Sai Kung Friends Football Club () 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 ...

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 Third Division 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 ...

History

In 1997–98, they finished third in Hong Kong Second Division, but due to first and second

HKFC Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC; ), established in 1886, is a private members' club in Hong Kong. The name reflects the origin as a club for playing association football and rugby. The club is situated in Happy Valley, with the sports pitche ...

and Jung Fuk gave up on promotion to Hong Kong First Division. Sai Kung Friends were promoted to Hong Kong First Division for the first time. Although having Brazilian striker, Tomy Adriano Giacomeli on the team, their overall strength was rather weak. Of the 8 teams in the 1998-99 First Division, they ranked 7th. However, HKFC and

Fire Services A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

both declined promotion, allowing Friends to remain in the First Division. In 1999–2000, striker Tomy Adriano Giacomeli transferred to Happy Valley, Sai Kung Friends' strength continued to decline. Finally, after finishing seventh place in the top league for two seasons in a row, Sai Kung Friends announced retirement from

rather than accept a demotion back to lower divisions. In 2004–05, Sai Kung Friends rejoined

Hong Kong Third A Division League Hong Kong Third 'A' Division League was a division of the third overall tier of the Hong Kong football league system organised by the Hong Kong Football Association in Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Third 'District' Division League. It was fo ...

under the name of Derico Friends. They received first place in the Third Division and promoted to

Hong Kong Second Division League Hong Kong Second Division League () is the third level of football league in Hong Kong founded in 1909. The top two teams are promoted to the Hong Kong First Division. Competition format * Each team plays the other teams twice, one home and ...

once again. But in 2005–06, they received last place in the Second Division and was demoted back to

after only one season.Hong Kong Second Division League 2005–06 Score Table
/ref> After finishing in third place in the 2016–17 season, Friends were promoted into the Second Division after a decade-long exodus in the lowest tier of Hong Kong football. Their achievement did not last long as they were relegated the following year in 2017–18. :

References

External links

Sai Kung Friends
at HKFA {{Hong Kong Third Division League teamlist Hong Kong Third Division League Football clubs in Hong Kong