Dai Wai Tsun (; born 24 July 1999), also known as Tsun Dai in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and
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 Delt ...
and as Dai Weijun in
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
, is a Hong Kong-born Chinese 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 le ...
who currently plays for
Chinese Super League
The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...
club
Shanghai Shenhua and the
China national team.
Early life
Dai was born in
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 Delt ...
and was inspired to play football by his father who once played for Hong Kong's youth teams. He started playing the sport at the young age of 4, joining
Eastern's youth system for a chance to become an international footballer. Dai later joined the Hong Kong Barcelona Football academy and trained with players born in 2000.
At first, he played in a defensive midfield position and was placed under the spotlight, and was often the captain as he showed his leadership skills on the pitch. He has participated in youth matches with Hong Kong Barcelona Football Academy in Spain and Poland, and his father's support was a major factor of his youth success compared with his peers. He moved to England for a chance to get training of a higher quality, and joined the
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 ...
youth team and enrolled in Hall Grove School and then
Bradfield College.
He was also called up multiple times to the Hong Kong youth squads while in England, and played in multiple international youth competitions.
Career
Bury
After leaving Reading, he was invited by
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
for a trial and joined the Bury youth system under the name Tsun Dai.
2017–18 season
After the 2016–17 season, Bury announced that 11 players were leaving the club, but gave Dai his first professional contract and the number 25 shirt, making him the second Hong Kong footballer to sign a contract with an English team. His first game for Bury was a pre-season start against
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
on 8 July 2017. He helped build the second goal for Bury that allowed them to lead 2–1 before
half-time
In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...
, albeit not being credited with an assist. He was substituted off in the second half, and the match ended 3–2 to Sunderland. Bury manager,
Lee Clark, stated that he was satisfied with Dai's performance and that he had vast potential.
On 16 July, he played his second game coming off the bench against
Huddersfield Town and earned a lot of compliment for his outstanding performance. His third match and second start for Bury was against
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...
, and played the entire match. Although the team lost 1–0, Dai's performance further improved and impressed both the coaches of Bury and the opponent. He received a 3-year extension to his contract, which would now last to 2020.
Dai made his first league appearance for Bury on 5 August 2017 in a 1–0 win against
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
, coming on as a substitute in the 60th minute. In doing so, he became the second Hong Kong footballer to appear in an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
professional match and the first to do so in 55 years. Dai made his first competitive start for Bury five days later in a 1–0 defeat to
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
in the First Round of
2017–18 EFL Cup
The 2017–18 EFL Cup was the 58th season of the EFL Cup. The competition was open to all 92 clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. It was known as the Carabao Cup due to the start of a sponsorship deal with Cara ...
.
Dai scored his first career goal for Bury as a consolation goal during their
EFL Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
tie against
Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...
.
Oxford United
Dai signed for
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...
on 9 August 2018, for an undisclosed fee, on a two-year contract. He was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers a year later, again for an undisclosed fee, without having made a first-team appearance for Oxford.
FC Utrecht
On 30 January 2019, Dai was loaned to
FC Utrecht
Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard.
The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...
until the end of the season. He made 12 appearances for the club in the second half of the season and recorded two assists.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
On 10 July 2019, Dai joined
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
side
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
Under-23s for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year contract with the option of a further 12 months. He made his under-23 debut as an 87th-minute substitute in a
Premier League 2
The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...
fixture against
Brighton under-23s on 13 August 2019.
Shenzhen F.C.
On 16 July 2020,
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
announced that Dai had completed a move to
Chinese Super League
The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...
side
Shenzhen F.C.
He played in the first two matches of the 2020 CSL, starting in the first game and came on as substitute in the second. On 29 August 2020, Dai scored the first goal for the club in a 2-0 win against
Guangzhou R&F. He was entangled in an arbitration of contract dispute with the club and didn't play for them during the first half of the
2023 Chinese Super League
The 2023 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League () will be the 20th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor is Ping An Insurance.
Club changes
Clubs promoted from 2022 China League One
*Kunsh ...
season.
Shanghai Shenhua
On 28 June 2023, Dai joined fellow Chinese Super League club
Shanghai Shenhua on a free transfer.
International career
In September 2018, Dai was called up to the preliminary squad of the
Hong Kong national team. Although it was initially reported that he had declined a Hong Kong call up due to injury, he later accepted a call up during the same window to a
China under-21 training camp led by
Guus Hiddink
Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...
in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, Netherlands. Two weeks after the camp, Hong Kong manager
Gary White once again named Dai in his preliminary squad for the
2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship qualifiers. Following good performances in the Chinese Super League, it was reported in August 2020 that
Shenzhen F.C. had begun assisting Dai with his (mainland) Chinese naturalisation application, and that Dai himself wanted to be called up for the
Chinese team. In September 2020, he admitted in an interview that "if I had the opportunity to represent the Chinese team, I would be very honoured. My application is being processed and the club are helping me."
On 27 January 2022, Dai made his international debut for
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
against Japan in the
2022 World Cup qualifier as a substitute at the 64th minute.
Personal life
Dai holds both a Hong Kong and British passport, and is therefore eligible to represent Hong Kong or England internationally. His father is also an avid football supporter and has played for youth teams in Hong Kong, and goes to support his son every single match. His mother, who works in Hong Kong, visits them every few months. As Dai has played for
Eastern's youth squad and has supported them since a young age, he has stated that if he ever has the chance to return to play in his native Hong Kong he would only play for Eastern.
Dai is multilingual. He can understand and speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, having conducted interviews in all 3 languages in the past.
Career statistics
Club
''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2022''.
Tsun Dai
at worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2021-01-31
International statistics
References
External links
*
Bury players' registration information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dai, Wai-tsun
1999 births
Living people
Chinese men's footballers
China men's international footballers
China men's youth international footballers
Hong Kong men's footballers
Hong Kong men's youth international footballers
British men's footballers
Hong Kong expatriate men's footballers
Bury F.C. players
Oxford United F.C. players
Shenzhen F.C. players
Chinese Super League players
Men's association football midfielders
British people of Hong Kong descent