2018–19 Hong Kong Premier League
# 2018–19 Hong Kong Premier League

The 2018–19 Hong Kong Premier League (also known as the BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Hong Kong Premier League, the top division of Hong Kong football.

Tai Po won their first top flight title in club history. They are the third different team to win the Hong Kong Premier League and the first district team to win a top flight title since Yuen Long during the 1962–63 season.

## Teams

A total of 10 teams contest the league, including nine sides from the 2017–18 Hong Kong Premier League and one promoted from the 2017–18 Hong Kong First Division.

### Stadia and locations

Primary venues used in the Hong Kong Premier League:

| Kitchee Pegasus | Tai Po | Eastern |
| - | - | - |
| Mong Kok Stadium | Tai Po Sports Ground | Hong Kong Stadium |
| Capacity: 6,769 | Capacity: 3,200 | Capacity: 40,000 |
| Southern | Yuen Long | R&F |
| Aberdeen Sports Ground | Yuen Long Stadium | Yanzigang Stadium |
| Capacity: $4,000^1$ | Capacity: 5,000 | Capacity: $1,000^2$ |
| Lee Man | Dreams FC | Hoi King |
| Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | Tsing Yi Sports Ground | Sham Shui Po Sports Ground |
| Capacity: 3,500 | Capacity: 1,500 | Capacity: 2,194 |

Remarks: $^1The$ capacity of Aberdeen Sports Ground is artificially reduced from 9,000 to 4,000 as only the main stand is opened for football matches. $^2The$ capacity of Yanzigang Stadium is artificially reduced from 2,000 to 1,000.

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Captain | Kit Manufacturer | Kit sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Dreams FC | Leung Chi Kui | Leung Chi Wing | Chan Wai Ho | Kelme | SDRE |
| Eastern | Peter Leung | Andrejs Štolcers | Leung Chun Pong | Adidas | Topeast |
| Hoi King | Lo King Yau | Fung Hoi Man | Chan Man Chun | Kelme | |
| Kitchee | Ken Ng | Chu Chi Kwong | Huang Yang | Nike | edps |
| Pegasus | Canny Leung | Chan Ho Yin | Chan Siu Ki | Adidas | |
| Lee Man | Norman Lee | Chan Hiu Ming | Fran González | Adidas | Lee & Man Chemical |
| Southern | Chan Man Chun | Cheng Siu Chung | Leung Tsz Chun | Macron | Isuzu |
| Tai Po | Gary Choy | Lee Chi Kin | Wong Wai | Nike | Sun Mobile |
| Yuen Long | Wong Wai Shun | Kwok Kar Lok | Fábio Lopes | Kelme | |
| R&F | Huang Shenghua | Yeung Ching Kwong | Roberto | Ucan | R&F Properties |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Eastern | Lee Kin Wo | Return as Coach | 14 May 2018 | Pre-season | Chan Yuen Ting | 19 July 2018 |
| Lee Man | Fung Hoi Man | Signed by Hoi King | 21 May 2018 | Pre-season | Chan Hiu Ming | 21 May 2018 |
| Yuen Long | Tsang Chiu Tat | Signed by Lee Man | 21 May 2018 | Pre-season | Kwok Kar Lok | 4 June 2018 |
| R&F | Bito Wu | Return to Guangzhou R&F | 3 June 2018 | Pre-season | Yeung Ching Kwong | 14 June 2018 |
| Pegasus | Yeung Ching Kwong | Signed by R&F | 14 June 2018 | Pre-season | Pedro García | 2 July 2018 |
| Pegasus | Pedro García | Sacked | 30 September 2018 | 8th | Chan Ho Yin | 30 September 2018 |
| Eastern | Chan Yuen Ting | Resigned | 4 February 2019 | 2nd | Wong Chun Yue | 4 February 2019 |
| Eastern | Wong Chun Yue | Role of caretaker ended | 14 February 2019 | 2nd | Andrejs Štolcers | 14 February 2019 |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to six (including one Asian player) per team, with no more than four on pitch during matches. R&F are allowed to register a maximum of 3 foreigners at any one time.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Asian Player | Former Players |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Dreams FC | Jonathan Acosta | Diego Higino | Pablo Gallardo | Gondra | Nacho Martínez | Kota Kawase | Joaquín Yoon Dong-hun |
| Eastern | Everton | Diego Eli | Robson | Lima Pereira | Manuel Bleda | | Yusuke Igawa José Ángel |
| Hoi King | Paulo César | Robert | Zé Victor | Bae Chan-soo | Kim Jin-seo | Kim Min-ki | Kim Dong-jin Seo Sang-min |
| Pegasus | Juninho | David Lazari | Rosen Kolev | Mahama Awal | Shu Sasaki | | João Emir Travis Major |
| Kitchee | Fernando | Lucas Silva | Josip Tadić | Krisztián Vadócz | Jonathan Hernandez | Matt Smith | Robert Mohamed Sissoko Kim Bong-jin Seo Sang-min |
| Lee Man | Stefan | Michaël N'dri | Baek Ji-hoon | Fran González | Serhiy Shapoval | Chen Ting-yang | Alexandre Talento Zé Victor Crescendo van Berkel |
| Southern | Dhiego Martins | Ticão | Wellingsson | Nikola Komazec | Marko Krasić | Zesh Rehman | |
| Tai Po | Dudu | João Emir | Michel Lugo | Eduardo Praes | Igor Sartori | Harry Sawyer | David Lazari |
| Yuen Long | Cleiton | Kessi | Jean Moser | Tomas | | Wang Ruei | |
| R&F | Leonço | Saša Novaković | Serges Déblé | — | — | — | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tai Po (C) | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 43 | 22 | +21 | 41 | Qualification for AFC Champions League preliminary round 2 |
| 2 | R&F | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 51 | 26 | +25 | 36 | |
| 3 | Southern | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 24 | +6 | 32 | |
| 4 | Kitchee | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 20 | +24 | 32 | Qualification for AFC Cup play-off round |
| 5 | Eastern | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 38 | 21 | +17 | 31 | |
| 6 | Pegasus | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 34 | 33 | +1 | 22 | |
| 7 | Yuen Long | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 18 | |
| 8 | Dreams FC (R) | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 29 | 53 | −24 | 16 | Relegation to Hong Kong First Division League |
| 9 | Lee Man | 18 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 36 | −24 | 11 | |
| 10 | Hoi King (R) | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 58 | −45 | 8 | Relegation to Hong Kong First Division League |

* ↑ If the league champions cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage, they will enter the AFC Cup group stage.
* ↑ R&F are not a full member of the Hong Kong Football Association and are not eligible to represent Hong Kong in the AFC club competitions.
* 1 2 Head-to head results for teams with 32 points: Southern 4 points; Kitchee 1 point.
* ↑ Kitchee qualified for the AFC Cup play-off round as Hong Kong FA Cup winners.
* ↑ Dreams FC announced on 11 July 2019 that they would self-relegate due to lack of funds.

## Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tai Po | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| R&F | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Southern | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Kitchee | 3 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Eastern | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Pegasus | 1 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Yuen Long | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Dreams FC | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| Lee Man | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Hoi King | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |

* Leader - 2020 AFC Champions League
* Relegation to 2019–20 Hong Kong First Division

## Season Statistics

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Lucas Silva | Kitchee | 12 |
| 1 | Manolo Bleda | Eastern | 12 |
| 3 | Tiago Leonço | R&F | 11 |
| 3 | Giovane | R&F | 11 |
| 5 | Everton Camargo | Eastern | 10 |
| 6 | Travis Major | Pegasus | 9 |
| 6 | Jean Moser | Yuen Long | 9 |
| 8 | Igor Sartori | Tai Po | 8 |
| 8 | Marcos Gondra Krug | Dreams FC | 8 |
| 10 | James Ha | Southern | 7 |
| 10 | Fernando | Kitchee | 7 |
| 10 | Michel Lugo | Tai Po | 7 |
| 10 | Chan Kwong Ho | Yuen Long | 7 |
| 10 | Shu Sasaki | Pegasus | 7 |

    As of matches played 19 May 2019

**Hat-tricks**


    Note: The results column shows the scorer's team score first. Teams in bold are home teams.

| # | Player | Nationality | For | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Manolo Bleda | Spain | Eastern | Dreams FC | 4–0 | 6 October 2018 |
| 2 | Robert | Brazil | Kitchee | Hoi King | 8–1 | 4 November 2018 |
| 3 | Krug | Spain | Dreams FC | Yuen Long | 4–1 | 17 February 2019 |
| 4 | James Ha | Hong Kong | Southern | Eastern | 4–1 | 17 February 2019 |
| 5 | Manolo Bleda | Spain | Eastern | Hoi King | 5–0 | 17 March 2019 |
| 6 | Leonço | Brazil | R&F | Dreams FC | 5–1 | 6 April 2019 |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kitchee | 15,877 | 3,489 | 1,038 | 1,764 | $−17.4%^†$ |
| 2 | Tai Po | 11,492 | 2,088 | 653 | 1,277 | $+34.3%^†$ |
| 3 | Eastern | 9,362 | 1,734 | 626 | 1,040 | $−31.2%^†$ |
| 4 | Pegasus | 8,695 | 1,295 | 537 | 966 | $+16.4%^†$ |
| 5 | Yuen Long | 8,413 | 1,401 | 656 | 935 | $−17.2%^†$ |
| 6 | Southern | 7,442 | 1,786 | 321 | 827 | $+67.7%^†$ |
| 7 | R&F | 6,365 | 939 | 99 | 707 | $−11.3%^†$ |
| 8 | Dreams FC | 5,726 | 856 | 364 | 636 | $−14.6%^†$ |
| 9 | Lee Man | 5,643 | 1,952 | 264 | 627 | $+23.2%^†$ |
| 10 | Hoi King | 5,250 | 804 | 444 | 583 | $n/a^1$ |
| | League total | 84,265 | 3,489 | 99 | 936 | $−2.1%^†$ |

Source: HKFA Notes: 1: Team did not play in the Premier League last season

## Hong Kong Top Footballer Awards

| Awards | Prize Winner | Club | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Footballer of the Year | Igor Sartori | Tai Po | 85.82% |
| Women's Footballer of the Year | Wong Shuk Fan | Happy Valley (Women) | 8 |
| Coach of the Year | Lee Chi Kin | Tai Po | 67.17% |
| Young Players of the Year | Wu Chun Ming | Pegasus | 29.01% |
| Young Players of the Year | Cheng Siu Kwan | Lee Man | 28.27% |
| Players' Player | Igor Sartori | Tai Po | 64 |
| Most Favorite Player | Igor Sartori | Tai Po | 3,709 |
| Hong Kong Top Footballers ||||
| Goalkeeper | Tse Tak Him | Southern | 55.81% |
| Defenders | Eduardo Praes | Tai Po | 51.91% |
| Defenders | Leung Nok Hang | R&F | 51.17% |
| Defenders | Fung Hing Wa | Tai Po | 48.87% |
| Defenders | Fábio | Yuen Long | 38.97% |
| Midfielders | Chan Siu Kwan | Tai Po | 53.16% |
| Midfielders | Wong Wai | Tai Po | 43.49% |
| Midfielders | James Ha | Southern | 40.96% |
| Midfielders | Fernando | Kitchee | 35.90% |
| Forwards | Igor Sartori | Tai Po | 85.82% |
| Forwards | Lucas Silva | Kitchee | 43.59% |
