Interview

Poon Man Tik: “When Barcelona came to Hong Kong, I played against Ronaldinho. It was like seeing magic!”

As a player who journeyed through the final throes of Hong Kong’s so called ‘Golden Age of Football’ as well as took the field during the local game’s lowest ebb in the early 2000s, it is safe that Poon Man Tik has undergone the full “HK Football” experience.

As a player, Poon enjoyed a few lofty highs and has also undertaken a few humbling challenges; the same journey it seems that all players in HK experience and endure.

The state of HK domestic football, past and present, can be correlated to that fact that most of the clubs that Poon used to play for simply do not exist anymore or have undergone huge financial problems. Poon is in the perfect position to discuss the state of the game.

Poon was happy to answer a few questions on his past career and his current career as a coach

How did you end up becoming a professional football player?

“I was trained at the Hong Kong Sports Institute since I was a child and represented Hong Kong in many international competitions. A professional football team came to the Hong Kong Sports Institute to select potential young players when I was eighteen years old. Fortunately, the professional football club had selected me and I started my professional football career. I became a professional football player.”

What are one or two of your favorite memories as a player? Which trophies or games stand out to you?

“The most unforgettable moment was in the last FA Cup match at the end of the 1998 season. I scored a golden goal in extra time and won the cup championship for South China that season. It was a turning point in my professional football career.”

As a long term football observer, how has coaching changed in Hong Kong from when you were a child till now? Coaching has improved though how?

“Previous teaching method was more focused on technical skills in terms of coaching. There is not much information and learning opportunities. It was an old-fashioned training model.

Today’s training has added tactical elements. Hong Kong has done a good job of retraining coaches as there are many learning opportunities to receive football training information and it is easier to obtain advanced training methods. 

We cannot do a good job just by copying each others’ training. However, the training itself needs to be fully understood and correctly implemented before it is effective. I do think that some of the previous (old school) training methods are also very good; the new and old methods should be integrated to make training better.”

Who was the best player you played with and against in Hong Kong?

“When Barcelona came to Hong Kong to play against us. I recalled Ronaldinho seemed to be very slow when he appeared at first, but when I played against him on the field, his movements and speed were so fast and so technical. It’s a really good experience for me! It was like seeing magic on show!”

What can be done to help improve Hong Kong football? 

“First, we need to train up good coaches and improve their abilities, provide more opportunities to capable coaches, then let the good coaches do their job in youth training. Allocating more resources to local players who can represent Hong Kong is very important too!”

Thank you!

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