League

Stadiums in 16/17: Home is where your club is

[Updated: 6 August 2016] With several weeks to go before the 2016/17 Premier League season kicks off in late August, the clubs have already announced their preference for their home grounds. While for district-related teams there is always an obvious choice to make, the current mode of selection has been quite controversial.

Many teams are missing a historic link with certain neighborhoods – and as the number of stadiums in attractive inner-city locations is limited, there have been quite a lot of rotations, which have barred clubs even further from taking roots in communities and maintaining them.

Currently, the teams make their choice according to their league ranking in the previous season. This quasi “stadium draft” allows the champions to make the first call, followed by the runners-up, the third and so on. Aside from the Hong Kong Football Club, none of the teams can actually claim ownership of any stadium. Instead, they are all managed by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department and formally rented for match days.

Some might even argue that Hong Kong is too small for local rivalries. However, after suspending the home & away mode for several years, it has been back in practice since 2009. Since then clubs like Kitchee, Eastern, Rangers, South China, and Pegasus have been constantly on the move.

Here is the tentative stadium allocation for 2016/17 (changes still possible):

Club Stadium Capacity
Eastern Mong Kok Stadium 6,600
Kitchee Mong Kok Stadium 6,600
South China Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground 3,500
Pegasus Hong Kong Stadium 40,000
Southern Aberdeen Sports Ground 4,000
Yuen Long Yuen Long Stadium 5,000
Rangers Tsing Yi Sports Ground 1,500
Tai Po Tai Po Sports Ground 3,200
Hong Kong FC HKFC Stadium 2,750
R&F Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground 12,000
HK Sapling Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground 2,200

More details on how to reach the grounds and their food & beverage situation to follow soon!

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