Li Ngai Hoi (; born 15 October 1994) is a

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 ...

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 as a

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 ...

Early career

Li was a student of Yan Chai Hospital Tung Chi Ying Memorial Secondary School and is under their youth football academy scheme with

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 championships in Hong Kong 11 times, in ...

. He also plays for the school's football team.

Club career

Li trained with

English 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 Fo ...

club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

after winning the ''Be A Pro'' competition organised by the club and

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

in August 2011. Li was promoted from the youth system of

in 2010. For the 2011–12 season, he was loaned to

Hong Kong Sapling Hong Kong Sapling Football Club () are a Hong Kong football club which does not currently compete in the Hong Kong football league system. History On 11 August 2011, Mutual withdrew from the Hong Kong First Division League due to financial probl ...

to gain more playing experiences. On 2 October 2011, Li made his debut for

in the

2011–12 Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield 2011–12 Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield is the 110th season of one of the Asian oldest football knockout competitions, Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield. Starting from this season, the format will change into a two-legged home-and-away ties c ...

first round first leg away match against

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...

. In the 2012–13 season, Li 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 ...

on a loan contract for an undisclosed fee. He returned to

at the end of the season. In July 2013, Li joined

China 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

Dalian Aerbin Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Their home stadium is Dalian Sports Ce ...

for trial. Later, Li joined fellow First Division club

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

on a season-long loan from

on 7 August 2013. On 9 January 2018, Li was recalled by Kitchee ahead of their

2018 AFC Champions League The 2018 AFC Champions League was the 37th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 16th under the current AFC Champions League title. Kashima Antlers won the title for the f ...

campaign. On 8 February 2021, Kitchee accepted Li's transfer request and stated that they would allow the player to leave immediately. Four days later, it was announced that Li had signed with

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

club

Nantong Zhiyun Nantong Zhiyun Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Nantong, Jiangsu and their home ...

for a transfer fee of RMB $1 million. He would go on to establish himself within the team and helped the club gain promotion to the top tier at the end of the

2022 China League One The 2022 China League One ( zh, 2022中国足球协会甲级联赛) was the 19th season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment in 2004. Format On 12 May 2022, the Chinese Football ...

season. On 24 July 2023, Li returned to Hong Kong and joined

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 ...

International career

On 26 December 2023, Li was named in Hong Kong's squad for the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 201 ...

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of match played 8 July 2023.''LI NGAI HOI
at soccerway.com Retrieved 2020-12-31

International

Honours

Club

;Kitchee *

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

: 2017–18, 2019–20 *

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 Pr ...

: 2018–19 *

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. Th ...

: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Hong Kong Sapling Cup Hong Kong Football Association Sapling Cup (), more commonly known as Sapling Cup (), is a Hong Kong domestic football competition contested by all the teams in the Hong Kong Premier League. The objective of the Cup is to provide more playing opp ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Ngai Hoi 1994 births Living people Hong Kong men's footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers Hong Kong First Division League players Hong Kong Premier League players China League One players Chinese Super League players Hong Kong Sapling players Kitchee SC players Hong Kong Pegasus FC players Southern District FC players South China AA players Nantong Zhiyun F.C. players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Hong Kong expatriate sportspeople in China Hong Kong expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football defenders Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games Footballers at the 2022 Asian Games 2023 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Games competitors for Hong Kong