Metro Gallery Football Club () is a Hong Kong

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club which currently competes in 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. The league was formerly the highest division in Hong Kong until the formation o ...

History

The team began as Fourway Athletics (), it joined

in 2008–09 season as a competition member (, members who pay a specific amount of money and sponsor a domestic cup of Hong Kong to

the Hong Kong Football Association The Hong Kong Football Association Limited (), often abbreviated to the HKFA, is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong. Its current chairman is Pui Kwan Kay and its Chief Executive Officer is Joaquin Tam. History The HKFA was ...

, to join the Hong Kong First Division League) of

. In 2009–10 season, Fourway merged with Rangers in the Hong Kong Second Division and was renamed as Fourway Rangers () for the new season. In 2011–12 season, the team was renamed Biu Chun Rangers in deference to club sponsor ''Biu Chun Watches''. In 2012–13 season, the team was renamed as Yokohama FC Hong Kong as

J. League Division 2 The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Ya ...

team Yokohama F.C. purchased the

Hong Kong Football Association The Hong Kong Football Association Limited (), often abbreviated to the HKFA, is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong. Its current chairman is Pui Kwan Kay and its Chief Executive Officer is Joaquin Tam. History The HKFA was ...

membership of the team. In the 2013–14 season, Yokohama FC Hong Kong moved their home ground from

Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground () is a multi-purpose stadium in Siu Sai Wan, Hong Kong. It is currently used mostly for football matches. It occupies about 43,000 square metres and its construction cost over HK $230 million. Opened in December 1996, ...

Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground (), located in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong, is a multi-purpose sports ground and home of Hong Kong Premier League club Eastern. It was the main venue for track and field events for the 2009 Hong Kong Games, 2009 East Asia ...

, finishing a disappointing 10th in the league. For the 2014–15 season, the club attained sponsorship from ''Modic Entertainment'' and was thus renamed as YFCMD (''Yokohama FC Modic''). The team also once again moved stadiums to

Sham Shui Po Sports Ground Sham Shui Po Sports Ground () is public sports ground located in Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It opened on 9 January 1988. Facilities *1 all-weather, international standard 400-metre running track (8 lanes) *1 grass pitch with flood lights ...

. In summer 2015, Modic Entertainment confirmed they will not extend the sponsorship contract with the club. Metro Gallery confirmed that they will attain the sponsorship. The team was then branded as Dreams Metro Gallery FC. On 6 July 2016, the club announced via Facebook that they would not field a team in the 2016–17 season, instead, choosing to voluntarily drop down to the First Division. The

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

reported that the team was facing financial difficulties after failing to attain sponsorship for the Premier League."Special treatment: Guangzhou R&F will get players’ concessions if they compete in Hong Kong Premier League"
''scmp.com''. In the 2017–18 season, the club was branded as Hongda Metro Gallery. The next season, the club was branded as Hongda. In the 2019–20 season, the club was branded as Icanfield. In the 2021–22 season, the club was branded as Leaper MG.

Name history

*2008–2009: Fourway Athletics (四海體育會) *2009–2011: Fourway Rangers (四海流浪) *2011–2012: Biu Chun Rangers (標準流浪) *2012–2014: Yokohama FC Hong Kong (橫濱FC(香港)) *2014–2015: YFCMD (YFC澳滌) *2015–2016: Dreams Metro Gallery (夢想駿其) *2016–2017: Metro Gallery (駿其) *2017–2018: Hongda Metro Gallery (宏大駿其) *2018: Hongda (宏大) *2019: Metro Gallery (駿其) *2019–2020: Icanfield (駿棹) *2020–2022: Metro Gallery (駿其) *2022–" Leaper MG (騰翱MG)

References

{{Hong Kong First Division League

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 ...

Hong Kong First Division League Football clubs in Hong Kong Association football clubs established in 2008 2008 establishments in Hong Kong Yokohama FC Hong Kong