Southern District Recreation & Sports Assn Ltd (), commonly known as Southern and currently known for sponsorship reasons as Kwoon Chung Southern, is a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Southern District, Hong Kong The Southern District is one of the Districts of Hong Kong, 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the southern part of Hong Kong Island and the largest part of the island. It had a population of 274,994 in 2016. Geography The Southe ...

. They currently compete in the

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

History

Southern District entered the newly formed Hong Kong Third District Division during the 2002–03 season. However, the team did not reach the Hong Kong Third Division League final round and thus did not get promotion in the first few years of their history. In the 2006–07 season, they reached the final round for the first time since the club was formed. They were the runners up of the Third District Division and qualified for the final round, however, they could not get promotion as they only managed to gain two points. In the 2007–08 season, they retained last season's good performance, reached the final round again as they were again the 1st runner-up of Third District Division League, 9 points behind Shatin. Unfortunately, they could not gain the promotion again as they were 4 points behind the promotion places. In the 2008–09 season, they could not qualify for the final round as they only placed at 4th of Third District Division. They were finally promoted to the Hong Kong Second Division for the first time in the 2009–10 season. They were the 1st runner-up of the Third District Division League and competed with the other 3 teams in the final round for promotion. Although they only placed at 3rd in the final round, Eastern decided not to accept promotion and the right to be promoted was passed to Southern who did accept. They successfully avoided relegation and stayed in the Second Division during their first season. They were the 4th out of 12 teams, 10 points behind the champions

Sham Shui Po Sham Shui Po () is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui ...

. On the other hand, they won their first trophy since their formation on 9 January 2011. They defeated Double Flower in the final of Hong Kong Junior Shield at

Hong Kong Stadium Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the original Government Stadium, it reopened as Hong Kong Stadium in March 1994. It has a maximum seating capacity of 40,000, including 18,260 at the main level, 3,173 at ...

. They were promoted to the Hong Kong First Division for the first time in the 2011–12 season, as they were the 1st runner-up of the Hong Kong Second Division, three points behind champions Rangers. They were branded as Royal Southern in the 2013–14 season, and finished 4th out of 12 teams. However, the club chose to self-relegate after the end of the season. They returned to the top flight in the 2015–16 season. Starting from this season, the club was rebranded as Kwoon Chung Southern due to sponsorship reasons. In 2016–17, Southern finished third in the table, their highest position in club history. Southern matched their table position from 2016 to 2017 with another third-place finish in 2018–19. The club also reached the finals of

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 ...

for the first time, losing 2–0 to Kitchee. The club claimed their first silverware in the form of the 2022–23 Sapling Cup with a 2–0 win over Lee Man aided by a brace by Stefan Pereira.

Name history

*2002–2013: Southern (南區) *2013–2014: Royal Southern (皇室南區) *2014–2015: Southern (南區) *2015–: Kwoon Chung Southern (冠忠南區)

Stadium

Since 2007, Southern have played their home games at Aberdeen Sports Ground. They began playing their home games there during their days in the Hong Kong Third District Division. After Southern was promoted to the Hong Kong First Division, the club have continued to use Aberdeen Sports Ground as their home stadium. In September 2018, the canopy of the main grandstand at Aberdeen Sports Ground was damaged due to Typhoon Mangkhut. Although a temporary canopy was erected over the opposite grandstand in order to allow Southern to continue to use the stadium for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, the

Leisure and Cultural Services Department The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is a department in the Government of Hong Kong. It reports to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. It provides leisure and cultural ...

determined that installation of a new canopy on the main grandstand was to begin in June 2019. As the renovations were scheduled to last until the end of March 2020, Southern applied to use Mong Kok Stadium as their home stadium for the 2019–20 season.

Club officials

Executive staff

{, class="wikitable" , - !Position !Staff , - , Club president, , Chan Man Chun , - , Club chairman, , Wong Cheuk Tim

Coaching staff

{, class="wikitable" , - !Position !Staff , - , Head coach, , Pui Ho Wang , - , Technical director, , Cheng Siu Chung , - , Assistant coach, , Beto Fronza , - , Assistant coach, , Ju Yingzhi , - , Goalkeeping coach, , Fan Chun Yip , - , Team manager, , Pui Ho Wang , - , Physiotherapist, , Leung Chak Kei , - , Physiotherapist, , Chiu Chi Yat

Current squad

First team

^FP ^FP ^FP ^FP ^FP Remarks:
^LP These players are registered as local players in Hong Kong domestic football competitions.
^FP These players are registered as foreign players.

Under-18's squad

Season-to-season record

{, class=wikitable ! Season ! Tier ! Division ! Teams ! Position ! Home Stadium ! Attendance/G !

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

! Senior Shield ! Sapling Cup ! League Cup , - , align=center, 2002–03 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 13 , align=center, , colspan=2 rowspan=10 align=center style=background:gray;, , colspan=2 rowspan=10 align=center, ''Did not enter'' , rowspan=13 align=center style=background:gray;, Not held , rowspan=7 align=center, ''Did not enter'' , - , align=center, 2003–04 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, , align=center, , - , align=center, 2004–05 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, , align=center, , - , align=center, 2005–06 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 16 , align=center, 4 , - , align=center, 2006–07 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 17 , align=center bgcolor=silver, 2 , - , align=center, 2007–08 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 16 , align=center bgcolor=silver, 2 , - , align=center, 2008–09 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 15 , align=center, 4 , - , align=center, 2009–10 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 14 , align=center bgcolor=#DDFFDD, 2 , align=center style=background:gray;, Not held , - , align=center, 2010–11 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 2 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Second Division , align=center, 12 , align=center, 6 , rowspan=2 align=center, ''Did not enter'' , - , align=center, 2011–12 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 2 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Second Division , align=center, 12 , align=center bgcolor=#DDFFDD, 2 , - , align=center, 2012–13 , align=center, 1 , align=center, First Division , align=center, 10 , align=center, 4 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 554 , align=center, First Round , align=center, Semi-finals , rowspan=2 align=center style=background:gray;, Not held , - , align=center, 2013–14 , align=center, 1 , align=center, First Division , align=center, 12 , align=center bgcolor=#FFCCCC, 4 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground
Mong Kok Stadium , align=center, 434 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , - , align=center, 2014–15 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 2 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, First Division , align=center, 15 , align=center bgcolor=#DDFFDD, 3 , colspan=2 align=center style=background:gray;, , align=center, First Round , align=center, ''Did not enter'' , align=center, ''Did not enter'' , - , align=center, 2015–16 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, align=center, 9 , align=center, 4 , rowspan=4 align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 489 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center bgcolor=silver, Runners-up , align=center, Group Stage , align=center, Group Stage , - , align=center, 2016–17 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 11 , align=center bgcolor=#cfaa88, 3 , align=center, 532 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , rowspan=9 align=center style=background:gray;, Defunct , - , align=center, 2017–18 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 10 , align=center, 5 , align=center, 493 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Group Stage , - , align=center, 2018–19 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 10 , align=center bgcolor=#cfaa88, 3 , align=center, 827 , align=center bgcolor=silver, Runners-up , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center, Group Stage , - , align=center, 2019–20 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 10 , align=center, 5 , align=center, Mong Kok Stadium , align=center, 861 , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center bgcolor=silver, Runners-up , - , align=center, 2020–21 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 8 , align=center, 5 , rowspan=5 align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 627 , colspan=2 align=center style=background:gray;, Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic , align=center, Group Stage , - , align=center, 2021–22 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 8 , align=center style=background:gray;, Cancelled , align=center, 424 , colspan=2 align=center style=background:gray;, Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic , align=center style=background:gray;, Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic , - , align=center, 2022–23 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 10 , align=center, 5 , align=center, 502 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center bgcolor=Gold, Champions , - , align=center, 2023–24 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 11 , align=center, 5 , align=center, 332 , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , - , align=center, 2024–25 , align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 9 , align=center, 5 , align=center, 424 , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center bgcolor=Gold, Champions ''Note'':

Honours

League

* Hong Kong Second Division : Runners-up (1): 2011–12 * Hong Kong Third District Division : Runners-up (3): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10

Cup competitions

: Runners-up (1): 2018–19 * Hong Kong Senior Shield : Runners-up (1): 2015–16 * Hong Kong Sapling Cup : Champions (2): 2022–23, 2024–25 : Runners-up (1): 2019–20 * Hong Kong Junior Shield : Champions (1): 2010–11

Managers

* Cheng Siu Chung (2006–2008) * Fung Hoi Man (2009–2015) * Cheng Siu Chung (2015–2020) * Pui Ho Wang, Cristiano Cordeiro (2020) * Zesh Rehman (2020–2022) * Cheng Siu Chung (2022–2023) * Yeung Ching Kwong (2023–2025) * Pui Ho Wang (2025–)

eSports

Southern District is the first Hong Kong football club of creating an eSports department. By partnering with Nova Esports, they signed Ronnie Yau as a

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

player and Kevin Lau as a

Pro Evolution Soccer ''eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer'' (''eFootball PES''), known as in Japan, is a series of association football List of association football video games, simulation video games developed by Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. and published ...

player.

References

External links

Southern Official Website
* * {{Hong Kong Premier League Football clubs in Hong Kong Association football clubs established in 2002 2002 establishments in Hong Kong