Wanchai Sports Federation () is a

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 plays in the Hong Kong Second Division. The club is operated by the

Wan Chai District Council The Wan Chai District Council is the district council for the Wan Chai District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Wan Chai District Council currently consists of 13 members, of which the district is divided into 13 constituencies ...

. The club plays its home matches at Happy Valley Recreation Ground.

History

In 2002, 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 ...

introduced the

Hong Kong Third District Division League Hong Kong Third 'District' 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 'A' Division League. It was fo ...

, which was formed by teams operating by each

District Council of Hong Kong The district councils, formerly district boards until 1999, are the local councils for the 18 districts of Hong Kong. History Before establishment An early basis for the delivery of local services were the Kaifong associations, set up i ...

. Wanchai was one of 11 clubs to join the league in the first season. The club did not perform well since they were formed as they were usually placing at the bottom half of league table. In the 2008–09 season, the club were placed at the bottom of the table among 15 teams, only had won one match (vs

Wong Tai Sin Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian () is a Chinese Taoist Deity popular in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping (; c. 32 ...

, originally lost 0–6. However, a suspended player played for

in the match. Therefore,

was given a 0–3 loss. in 14 matches.

Recent performance

Affiliation with South China

In 2009, Wanchai SF became the affiliated club of

South China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

. The two teams formed a youth team system, named Wan Chai South China, to compete in the Youth League. The first team did not perform well in the first season of affiliation. They got 4 points in 13 games only, again were the bottom of the league. Starting from 2010–11 season,

appointed first team assistant coaches

Ku Kam Fai Ku Kam Fai (; born 27 January 1961) is a Hong Kong former professional footballer and the current head coach of South China. His nickname is Muk Tsui Fai (木嘴輝). He is widely regarded as one of the best defenders and sweepers in Hong Ko ...

and Chan Chi Hong as the coaches of Wanchai SF. On the other hand, Wanchai signed numerous of ex- First Division player, such as

Shum Kwok Pui Shum Kwok Pui (; born 11 August 1970 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong former footballer who played as a central defender and is currently the assistant coach of Hong Kong Premier League club Happy Valley. Coaching career Pegasus Shum joined Pega ...

Wong Chi Keung Kirk Wong (黃志強; born March 28, 1949) is a Hong Kong film director and actor. Wong is best known for action films '' Crime Story'' and ''The Big Hit''. Wong's other films like ''Health Warning'', ''Organized Crime & Triad Bureau'', and '' R ...

. South China Reserves goalkeeper

Tin Man Ho Barson Tin Man Ho (; born 5 March 1990) is a former Hong Kong professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently a goalkeeper coach. Club career Early career Tin joined the South China youth academy when he was young. He stu ...

also joined the club. These changes had strengthened the team and the team had become a title challenger. After finishing all the 18 league matches they got 43 points, which helped them claim the Third District Division title. In the Third Division Final Round, Wanchai defeated

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

, Kwun Tong and KCDRSC to get promoted to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

for the first team in club history.

Promotion to Second Division

The 2011–12 season was the best ever season in the club history. Being the newly promoted team with any experiences in Hong Kong Second Division, the club had not only kept the players, but also signed more ex- First Division such as

Lo Chun Kit Toby Lo Chun Kit (, born 13 November 1985) is a former Hong Kong 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 foo ...

and

Colly Barnes Ezeh Colly Barnes Ezeh, commonly known as Colly, also known as Steve (, born 10 December 1979) is a Nigerian-born Hong Kong football player. Career Club career When he was in Mohun Bagan AC, he only played in cup matches. International career :''A ...

. As an underdog at the beginning of the season, they performed unexpectedly well, having chance to win promotioni to the Hong Kong First Division. Although they could not get promoted, they still placed in the fourth place, only 7 points behind Southern, the runner-up of the league which get promoted. They performed well in cup competition too. They defeated

Hong Kong Football Club 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 ...

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 ...

Shatin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ne ...

and

Wing Yee Wing Yee Football Team (), currently known as Wing Yee Property for sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong First Division. History Wing Yee joined the Hong Kong Third Division "A" League in 20 ...

to reach the final of the 2011—12 Hong Kong Junior Shield. Their season culminated in victory over Happy Valley 3–0 to claim the

Hong Kong Junior Shield Hong Kong Junior Shield () was a football competition in Hong Kong established in 1922. All teams in the Second Division and the Third Division were included in the competition. South China was the most successful club, winning 9 titles. Hist ...

Hong Kong Stadium Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the old Government Stadium, it reopened as Hong Kong Stadium in March 1994. It has a maximum seating capacity of 40,000, including 18,260 at the main level, 3,173 at exec ...

on 18 February 2012.

Honours

League

**Champions: 2010–11 *

**Champions: 2011–12

References

{{Hong Kong Second Division League teamlist Football clubs in Hong Kong 2002 establishments in Hong Kong Hong Kong Second Division League