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 Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ne ...

. 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 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 ...

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 "Double-flowered" describes varieties of flowers with extra petals, often containing flowers within flowers. The double-flowered trait is often noted alongside the scientific name with the abbreviation ''fl. pl.'' (''flore pleno'', a Latin ablati ...

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 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 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 A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. 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 Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won 12 List of Hong Kong football champion ...

. 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 Stefan Figueiredo Pereira (; born 16 April 1988) is a professional footballer who currently plays as a forward for Hong Kong Premier League club Southern. Born in Brazil, he plays for the Hong Kong national football team. Club career On 1 J ...

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 Aberdeen Sports Ground () is a rugby union and football sports ground situated at 108 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. It is the home stadium of Hong Kong Premier League football club Southern and Global Rapid Rugby rugby union team S ...

. They began playing their home games there during their days in the Hong Kong Third District Division. After Southern was promoted to the

, 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 Typhoon Mangkhut, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ompong, was a powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage in Guam, the Philippines, and South China in mid-September 2018. It was the strongest typhoon to strike ...

. 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 Mong Kok Stadium () is a stadium in Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. With a capacity of 6,664 (comprising four stands of 1,666), it hosts Hong Kong Premier League football matches, with Kitchee SC, Kitchee currently using the venue. The stadium is ...

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 Cheng Siu Chung (; born 29 September 1972) is a Hong Kong football manager and former professional footballer. He is currently the technical director of Hong Kong Premier League club Southern. He served as a commentator for the 2010 FIFA Wo ...

, - , Assistant coach, , Beto Fronza , - , Assistant coach, ,

Ju Yingzhi Ju Yingzhi (; born ) is a former Chinese-born Hong Kong professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is currently the assistant coach of Hong Kong Premier League club Southern. Ju represented Hong Kong on the internatio ...

, - , 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 Hong Kong Sapling Cup (), currently known as JC Sapling Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong domestic football competition contested by the Hong Kong Premier League teams. The objective of the Cup is to provide more playing opportunitie ...

! 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 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 2 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0,

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, 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,

, align=center, 12 , align=center bgcolor=#DDFFDD, 2 , - , align=center,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, align=center, 1 , align=center,

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

, align=center, 10 , align=center, 4 , align=center,

, 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,

, align=center, 12 , align=center bgcolor=#FFCCCC, 4 , align=center,

, align=center, 434 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , - , align=center, 2014–15 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 2 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0,

, 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,

, 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,

, align=center, 861 , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center bgcolor=silver, Runners-up , - , align=center,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, align=center, 1 , align=center,

, align=center, 8 , align=center, 5 , rowspan=5 align=center,

, 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 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 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 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 ...

: Runners-up (1): 2015–16 *

Hong Kong Sapling Cup Hong Kong Sapling Cup (), currently known as JC Sapling Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong domestic football (soccer), football competition contested by the Hong Kong Premier League teams. The objective of the Cup is to provide more p ...

: Champions (2):

, 2024–25 : Runners-up (1): 2019–20 * Hong Kong Junior Shield : Champions (1): 2010–11

Managers

(2006–2008) *

Fung Hoi Man Fung Hoi Man (, born 12 March 1977) is a Hong Kong football coach and a former player. He holds an AFC A Licence and The FA International Coaching Licence. Club career Fung's club career was more or less unsuccessful. He played for Eastern ...

(2009–2015) *

(2015–2020) * Pui Ho Wang, Cristiano Cordeiro (2020) *

Zesh Rehman Zeshan Rehman (; born 14 October 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently first team development coach at Portsmouth. Born in England, he represented the Pakistan national team. He was the first Brit ...

(2020–2022) *

(2022–2023) *

Yeung Ching Kwong Yeung Ching Kwong (, born 7 May 1976) is a former Hong Kong professional footballer and a football coach. Managerial career Yeung worked previously as an assistant with Pegasus and South China. In 2015, he served as head coach of Eastern befo ...

(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