Au Wai Lun (; born 14 August 1971) is a former

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. He is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in Hong Kong.

Club career

Au made his debut in

Hong Kong First Division The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia, after Calcutta and Bombay. Moreover, it is the oldest top-flight league system ...

for Tin Tin on 20 December 1988, against Happy Valley. He was 17 years old at the time and the final result of the match was 0–2. On the pitch, Au was recognized easily by his hairstyle – he sports peroxide-blond streaks in his locks. He wore the number 7 jersey for

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...

and was the captain of the team. Being a veteran striker, Au is valued for his international experience and his strong aerial ability. The 6' tall striker remains one of the best headers in the League. In the 2005–06 season, Au's good performance throughout the season could not prevent

from finishing 7th in the league, with 2 points below the relegation line. He scored 8 league goals that season (4th among all players, 1st among Hong Kong players). Two years after retiring, he chose to return and play as an amateur player for

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

, one of his former clubs. In the summer of 2007, after being offered a new contract with a salary cut by

, Au decided to retire. He claimed that the entire squad received new contracts with increments, but he was the only one with a salary cut. He thought the club was being unfair to him, who contributed for many years, even when the team performed so poorly for several seasons.

International career

Au was one of the top goal scorers of the

Hong Kong national football team The Hong Kong national football team (; recognised as Hong Kong, China by FIFA) represents Hong Kong in international association football, football and is controlled by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China, the governing body for foot ...

. He retired from international football after an exhibition match with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on 23 July 2005. Au was remembered for his famous "cross passing during 1-on-1" in the final of 2002 Carlsberg Cup against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. In the match, he received a pass from his teammate and got a goal opportunity. However, he passed the ball back and did not shoot. Further jokes on this were developed after this incident.

International goals

Personal life

After Au's retirement announcement, he was approached by Star Publishing and with the help of a professional writer, published his biography titled, "Lun . Football Biography" (倫．球傳).

Career statistics

Club

''As of 19 May 2007''

Honours

Club

;Ernest Borel *

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. T ...

: 1991–92 *

Viceroy Cup Hong Kong Viceroy Cup () was a football competition in Hong Kong held by British American Tobacco. Started in 1969, it was the first football competition in Hong Kong which allowed commercial sponsorship. Together with First Division League, FA C ...

: 1991–92 ;South China *

: 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2006–07 *

Hong Kong Senior Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the football knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the fourth oldest football tournament in Asia. Traditionally, only teams that play in the Hong K ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2006–07 *

: 1995–96, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2006–07 * HKFA League Cup: 2001–02 ;Eastern * Hong Kong Third Division: 2010–11, 2011–12

Individual

* Hong Kong Footballer of the Year:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

Au Wai Lun
at HKFA {{DEFAULTSORT:Au, Wai Lun 1971 births Living people Hong Kong men's footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Hong Kong First Division League players South China AA players Sea Bee players Eastern Sports Club footballers Hong Kong Rangers FC players Hong Kong League XI representative players Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for Hong Kong