Chan Wai Ho (born ) is a former

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

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 ...

and current amateur player for

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. The league was formerly the highest division in Hong Kong until the formation o ...

club Eastern District. Chan was a member of the

East Asian Games The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic ...

gold medal-winning Hong Kong U-23 squad in 2009. He was also the captain of the Hong Kong senior team from 2010 to 2017. He is sometimes referred to as Tai Ho (

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

: 大豪) as a nickname for him and to distinguish him from fellow former Hong Kong international, Lee Chi Ho.

Early life

Chan Wai Ho lived in Lok Wah Estate, Ngau Tau Kok when he was young 天地豪情－陳偉豪, Page 28–31, Keymansoho, August 2010 and he graduated from Maryknoll Vocational Evening Secondary School. He moved to the player hostel of

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

Boundary Street Boundary Street is a three-lane one-way street in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It runs in an easterly direction from its start at the intersection with Tung Chau Street in the west, and ends at its intersection with Prince Edward Road West in th ...

when he was a vocational apprenticeship of Rangers.

Club career

Rangers and Yee Hope

His father decided that he would join

to be a vocational apprenticeship when Chan Wai Ho was 16 years old. He stayed at Rangers for some months on trial for a professional contract. However, Rangers only gave him a contract after several twists and turns. Eventually, he appeared for the first team a few times in this season. In 1999–2000 season,

Yee Hope Yee Hope Football Club () is a now defunct Hong Kong Association football, football club which played in the Hong Kong First Division League between 1997 and 2001. In 1999–00 and Hong Kong First Division League 2000-01, 2000–01, the te ...

chairman Joe Chan invited Chan Wai Ho to join his team. Chan really started his professional career in this season. His number of appearances did not increase after he joined the team, but Arie van der Zouwen thought Chan Wai Ho was one of the best

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in Hong Kong and selected him for

. In March 2004, Chan Wai Ho was suspended for 12 games after fighting along with four other Rangers players against Nan Shing Property FC players in a league match in

Dongguan Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the ...

on 7 March 2004. The match was suspended and never completed. In 2006, it was rumoured that he had had a trial with English Premiership Club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and would play at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the ...

in the English Premiership. And in 2007, it was rumoured that he would join

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

after Hong Kong businessman

Carson Yeung Carson Yeung Ka Sing (; born 27 February 1960) is a Hong Kong businessman who, until February 2014, was the president of English football club Birmingham City F.C., and chairman and an executive director of Birmingham International Holdings ( ...

became the chairman and executive director of the club.

Transfer record

Chan Wai Ho's transfer fee to South China from

was HK$400,000, which broke the record of the highest local transfer fee and highest transfer fee in

Hong Kong First Division League 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. The league was formerly the highest division in Hong Kong until the formation ...

. The highest local transfer fee record was kept by Tam Ah Fook when he moved to Ernest Borel from Happy Valley by HK$140,000 in 1992. The highest overall transfer fee was originally kept by Cheng Siu Chung Ricky when he moved from LD Alajuelense in Costa Rica to South China in 1994–95 season for a fee of US$30,000 (about HK$234,000). But there was rumour in the media that the record has been broken by Chan Siu Ki's 2008 transfer from Kitchee to South China, which cost the Caroliners HK$800,000. The actual fee has not been disclosed.

South China

On 19 April 2007, it was revealed on HKFA webpage that Chan transferred to South China from

. His registration was just in time for him to represent the team to compete in the

Hong Kong FA Cup 2006-07 Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese name) *Hong (Korean name) Organiz ...

. Chan was described by South China convenor Steven Lo to be the best Chinese centre back in Hong Kong. He made his debut for South China on 20 April 2007 in the

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. ...

First Round match against

Tai Po Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Market") on the north of Lam Tsu ...

. Chan Wai Ho wore the number 15 at South China to commemorate his former Rangers teammate Cheung Yiu Lun, who died in a traffic accident in October 2003. He was not able to wear the number 15 at Rangers because the number was retired after Cheung's death.

Back to Rangers (HKG)

It is confirmed that he will join

Fourway Rangers Metro Gallery Football Club () is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong First Division. History The team began as Fourway Athletics (), it joined Hong Kong First Division in 2008–09 season as a competition member ...

on 20 July 2010. But rumours said that he would return to South China in January 2011.

Back to South China

Chan Wai Ho re-joined South China in the January 2011 transfer window. He felt his form dropped as he also had to work as a coach at

. He signed a one and a half-year contract. Chan Wai Ho scored the opening goal in the 2010-11 Hong Kong FA Cup final against Tai Po.

Dreams

Following South China's decision to self relegate, Chan terminated his contract with the club. He was announced as a player and captain of rebranded Dreams on 26 July 2017. On 8 June 2018, Chan confirmed that he had renewed his contract for the following season. On 26 May 2019, Chan accepted another renewal of his contract. However as a result of Dream's decision to self-relegate, Chan was left without work. On 17 August 2019, he announced his decision to retire from professional football.

Pegasus

On 2 September 2019, Chan changed his mind and joined

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

to be a player and an assistant coach. Due to the financial strain caused by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Pegasus asked its players to either accept a pay cut or agree to a mutual termination. On 7 April 2020, Chan announced that he would terminate his contract with immediate effect. On 14 July 2020, Chan once again announced his decision to retire from professional football.

International career

Hong Kong

Arie van der Zouwen selected him in

Hong Kong national football team The Hong Kong national football team () represents Hong Kong in international football and is controlled by the Hong Kong Football Association, the governing body for football in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was the first in Asia to hold the AFC Asian ...

in 2000. In June 2011, Chan Wai Ho was made captain of

for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualification matches against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. On 22 March 2013, Chan Wai Ho scored the winner for Hong Kong against Vietnam national football team in the

2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification was a qualification process organized by the AFC to determine the participating teams for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The 2015 AFC Asian Cup, hosted by Australia, featured 16 teams. In the initial scheme, ten p ...

match. After the match, acting Hong Kong national football team coach Kim Pan Gon said Chan is a top Asian level central defender. Chan played his farewell match for the representative team on 7 June 2017 against Jordan.

Hong Kong U23

Chan Wai Ho scored twice in the

2009 East Asian Games ) , Host city = Hong Kong , Teams participating = 9 , Athletes participating = 2,377 , Events = 262 events in 22 sports , Opening ceremony = December 5, 2009 , Closing ceremony = December 13, 2009 , Officially opened by = State Councilor L ...

, against South Korea in a group game and against North Korea in the semi-final. In the penalty shoot-out against North Korea, Chan Wai Ho also scored his penalty. Chan Wai Ho scored the winning goal for Hong Kong national under-23 football team against

Uzbekistan national under-23 football team The Uzbekistan national under-23 football team represents Uzbekistan in international U-23 football competitions. The team is controlled by the Uzbekistan Football Association and is a member of the Asian Football Confederation. Competitive r ...

in the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...

. Hong Kong won the match 1:0.

Honours

Club

;South China *

: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Hong Kong League Cup Hong Kong Football Association League Cup () is an annual football competition contested by clubs in the top-tier Hong Kong domestic football league (currently Hong Kong Premier League). The cup was relaunched for the 2014–15 season after bein ...

: 2007–08 *

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 the teams in the Hong Kong ...

: 2009–10 *

: 2007–08,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

International

;Hong Kong * East Asian Football Championship Preliminary Competition:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

* East Asian Football Championship Semifinal Competition:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

* Long Teng Cup:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, 2011 * Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

;Hong Kong U23 *

Individual

* Hong Kong Top Footballers: 2006–07, 2009–10,

* Hong Kong Top Footballer Awards Most Popular Player:

Statistics

Club

:''As of 1 July 2012''

International

:''As of 7 June 2017''

Personal life

Chan Wai Ho became a father on 9 August 2010 when his wife gave birth to a son. He accompanied his wife in the hospital in the morning, then attended the Hong Kong national football team training in the afternoon. After retirement from professional football, Chan signed an amateur contract with Eastern District. He currently works as a real estate agent during the day.

References

External links

Chan Wai Ho
at HKFA * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Wai Ho 1982 births Living people Hong Kong footballers Hong Kong international footballers Hong Kong First Division League players Hong Kong Premier League players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Metro Gallery FC players South China AA players Yee Hope players Dreams Sports Club players TSW Pegasus FC players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Association football defenders Association football central defenders Association football midfielders Asian Games competitors for Hong Kong Hong Kong League XI representative players