List of Hong Kong football champions

List of Hong Kong football champions

Founded	1908
Country	Hong Kong
Confederation	AFC
Current champions	Lee Man (1st title) (2023–24)
Most championships	South China (41 titles)
Current: 2023–24 Hong Kong Premier League

The Hong Kong football champions are the winners of the Hong Kong Premier League and Hong Kong First Division League, which is the oldest top-flight league system in Asia.

South China is the most successful club in Hong Kong. The club has won 41 league titles until 2012–13 season.

A defunct club, Seiko, are the record holders of winning longest consecutive titles. Between 1978–79 and 1984–85 they had won 7 league titles.

List

Hong Kong First Division League (1908–2014)

Year	Champions (number of titles)	Runners-up	Third place	Leading goalscorer	Goals
1908–09	Buffs (1)	R.G.A.	Royal Engineers	(Unknown)
1909–10	R.G.A. (1)	Buffs	(Unknown)	Taylor (Buffs)	20
1910–11	Buffs (2)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1911–12	King's Own Rifiles (1)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1912–13	R.G.A. (2)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1913–14	D.C.L.I. (1)	Royal Engineers	R.G.A.	(Unknown)
1914–15	R.G.A. (3)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1915–16	R.G.A. (4)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1916–17	Royal Engineers (1)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1917–18	R.G.A. (5)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1918–19	Royal Navy (1)	Hong Kong FC	R.G.A.	(Unknown)
1919–20	Hong Kong FC (1)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1920–21	Wiltshire Regiment (1)	R.G.A.	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1921–22	HMS Curiew (1)	Hong Kong FC	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1922–23	King's Own Rifiles (2)	HMS Ambrose	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1923–24	South China (1)	East Surrey Regiment	HMS Titania	(Unknown)
1924–25	East Surrey Regiment (1)	South China	Hong Kong FC	(Unknown)
1925–26	Kowloon FC (1)	East Surrey Regiment	Hong Kong FC	(Unknown)
1926–27	Recreio (1)	C.A.A.	Police	(Unknown)
1927–28	C.A.A. (1)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1928–29	C.A.A. (2)	Somerset Regiment	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1929–30	C.A.A. (3)	Royal Navy	Somerset Regiment	(Unknown)
1930–31	South China (2)	Kowloon FC	Argylis	(Unknown)
1931–32	South Welsh Borderers (1)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1932–33	South China (3)	South Welsh Borderers	Royal Artillery	(Unknown)
1933–34	South Welsh Borderers (2)	St. Joseph's	Lincoleshire Regiment	(Unknown)
1934–35	South China (4)	Police	Recreio	(Unknown)
1935–36	South China (5)	C.A.A.	Royal Welsh Fusiliers	(Unknown)
1936–37	Ulster Guards (1)	South China	South China B	(Unknown)
1937–38	South China B (6)	Middlesex Regiment	South China	(Unknown)
1938–39	South China (7)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1939–40	South China (8)	Eastern	South China B	(Unknown)
1940–41	South China A (9)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)	(Unknown)
1941–42	Season unfinished due to World War II
1942–43	Postponed due to World War II
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46	Royal Air Force (1)	44 Commando	Eastern	Lai Shiu Wing (Eastern)	13
1946–47	Sing Tao (1)	South China	42 Commando	Lai Shiu Wing (Sing Tao)	34
1947–48	Kitchee (1)	Sing Tao	K.M.B.	Kwok Ying Kee (Kitchee)	38
1948–49	South China A (10)	K.M.B.	C.A.A.	Tang Yee Kit (K.M.B.)	26
1949–50	Kitchee (2)	K.M.B.	St. Joseph's	Yiu Cheuk Yin (Kitchee)	25
1950–51	South China (11)	K.M.B.	Army Force	Au Chi Yin (Police)	20
1951–52	South China (12)	Army Force	Sing Tao	陳家壽 (South China)	25
1952–53	South China (13)	Kitchee	Eastern	Lee Yuk Tak (South China)	36
1953–54	K.M.B. (1)	South China	Kitchee	Tang Yee Kit (K.M.B.)	26
1954–55	South China (14)	Kitchee	K.M.B.	Lee Yuk Tak (South China)	32
1955–56	Eastern (1)	South China	K.M.B.	Ho Cheung Yau (South China)	38
1956–57	South China (15)	Kitchee	K.M.B.	Lee Yuk Tak (South China)	33
1957–58	South China (16)	K.M.B.	Kitchee	Ho Cheung Yau (South China)	40
1958–59	South China (17)	K.M.B.	Tung Wah	麥永雄 (Police)	27
1959–60	South China (18)	Happy Valley	Tung Wah	Lau Chi Lam (Kitchee)	25
1960–61	South China (19)	Happy Valley	Tung Wah	郭滿華 (Happy Valley)	27
1961–62	South China (20)	Happy Valley	Sing Tao	Lau Chi Lam (Happy Valley)	32
1962–63	Yuen Long (1)	Tung Wah	Kitchee	郭滿華 (Happy Valley)	26
1963–64	Kitchee (3)	Happy Valley	South China	Cheung Chi Doy (Kitchee)	42
1964–65	Happy Valley (1)	South China	Sing Tao	袁權滔 (Tung Wah) 郭滿華 (Happy Valley)	19
1965–66	South China (21)	Happy Valley	Sing Tao	郭滿華 (Happy Valley)	21
1966–67	K.M.B. (2)	South China	Sing Tao	袁權滔 (Tung Sing)	21
1967–68	South China (22)	Sing Tao	Eastern	郭滿華 (Eastern)	33
1968–69	South China (23)	Sing Tao	Jardines	陳朝基 (South China)	17
1969–70	Jardines (1)	Sing Tao	Yuen Long	Cheung Chi Doy (Jardines) 郭滿華 (Eastern)	18
1970–71	Rangers (1)	Jardines	Sing Tao	Derek Currie (Rangers)	24
1971–72	South China (24)	Caroline Hill	Fire Services	袁權滔 (Eastern)	26
1972–73	Seiko (1)	South China	Tung Sing	Wu Kwok Hung (Seiko) Cheung Chi Wai (Fire Services)	25
1973–74	South China (25)	Seiko	Caroline Hill	Chung Chor Hung (Happy Valley)	22
1974–75	Seiko (2)	Happy Valley	Rangers	Etti (Seiko)	21
1975–76	South China (26)	Seiko	Rangers	Chung Chor Hung (Happy Valley)	16
1976–77	South China (27)	Seiko	Happy Valley	Fung Chi Ming (South China)	15
1977–78	South China (28)	Happy Valley	Tung Sing	Fung Chi Ming (South China)	19
1978–79	Seiko (3)	Happy Valley	Eastern	Chung Chor Hung (Happy Valley)	22
1979–80	Seiko (4)	Happy Valley	Bulova	張家平 (Tung Sing)	18
1980–81	Seiko (5)	South China	Happy Valley	張家平 (Tung Sing)	14
1981–82	Seiko (6)	Happy Valley	Bulova	Cees Storm (Seiko)	12
1982–83	Seiko (7)	Bulova	Eastern	Derek Parlane (Bulova) Clive Haywood (Bulova) 史賓斯 (Rangers) 拉南 (Ryoden)	8
1983–84	Seiko (8)	Bulova	Happy Valley	Peter Bodak (Seiko)	10
1984–85	Seiko (9)	South China	Sea Bee	John Paskin (South China)	10
1985–86	South China (29)	Happy Valley	Sea Bee	麥當奴 (Happy Valley) 波能泰 (Sea Bee)	11
1986–87	South China (30)	Eastern	Happy Valley	Tim Bredbury (South China)	10
1987–88	South China (31)	Happy Valley	Sing Tao	Chan Fat Chi (South China)	13
1988–89	Happy Valley (2)	South China	Lai Sun Double Flower	Chan Fat Chi (South China)	18
1989–90	South China (32)	Eastern	Happy Valley	Dale Tempest (South China)	15
1990–91	South China (33)	Happy Valley	Lai Sun	Tim Bredbury (Lai Sun) Dale Tempest (South China)	16
1991–92	South China (34)	Eastern	Happy Valley	Steve Neville (South China)	21
1992–93	Eastern (2)	South China	Instant-Dict	Dale Tempest (Eastern)	15
1993–94	Eastern (3)	Instant-Dict	South China	Dale Tempest (Eastern)	16
1994–95	Eastern (4)	South China	Golden	Dale Tempest (Eastern)	18
1995–96	Instant-Dict (1)	South China	Golden	Paul Foster (Instant-Dict)	19
1996–97	South China (35)	Instant–Dict	Golden	Paul Foster (Instant-Dict)	18
1997–98	Instant-Dict (2)	South China	Happy Valley	Paul Foster (Instant-Dict)	16
1998–99	Happy Valley (3)	South China	Yee Hope	Tomy (Sai Kung Friends)	16
1999–2000	South China (36)	Sun Hei	Happy Valley	Leandro (Sai Kung)	16
2000–01	Happy Valley (4)	Instant-Dict	South China	Paul Ritchie (Happy Valley)	13
2001–02	Sun Hei (1)	Happy Valley	South China	Cornelius Udebuluzor (Buler Rangers) Keith Gumbs (Happy Valley)	12
2002–03	Happy Valley (5)	Sun Hei	Buler Rangers	Keith Gumbs (Happy Valley)	17
2003–04	Sun Hei (2)	Kitchee	Happy Valley	Julius Akosah (Sun Hei)	12
2004–05	Sun Hei (3)	Happy Valley	Kitchee	Ernestina (Happy Valley)	14
2005–06	Happy Valley (6)	Sun Hei	Buler Rangers	Fábio Lopes Alcântara (Happy Valley) Ernestina (Happy Valley)	10
2006–07	South China (37)	Kitchee	Sun Hei	Tales Schutz (South China)	17
2007–08	South China (38)	Citizen	Tai Po	Detinho (South China)	19
2008–09	South China (39)	Kitchee	Citizen	Detinho (South China) Giovane (Sun Hei)	18
2009–10	South China (40)	Pegasus	Kitchee	Cahê (Sun Hei)	14
2010–11	Kitchee (4)	South China	Pegasus	Jordi Tarrés (Kitchee) Makhosonke Bhengu (Fourway Rangers)	12
2011–12	Kitchee (5)	Pegasus	South China	Sandro (Rangers)	12
2012–13	South China (41)	Kitchee	Tuen Mun	Jaimes McKee (Pegasus)	16
2013–14	Kitchee (6)	Pegasus	South China	Admir Raščić (Pegasus)	14

Hong Kong Premier League (2014–Present)

Year	Champions (number of titles)	Runners-up	Third place	Leading goalscorer	Goals
2014–15	Kitchee (7)	Eastern	Pegasus	Giovane (Eastern)	17
2015–16	Eastern (5)	Kitchee	South China	Admir Adrović (Hong Kong Pegasus) Giovane (Eastern)	10
2016–17	Kitchee (8)	Eastern	Southern	Sandro (Kitchee)	21
2017–18	Kitchee (9)	Tai Po	Pegasus	Lucas Silva (Kitchee)	15
2018–19	Tai Po (1)	R&F	Southern	Lucas Silva (Kitchee) Manolo Bleda (Eastern)	12
2019–20	Kitchee (10)	Eastern	R&F	Serges Déblé (R&F) Igor Sartori (R&F)	6
2020–21	Kitchee (11)	Eastern	Lee Man	Dejan Damjanović (Kitchee)	17
2021–22	Abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
2022–23	Kitchee (12)	Lee Man	Rangers	Dejan Damjanović (Kitchee) Ruslan Mingazov (Kitchee) Everton Camargo (Lee Man)	17
2023–24	Lee Man (1)	Tai Po	Eastern	Noah Baffoe (Eastern) Henri Anier (Lee Man)	17

Performances

There are 30 clubs who have won the Hong Kong title.

Club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
South China ⭐⭐⭐⭐	41	17	1923–24, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13
Kitchee ⭐	12	8	1947–48, 1949–50, 1963–64, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23
Seiko	9	3	1972–73, 1974–75, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85
Happy Valley	6	15	1964–65, 1988–89, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2005–06
Eastern	5	8	1955–56, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2015–16
Royal Garrison Artillery	5	2	1909–10, 1912–13, 1914–15, 1915–16, 1917–18
Sun Hei	3	3	2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05
Chinese A. A.	3	2	1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30
Kowloon Motor Bus	2	5	1953–54, 1966–67
Double Flower (Instant-Dict)	2	3	1995–96, 1997–98
Buffs	2	1	1908–09, 1910–11
South Welsh Borderers	2	1	1931–32, 1933–34
King's Own Rifiles	2	–	1911–12, 1922–23
Sing Tao	1	4	1946–47
East Surrey Regiment	1	2	1924–25
Tai Po	1	2	2018–19
Royal Engineers	1	1	1916–17
Royal Navy	1	1	1918–19
HKFC	1	1	1919–20
Kowloon FC	1	1	1925–26
Jardines	1	1	1969–70
Lee Man	1	1	2023–24
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry	1	–	1913–14
Wiltshire Regiment	1	–	1920–21
HMS Curiew	1	–	1921–22
Recreio	1	–	1926–27
Ulster Guards	1	–	1936–37
Royal Air Force	1	–	1945–46
Yuen Long	1	–	1962–63
Rangers	1	–	1970–71
Pegasus	–	3	–
Bulova	–	2	–
HMS Ambrose	–	1	–
Somerset Light Infantry Regiment	–	1	–
St. Joseph's	–	1	–
Police	–	1	–
Middlesex Regiment	–	1	–
44 Commando	–	1	–
Army Force	–	1	–
Tung Wah	–	1	–
Caroline Hill	–	1	–
Citizen	–	1	–
R&F	–	1	–

Current Club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
South China	41	17	1923–24, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13
Kitchee	12	8	1947–48, 1949–50, 1963–64, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23
Happy Valley	6	15	1964–65, 1988–89, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2005–06
Eastern	5	8	1955–56, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2015–16
Sun Hei	3	3	2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05
Double Flower (Instant-Dict)	2	3	1995–96, 1997–98
Tai Po	1	2	2018–19
HKFC	1	1	1919–20
Lee Man	1	1	2023–24
Yuen Long	1	–	1962–63
Rangers	1	–	1970–71
Pegasus	–	3	–
Citizen	–	1	–

Bold indicates clubs currently playing in the top division.

Total titles won by region

Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories make up the three regions of Hong Kong. All three have had clubs based within become Hong Kong football champions, most recently, New Territories, when Lee Man won the title in 2023–24. ^a

Region	Number of titles	Clubs
Hong Kong Island	57	South China (41), Seiko (9), Happy Valley (6), HKFC (1)
Kowloon	20	Kitchee (12), Eastern (5), Double Flower (2), Rangers (1)
New Territories	6	Sun Hei (3), Tai Po (1), Lee Man (1), Yuen Long (1)

By District

Hong Kong is divided into 18 districts. Eight out of the eighteen districts have had a club become Hong Kong football champions. The most recent district to have the distinction is Sai Kung, when Lee Man won the title in 2023–24. ^a

District	Number of Titles	Clubs
Wan Chai	51	South China (41), Seiko (9), HKFC (1)
Yau Tsim Mong	17	Kitchee (12), Eastern (5)
Eastern	8	Happy Valley (6), Double Flower (2)
Kwai Tsing	3	Sun Hei (3)
Yuen Long	1	Yuen Long (1)
Kwun Tong	1	Rangers (1)
Sai Kung	1	Lee Man (1)
Tai Po	1	Tai Po (1)
Central and Western	–	–
Islands	–	–
Kowloon City	–	–
North	–	–
Sha Tin	–	–
Sham Shui Po	–	–
Southern	–	–
Tsuen Wan	–	–
Tuen Mun	–	–
Wong Tai Sin	–	–

Multiple trophy wins

See The Double and The Treble .

Notes

^a Home grounds of many champions, especially ones who are defunct, may be unknown. This table should not be considered conclusive.

Sources

• RSSSF.com
• hkgfootball.com