2014–15 Hong Kong Premier League
# 2014–15 Hong Kong Premier League

2014–15 Hong Kong Premier League (also known as BOCG Life Hong Kong Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the first season of Hong Kong Premier League, the top division of Hong Kong football. The fixtures were announced on 15 August 2014. The season began on 12 September 2014 and concluded on 9 May 2015.

## Teams

A total of 9 teams will contest the league, including seven sides from the 2013–14 Hong Kong First Division League and two promoted from the 2013–14 Hong Kong Second Division.

### Stadia and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

| Team | Stadium | Location | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| Rangers | Kowloon Bay Park | Kowloon Bay | 1,200 |
| Eastern | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | Tseung Kwan O | 3,500 |
| Yuen Long | Yuen Long Stadium | Yuen Long | 4,932 |
| Kitchee | Mong Kok Stadium | Mong Kok | 6,664 |
| South China | Hong Kong Stadium | So Kon Po | 40,000 |
| Pegasus | Mong Kok Stadium | Mong Kok | 6,664 |
| Tai Po | Tai Po Sports Ground | Tai Po | 3,000 |
| Wong Tai Sin | Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground | Choi Hung | 2,200 |
| YFCMD | Sham Shui Po Sports Ground | Cheung Sha Wan | 2,194 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rangers | Mok Yiu Keung | Yan Lik Kin | Beto | Xtep | Kunne |
| Eastern | Lam Kin Ming | Cristiano Cordeiro | Leung Chi Wing | Adidas | Dream Foundations |
| Yuen Long | Wong Wai Shun | Chan Ho Yin | Cheng King Ho | Nike | Wong & Poon Solicitors |
| Kitchee | Ken Ng | José Molina | Lo Kwan Yee | Nike | Jockey Club Kitchee Centre |
| South China | Wallace Cheung | Ricardo | Chan Wai Ho | Adidas | Panasonic |
| Pegasus | Cheng Ting Kong | Chan Chi Hong | Tong Kin Man | Adidas | Yahoo |
| Tai Po | Cheung Hok Ming | Pau Ka Yiu | Chan Yuk Chi | Adidas | Lee Kee Group Ltd |
| Wong Tai Sin | Ma Hung Ming | Chiu Chung Man Poon Man Chun | Sandro | Nike | |
| YFCMD | Khan Swadiq | Lee Chi Kin | Leung Kwun Chung | Nike | LEOC |

### Chairman changes

| Team | Outgoing Chairman | Date of vacancy | Incoming Chairman | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| South China | Steven Lo | 30 May 2014 | Wallace Cheung | 1 June 2014 |
| YFCMD | Hiroshi Onodera | 1 July 2014 | Khan Swadiq | 1 July 2014 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kitchee | Cheng Siu Chung Chu Chi Kwong | Returned as assistant coach | 23 May 2014 | Pre-season | José Molina | 23 May 2014 |
| Pegasus | Chan Chi Hong | Promoted as Technical Director | 9 June 2014 | Pre-season | Ricardo | 9 June 2014 |
| Rangers | Ricardo | Signed by Pegasus | 9 June 2014 | Pre-season | Chan Hung Ping | 9 June 2014 |
| Wong Tai Sin | Chan Chi Kwong | Returned as assistant coach | 9 July 2014 | Pre-season | Chiu Chung Man Poon Man Chun | 9 July 2014 |
| Rangers | Chan Hung Ping | Returned as assistant coach | 11 July 2014 | Pre-season | Tim Bredbury | 11 July 2014 |
| Rangers | Tim Bredbury | Resigned | 14 July 2014 | Pre-season | Chan Hung Ping | 14 July 2014 |
| Rangers | Chan Hung Ping | Returned as assistant coach | 1 August 2014 | Pre-season | Cheung Po Chun | 1 August 2014 |
| South China | Yeung Ching Kwong | Sacked, Poor league position | 14 December 2014 | 3rd | Mario Gómez | 22 December 2014 |
| Rangers | Cheung Po Chun | Sacked, Poor league position | 10 January 2015 | 7th | Yan Lik Kin | 10 January 2015 |
| Pegasus | Ricardo | Sacked, Poor run of recent result | 27 January 2015 | 2nd | Chan Chi Hong | 27 January 2015 |
| South China | Mario Gómez | Signed by Johor DT | 1 May 2015 | 4th | Ricardo | 1 May 2015 |
| South China | Ricardo | Returned as assistant coach | 14 May 2015 | 4th | Casemiro Mior | 14 May 2015 |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to six (including an Asian player) per team, with no more than four on pitch during matches.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Asian Player |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Eastern | Giovane | Diego Eli | Michel Lugo | Miroslav Saric | Rohan Ricketts | Dylan Macallister |
| Kitchee | Fernando Recio | Dani Cancela | Jordi Tarrés | Juan Belencoso | Borja Rubiato | Kim Tae-Min |
| Rangers | Óscar | Yago González | Han Jae-woong | Iván Zarandona | | Hiromichi Katano |
| South China | Evan Kostopoulos | Mahama Awal | Cristian Mora | Yuto Nakamura | Bojan Mališić | Daniel McBreen |
| Pegasus | Dario Damjanović | Admir Raščić | Niko Tokić | Petrisor Voinea | Igor Miović | Jerrad Tyson |
| Tai Po | Naves | Clayton | Joao Sales | Vincent Weijl | | Leong Ka Hang |
| Wong Tai Sin | Sandro | Tomas | Maurício | Zhang Jun | Mirko Teodorović | Yoon Dong-hun |
| YFCMD | Fernando Pereira | Rubén López | Dieguito | Jose Maria Diaz | Mamadou Barry | Kenji Fukuda |
| Yuen Long | Wellingsson Souza | Gustavo Silva | Reinaldo | Čedomir Mijanović | | Tsuyoshi Yoshitake |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kitchee | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 18 | +22 | 36 | Qualification to Champions League preliminary round 2 |
| 2 | Eastern | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 20 | +14 | 33 | Qualification to season play-off |
| 3 | Pegasus | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 27 | Qualification to season play-off |
| 4 | South China | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 30 | 17 | +13 | 27 | Qualification to AFC Cup group stage |
| 5 | YFCMD | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 29 | −4 | 26 | Qualification to season play-off |
| 6 | Yuen Long | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 20 | 31 | −11 | 17 | |
| 7 | Rangers | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 20 | 33 | −13 | 14 | |
| 8 | Wong Tai Sin | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 29 | −9 | 14 | |
| 9 | Tai Po | 16 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 40 | −23 | 7 | Relegation to First Division |

* 1 2 As Kitchee won the FA Cup, Eastern finished 2nd in Premier League and won the Senior Challenge Shield, teams finishing 4th and 5th in Premier League entered the season play-off as well.
* 1 2 Pegasus wins head-to-head against South China.
* ↑ As winners of the season play-off.
* 1 2 Rangers wins head-to-head against Wong Tai Sin.

## Results

| Home \ Away | HKR | EAA | IYL | KIT | SCA | SPS | TPO | WTS | YFC |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rangers | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| Eastern | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 7–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Yuen Long | 1–0 | 0–3 | | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Kitchee | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 |
| South China | 0–0 | 3–0 | 5–2 | 2–2 | | 0–3 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| Pegasus | 5–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–4 | | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Tai Po | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 2–3 | 0–1 |
| Wong Tai Sin | 3–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | | 0–2 |
| YFCMD | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 1–5 | |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Pegasus | 12,936 | 3,499 | 931 | 1,617 | $+5.6%^†$ |
| 2 | Kitchee | 11,976 | 3,523 | 518 | 1,497 | $+9.1%^†$ |
| 3 | South China | 11,182 | 2,289 | 1,016 | 1,398 | $−14.9%^†$ |
| 4 | Yuen Long | 9,518 | 1,911 | 735 | 1,190 | $+17.6%^†$ |
| 5 | Eastern | 7,677 | 1,811 | 522 | 960 | $−26.0%^†$ |
| 6 | Tai Po | 6,635 | 1,449 | 379 | 829 | $n/a^†$ |
| 7 | YFCMD | 6,076 | 1,075 | 447 | 760 | $+56.1%^†$ |
| 8 | Wong Tai Sin | 5,552 | 1,448 | 345 | 694 | $n/a^†$ |
| 9 | Rangers | 3,879 | 1,035 | 209 | 485 | $−2.4%^†$ |
| | League total | 75,431 | 3,523 | 209 | 1,048 | $+12.8%^†$ |

Source:

## Hong Kong Top Footballer Awards

| Awards | Prize Winner | Club | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Footballer of the Year | Giovane | Eastern | 59.2% |
| Coach of the Year | Lee Chi Kin | YFCMD | 38.63% |
| Young Players of the Year | Leung Kwun Chung | YFCMD | 52.42% |
| Young Players of the Year | Chan Siu Kwan | South China | 36.97% |
| Most Favorite Player | Bojan Mališić | South China | 2,642 |
| Hong Kong Top Footballers ||||
| Goalkeeper | Yapp Hung Fai | Eastern | 53.15% |
| Defenders | Bojan Mališić | South China | 56.44% |
| Defenders | Cheung Kin Fung | Kitchee | 51.4% |
| Defenders | Lo Kwan Yee | Kitchee | 46.96% |
| Defenders | Chan Wai Ho | South China | 32.91% |
| Midfielders | Xu Deshuai | Kitchee | 44.97% |
| Midfielders | Lam Ka Wai | Kitchee | 42.55% |
| Midfielders | Miroslav Saric | Eastern | 38.51% |
| Midfielders | Mahama Awal | South China | 31.42% |
| Forwards | Giovane | Eastern | 59.2% |
| Forwards | Juan Belencoso | Kitchee | 39.57% |
