Andrew James Russell (; born 21 November 1987) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

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

club HKFC. Born in England, he represented Hong Kong internationally from 2016 to 2023.

Club career

In 2008, Russell signed his first contract as a professional footballer for Happy Valley, which played in the Hong Kong First Division. After returning to the UK, Russell joined

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, south-east of Oldham and east of Manchester. The town grew ...

in the

Northern Premier League Division One North The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

and found employment with

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

. In his debut season with the club, he represented them 46 times and scored two goals. He joined

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

in 2010 when manager

Garry Flitcroft Garry William Flitcroft (born 6 November 1972) is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder. Between 1991 and 2006, Flitcroft spent four seasons in the Premier League with Manchester City, winning the ...

took over. For the 2013–14 season, Russell chose to join AFC Fylde after being convinced by manager Dave Challinor. He helped the club retain the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy by beating Chorley 4–1 with one goal and one assist. In July 2014, Russell signed for

club

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) 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 ...

. On 7 January 2017, Russell left South China for

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

club

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

after signing a one-year contract with the club. In May 2017, Russell's contract with Penang was terminated due to poor performances. On 27 February 2018, Russell left

Tai Po Tai Po is an List of areas of Hong Kong, area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Mark ...

, where he had played for the past half-year, for

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

club

Liaoning Whowin Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

at a six-figure fee, where he could play as a native player. On 25 February 2019, Russell signed with

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Hebei China Fortune. On 16 July 2020, Russell joined

club Jiangxi Liansheng on loan. On 2 May 2022, Russell joined Sichuan Jiuniu. On 8 February 2023, Russell returned to Hong Kong and joined

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 12 List of Hong Kong football champion ...

. On 31 July 2024, Russell returned to HKFC.

International career

On 14 March 2016, Russell received his first call-up for

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in preparation for a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

match against

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

on 24 March 2016. He made his international debut in a 2–0 loss to Qatar. On 6 November 2023, Russell announced his retirement from international football to focus more on his club career with

and family commitments.

Personal life

Russell was born in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, England, and moved to

with his parents when he was 18 months old. He returned to England to attend the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. Russell married his wife Helen in 2018. The couple has a son named Zachary.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Kitchee

: 2022–23 *

Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the Association football, football Single-elimination tournament, knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the List of oldest football competitions, fo ...

: 2022–23, 2023–24 *

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. T ...

: 2022–23 * HKPLC Cup: 2023–24

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Andy 1987 births Living people Hong Kong men's footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers English men's footballers Footballers from Southampton Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders English emigrants to Hong Kong Hong Kong First Division League players Hong Kong Premier League players Malaysia Super League players China League One players Chinese Super League players Happy Valley AA players Mossley A.F.C. players Chorley F.C. players AFC Fylde players South China AA players Tai Po FC players 21st-century Hong Kong sportsmen Liaoning F.C. players Hebei F.C. players Jiangxi Lushan F.C. players Shenzhen Peng City F.C. players Kitchee SC players Hong Kong FC (football) players Naturalised footballers of Hong Kong Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Hong Kong expatriate men's footballers Hong Kong expatriate sportspeople in China Hong Kong League XI representative players 21st-century English sportsmen