Opinion | Ten things we miss about Hong Kong sport from the ’80s and ’90s – and why Kai Tak airport makes the list
The term ‘glory days’ is not necessarily associated with local sport but if we were to pick an era it would likely be the ’80s and ’90s. Here’s why
If there was such as thing as the glory years of Hong Kong sport, you would most likely find them during the final two decades of the 1900s. The ’80s and ’90s were not about Hong Kong being world-beaters at any given sport, though we had one of them. Neither were they about the dawning of a great new era as Hong Kong returned to China while keeping its sporting autonomy.
It was about a sporting culture that was palpably richer than it is now.
Yet, there was a greater sense of sincerity to Hong Kong sport in an era when fans relied mostly on newspapers for their news and, if they wanted immediate results for a local event they would go and watch it for themselves.
Here are 10 things that we miss about Hong Kong sports from that era, in no particular order, and here’s hoping they return in the near future.
1. Football crowds
