Southern District Recreation & Sports Assn Ltd (), commonly known as Southern and currently known for sponsorship reasons as Kwoon Chung Southern, is a professional

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 based in Southern District, Hong Kong. They currently compete in the Hong Kong Premier League.

History

Southern District entered the newly formed Hong Kong Third District Division during the 2002–03 season. However, the team did not reach the

Hong Kong Third Division League Final Round Hong Kong Third Division League is the fourth-highest division overall in the Hong Kong football league system under the organization of Hong Kong Football Association. Starting with the 2012–13 season, the two divisions of Hong Kong Third ...

and thus did not get promotion in the first few years of their history. In the 2006–07 season, they reached the Final Round for the first time since the club was formed. They were the runners up of the Third District Division and qualified for the Final Round, however, they could not get promotion as they only managed to gain two points. In the 2007–08 season, they retained last season's good performance, reached the Final Round again as they were again the 1st runner-up of Third District Division League, 9 points behind Shatin. Unfortunately, they could not gain the promotion again as they were 4 points behind the promotion places. In the 2008–09 season, they could not qualify for the Final Round as they only placed at 4th of Third District Division. They were finally promoted to the Hong Kong Second Division for the first time in the 2009–10 season. They were the 1st runner-up of the Third District Division League and competed with the other 3 teams in the Final Round for promotion. Although they only placed at 3rd in the final round, Eastern decided not to accept promotion and the right to be promoted was passed to Southern who did accept. They successfully avoided relegation and stayed in the Second Division during their first season. They were the 4th out of 12 teams, 10 points behind the champions Sham Shui Po. On the other hand, they won their first trophy since their formation on 9 January 2011. They defeated

Double Flower "Double-flowered" describes varieties of flowers with extra petals, often containing flowers within flowers. The double-flowered trait is often noted alongside the scientific name with the abbreviation ''fl. pl.'' (''flore pleno'', a Latin ablati ...

in the final of Hong Kong Junior Shield at Hong Kong Stadium. They were promoted to 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 ...

for the first time in the 2011–12 season, as they were the 1st runner-up of the Hong Kong Second Division, three points behind champions

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 ...

. They were branded as Royal Southern in the 2013–14 season, and finished 4th out of 12 teams. However, the club chose to self-relegate after the end of the season. They returned to the top flight in the 2015–16 season. Starting from this season, the club was rebranded as Kwoon Chung Southern due to sponsorship reasons. In 2016–17, Southern finished third in the table, their highest position in club history. Southern matched their table position from 2016–17 with another third-place finish in 2018–19. The club also reached the finals of Hong Kong FA Cup for the first time, losing 2–0 to Kitchee.

Name history

*2002–2013: Southern (南區) *2013–2014: Royal Southern (皇室南區) *2014–2015: Southern (南區) *2015–: Kwoon Chung Southern (冠忠南區)

Stadium

Since 2007, Southern have played their home games at Aberdeen Sports Ground. They began playing their home games there during their days in the Hong Kong Third District Division. After Southern was promoted to the

, the club have continued to use Aberdeen Sports Ground as their home stadium. In September of 2018, the canopy of the main grandstand at Aberdeen Sports Ground was damaged due to Typhoon Mangkhut. Although a temporary canopy was erected over the opposite grandstand in order to allow Southern to continue to use the stadium for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department determined that installation of a new canopy on the main grandstand was to begin in June of 2019. As the renovations were scheduled to last until the end of March 2020, Southern applied to use Mong Kok Stadium as their home stadium for the 2019–20 season.

Team staff

{, class="wikitable" , - !Position !Staff , - , Head coach, ,

Cheng Siu Chung Cheng Siu Chung (; born 29 September 1972 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong football manager and former professional player. He is currently the head coach of Hong Kong Premier League club Southern. He served as a commentator for the 2010 FIFA ...

, - , Assistant Coach, , Pui Ho Wang , - , Assistant Coach, , Beto Fronza , - , Goalkeeping Coach, ,

Fan Chun Yip Fan Chun Yip (; born 1 May 1976) is a former Hong Kong professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeping coach of Hong Kong Premier League club Southern. Widely considered as one of the best goalkeepers in Hon ...

, - , Physiotherapist, , Ella Yeung , - , Physiotherapist, , Fong Ho Kee , - , Media Director, ,

Tse Tak Him Tse Tak Him (; born 10 February 1985 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong professional footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Hong Kong Premier League club Southern. Club career Citizen During the 2010–11 Hong Kong Senior Challenge ...

, - , Fans Club Officer, , Lo Wai Tat , - , Fans Club Assistant, , Lam Ho Kwan

Current squad

First team

^FP ^FP ^FP ^FP ^FP ''(on loan from Kitchee)'' ^FP ''(on loan from Kitchee)'' ''(on loan from Kitchee)'' ''(on loan from Kitchee)'' ^FP Remarks:
^LP These players are registered as local players in Hong Kong domestic football competitions.
^FP These players are registered as foreign players.

Reserve team squad

Season-to-season record

{, class="wikitable" , -bgcolor="#efefef" ! Season ! Tier ! Division ! Teams ! Position ! Home Stadium ! Attendance/G ! FA Cup ! Senior Shield ! League Cup !

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 ...

, - , align=center, 2002–03 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 13 , align=center, , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2003–04 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, , align=center, , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2004–05 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, , align=center, , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2005–06 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, , align=center, , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2006–07 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 17 , align=center bgcolor=silver, 2 , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2007–08 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 17 , align=center bgcolor=silver, 2 , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2008–09 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 15 , align=center, 4 , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2009–10 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 3 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Third District Division , align=center, 14 , align=center bgcolor="#DDFFDD", 2 , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center,

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 ...

, align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 2 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Second Division , align=center, 12 , align=center, 6 , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2011–12 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 2 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, Second Division , align=center, 12 , align=center bgcolor="#DDFFDD", 2 , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center,

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 ...

, align=center, 1 , align=center, First Division , align=center, 10 , align=center, 4 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 554 , align=center, First Round , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2013–14 , align=center, 1 , align=center, First Division , align=center, 12 , align=center bgcolor=#FFCCCC, 4 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground
Mong Kok Stadium , align=center, 434 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2014–15 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, 2 , align=center bgcolor=#ffc0a0, First Division , align=center, 15 , align=center bgcolor="#DDFFDD", 3 , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, , align=center, First Round , align=center, – , align=center, – , align=center style="background:gray;", , - , align=center, 2015–16 , align=center, 1 , align=center, Premier League , align=center, 9 , align=center, 4 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 489 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center bgcolor=silver, Runner-up , align=center, Group Stage , align=center, Group Stage , - , align=center, 2016–17 , align=center, 1 , align=center, Premier League , align=center, 11 , align=center bgcolor=#cfaa88, 3 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 532 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, Semi-finals , - , align=center, 2017–18 , align=center, 1 , align=center, Premier League , align=center, 10 , align=center, 5 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 493 , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center, Semi-finals , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, Group Stage , - , align=center, 2018–19 , align=center, 1 , align=center, Premier League , align=center, 10 , align=center bgcolor=#cfaa88, 3 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 827 , align=center bgcolor=silver, Runner-up , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, Group Stage , - , align=center, 2019–20 , align=center, 1 , align=center, Premier League , align=center, 10 , align=center, 5 , align=center, Mong Kok Stadium , align=center, 861 , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center, Quarter-finals , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center bgcolor=silver, Runner-up , - , align=center,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, align=center, 1 , align=center, Premier League , align=center, 8 , align=center, 5 , align=center, Aberdeen Sports Ground , align=center, 627 , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center style="background:gray;", , align=center, Group Stage ''Note'':

Honours

League

* Hong Kong Second Division : Runners-up (1): 2011–12 * Hong Kong Third District Division : Runners-up (3): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10

Cup competitions

* Hong Kong FA Cup : Runners-up (1): 2018–19 * Hong Kong Senior Shield : Runners-up (1): 2015–16 * Hong Kong Sapling Cup : Runners-up (1): 2019–20 * Hong Kong Junior Shield : Champions (1): 2010–11

Managers

(2006–2008) * Fung Hoi Man (2009–2015) *

(2015–2020) * Pui Ho Wang, Cristiano Cordeiro (2020) *

Zesh Rehman Zeshan Rehman ( ur, ; born 14 October 1983) is an English-born Pakistani former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently U18 coach and acting assistant coach at Portsmouth FC. He was the first British Asian to start ...

(2020–2022) *

(2022–)

eSports

Southern District is the first Hong Kong football club of creating an eSports department. By partnering with Nova Esports, they signed Ronnie Yau as a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

player and Kevin Lau as a Pro Evolution Soccer player.

External links

Southern District FC Official Website

References

{{Hong Kong Premier League Football clubs in Hong Kong Association football clubs established in 2002 2002 establishments in Hong Kong