# 2017–18 Hong Kong Premier League

The 2017–18 Hong Kong Premier League (also known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the Hong Kong Premier League, the top division of Hong Kong football.

## Teams

A total of 10 teams will contest the league, including eight sides from the 2016–17 Hong Kong Premier League, one renamed team and one newly formed team.

### Stadia and locations

Primary venues used in the Hong Kong Premier League:
| Kitchee Eastern | Southern | Yuen Long |
| Mong Kok Stadium | Aberdeen Sports Ground | Yuen Long Stadium |
| Capacity: 6,664 | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 5,000 |
| Tai Po | Rangers | Pegasus |
| Tai Po Sports Ground | Sham Shui Po Sports Ground | Hong Kong Stadium |
| Capacity: 3,200 | Capacity: 2,194 | Capacity: 40,000 |
| Dreams FC | R&F | Lee Man |
| Tsing Yi Sports Ground | Yanzigang Stadium | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground |
| Capacity: 1,500 | Capacity: 1,000 | Capacity: 3,500 |
Remarks: $^1$The capacity of Aberdeen Sports Ground is artificially reduced from 9,000 to 4,000 as only the main stand is opened for football matches. $^2$The 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 | chatspr |
| Eastern | Peter Leung | Lee Kin Wo | Yapp Hung Fai | Adidas | O2 Capsule |
| Pegasus | Canny Leung | Yeung Ching Kwong | Chan Siu Ki | Adidas | ZTE |
| Kitchee | Ken Ng | Chu Chi Kwong | Lo Kwan Yee | Nike | Jockey Club Kitchee Centre |
| Lee Man | Fung Ka Ki | Fung Hoi Man | Jordi Tarrés | Adidas | Lee & Man Chemical |
| Rangers | Philip Lee | Su Yang | Igor Miović | Kelme | Mitico |
| Southern | Chan Man Chun | Cheng Siu Chung | Lam Ho Kwan | Macron | ISUZU |
| Tai Po | Gary Choy | Lee Chi Kin | Wong Wai | Nike | Sun Mobile |
| Yuen Long | Wong Wai Shun | Tsang Chiu Tat | Fábio Lopes | Kelme | Sun Bus |
| R&F | Huang Shenghua | Bito Wu | Roberto | Ucan | R&F Properties |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Rangers | Dejan Antonić | Sacked | 4 December 2017 | 10th | Gerard Ambassa Guy | 4 October 2017 |
| Eastern | Szeto Man Chun | Resigned | 19 January 2018 | 5th | Lee Kin Wo | 19 January 2018 |
| Rangers | Gerard Ambassa Guy | Sacked | 5 March 2018 | 10th | Fung Wing Sing | 5 March 2018 |
| R&F | Marek Zając | Sacked | 12 March 2018 | 6th | Bito Wu | 12 March 2018 |

### 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 must have at least eight Hong Kong players in the squad and is allowed to register a maximum of 3 foreigners for the season.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Asian Player | Former Player |
| Dreams FC | Pablo Gallardo | Nacho Martínez | Arkaitz Ruiz | Joaquín García | José Galán | Yoon Dong-Hun | |
| Eastern | Diego Eli | Michel Lugo | Vítor Saba | Bruno | Manuel Bleda | Yusuke Igawa | Jo Tae-keun Aleksandr Kokko |
| Pegasus | João Emir | Mahama Awal | Rosen Kolev | Nikola Komazec | | Travis Major | Alfonso Artabe Igor Nedeljković |
| Kitchee | Lucas Silva | Fernando | Krisztián Vadócz | Kim Dong-jin | Diego Forlán | Kim Bong-jin | |
| Lee Man | Denis | Luciano Silva | Stefan | Zé Victor | | Son Min-chol | |
| Rangers | Mauricio | Igor Miović | Marko Krasić | Oleksii Shliakotin | | Shu Sasaki | Walter Vaz |
| Southern | Wellingsson | Elias | Carles Martínez | Diego Garrido | Marcos Jiménez | Zesh Rehman | Carlos Rodríguez |
| Tai Po | David Lazari | Dhiego Martins | Dudu | Eduardo Praes | Igor Sartori | Yuto Nakamura | |
| Yuen Long | Everton Camargo | Juninho | Ticão | Tomas | Aleksandar Ranđelović | | |
| R&F | Giovane | Tiago Leonço | Bruninho | — | — | — | Marko Perović |
| Club | HK Player 1 | HK Player 2 | HK Player 3 | HK Player 4 | HK Player 5 | HK Player 6 | HK Player 7 | HK Player 8 | HK Player 9 | HK Player 10 |
| R&F | Vas Núñez | Roberto | Itaparica | Tsang Kin Fong | Chow Cheuk Fung | Godfred Karikari | Ng Man Hin | Hung Lau | Law King Hei | Wong Kai Yiu |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kitchee (C) | 18 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 67 | 12 | +55 | 50 | Qualification to 2019 AFC Champions League Preliminary Round 2 or 2019 AFC Cup Group stage |
| 2 | Tai Po | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 36 | 21 | +15 | 37 | Qualification to 2019 AFC Cup Play-off round |
| 3 | Pegasus | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 34 | |
| 4 | Eastern | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 28 | |
| 5 | Southern | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 26 | |
| 6 | Yuen Long | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 30 | −9 | 23 | |
| 7 | R&F | 18 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 22 | |
| 8 | Lee Man | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 36 | −14 | 15 | |
| 9 | Dreams FC | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 40 | −22 | 15 | |
| 10 | Rangers (R) | 18 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 50 | −38 | 6 | Relegation to Hong Kong First Division |

## 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 |
| Kitchee | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tai Po | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Pegasus | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Eastern | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Southern | 10 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Yuen Long | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| R&F | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Lee Man | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Dreams FC | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Rangers | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
* Leader - 2019 AFC Champions League
* Relegation to 2018–19 Hong Kong First Division

## Results

| Home \ Away | RAN | DSC | EAA | PEG | KIT | SOU | R&F | YLF | LEE | TPO |
| Rangers | | 1–1 | 0–5 | 1–3 | 0–6 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Dreams FC | 1–0 | | 0–3 | 0–5 | 1–4 | 4–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Eastern | 2–0 | 0–1 | | 3–0 | 1–8 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 |
| Pegasus | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 |
| Kitchee | 7–0 | 7–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| Southern | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| R&F F.C. (Hong Kong) | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Yuen Long | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Lee Man | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | | 2–2 |
| Tai Po | 5–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | |

## Scoring
### Top Scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Lucas Silva | Kitchee | 15 |
| 2 | Travis Major | Pegasus | 13 |
| 2 | Marcos de la Espada | Southern | 13 |
| 4 | Sandro | Kitchee | 10 |
| 5 | Igor Sartori | Tai Po | 9 |
| 6 | Krisztián Vadócz | Kitchee | 8 |
| 7 | Everton Camargo | Yuen Long | 7 |
| 7 | Wellingsson | Southern | 7 |
| 7 | Stefan | Lee Man | 7 |
| 10 | Li Rui | R&F | 6 |
| 10 | João Emir | Pegasus | 6 |
| 10 | Leonço | R&F | 6 |
| 10 | Giovane | R&F | 6 |
    As of matches played 13 May 2018

#### 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 | Lucas | Brazil | Kitchee | Dreams FC | 7–0 | 10 September 2017 |
| 2 | Lucas | Brazil | Kitchee | Eastern Long Lions | 8–1 | 18 January 2018 |
| 3 | Diego Forlán | Uruguay | Kitchee | Lee Man | 5–1 | 3 February 2018 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Matches |
| 1 | Yapp Hung Fai | Eastern | 8 |
| 2 | Wang Zhen Pang | Kitchee | 6 |
| 3 | Tsang Man Fai | Tai Po | 4 |
| 3 | Zhou Yuchen | R&F | 4 |
| 5 | Tse Tak Him | Southern | 3 |
| 5 | Leung Hing Kit | Pegasus | 3 |
| 5 | Pang Tsz Kin | Lee Man | 3 |
| 8 | Chan Ka Ho | Yuen Long | 2 |
| 8 | Paulo | Hoi King | 2 |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Kitchee | 19,228 | 4,397 | 997 | 2,136 | +15.5%$^†$ |
| 2 | Eastern | 13,597 | 5,415 | 739 | 1,511 | −21.4%$^†$ |
| 3 | Yuen Long | 10,162 | 2,006 | 631 | 1,129 | −19.1%$^†$ |
| 4 | Tai Po | 8,562 | 1,821 | 411 | 951 | +24.5%$^†$ |
| 5 | Pegasus | 7,470 | 1,627 | 531 | 830 | +14.6%$^†$ |
| 6 | R&F | 7,170 | 868 | 739 | 797 | +285.0%$^†$ |
| 7 | Dreams FC | 6,707 | 1,359 | 389 | 745 | +62.0%$^†$ |
| 8 | Lee Man | 4,582 | 1,083 | 240 | 509 | n/a$^1$ |
| 9 | Southern | 4,434 | 838 | 326 | 493 | −7.3%$^†$ |
| 10 | Rangers | 4,365 | 741 | 233 | 485 | −6.6%$^†$ |
| | League total | 86,287 | 5,415 | 233 | 959 | +4.2%$^†$ |
Source: Soccerway 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 | Krisztián Vadócz | Kitchee | 79.22% |
| Coach of the Year | Chu Chi Kwong | Kitchee | 56.56% |
| Young Players of the Year | Cheng Chin Lung | Kitchee | 70.82% |
| Young Players of the Year | Lam Hin Ting | Dreams FC | 34.21% |
| Players' Player | Krisztián Vadócz | Kitchee | 41 |
| Most Favorite Player | Krisztián Vadócz | Kitchee | 3,030 |
| Hong Kong Top Footballers ||||
| Goalkeeper | Wang Zhenpeng | Kitchee | 49.42% |
| Defenders | Tong Kin Man | Kitchee | 69.59% |
| Defenders | Cheung Chi Yung | Pegasus | 51.23% |
| Defenders | Kim Bong-jin | Kitchee | 39.57% |
| Defenders | Fábio | Yuen Long | 37.79% |
| Midfielders | Krisztián Vadócz | Kitchee | 79.22% |
| Midfielders | Wong Wai | Tai Po | 50.83% |
| Midfielders | Fernando | Kitchee | 49.64% |
| Midfielders | Huang Yang | Kitchee | 44.59% |
| Forwards | Everton Camargo | Yuen Long | 56.25% |
| Forwards | Lucas Silva | Kitchee | 42.94% |