated trials for around 10,000 players from 10 schools, said: “The youth teams in Shunde can participate in many official tournaments that are not open to Eastern. In Hong Kong, we do not have a desirable competitive platform. “Organising this partnership was complicated, and has taken two years. We needed cooperation with the existing club [Shunde], the SFA and local government. Shunde has fans, sponsors and very good training facilities.” Players from 6 to 18 will be accommodated in the youth structure, with those over 16 expected to challenge for senior selection. Domestic champions in 2016, Eastern now prioritise producing talent. For the recent Senior Shield final, they had only six foreigners in their 23-man squad. Six of the starting 11 were 25 or younger. “This is a productive integration between Hong Kong and the mainland,” Yau said. “We have the training system, but not the hardware. Guangdong does not have a mature development programme, but does possess the infrastructure for our training system. “If youngsters see they are given chances to play and progress, they will choose us over other teams, where some good, local players, international players, are stagnating because of lack of opportunities.” Yau and Dai say promotion to China League Two is a longer-term objective, with a youth section needing to be grown from scratch first. Recruitment for coaches began at the end of last year, and playing trials started this week. The HK$5 million per year needed to operate a GSL team will be largely covered by sponsors and government support. Dai, who already has Eastern youngsters playing in England and Portugal, said it was “difficult to forecast” whether the club’s mainland arm would eventually usurp its Hong Kong team. A wholesale move was never on the cards, because they lack the coaching, medical and administrative staff needed. “Arsenal showed us how many staff you need for just a top-class, professional academy,” Dai said. “We had a presentation from Chelsea, and saw how they became one of the world’s most profitable academies. We have a huge amount of work ahead.” Dai wants to avoid what he sees as Chinese football’s past mistakes. The national team, featuring Dai’s midfielder son Dai Wai-tsun, flopped at the Asian Cup, failing to score in the tournament. “Why did China not score?” Dai said. “Because they cannot think on their feet. Why not? Because so many players, from around eight, were confined to just football. “For us, football is more than technique and training. If you are smart off the pitch, you can solve problems on it. We want young players to keep their social and school lives. You need personality.”