# 2021–22 Hong Kong Premier League

The 2021–22 Hong Kong Premier League (also known as the BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was an abandoned season of the Hong Kong Premier League, the top division of Hong Kong football.

## Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 5 January 2022, the Hong Kong government announced a tightening of social distancing measures between 7 January to 20 January in order to control the Omicron outbreak. Public recreation facilities, such as football pitches, were closed and members of the public were barred from gathering in groups of more than two, making it impossible for the season to continue. The Hong Kong Football Association announced on the same day that it would also postpone any scheduled matches in the successive two week period.
After the measures were extended several times in the following weeks, the government announced on 22 February that it would extend the measures until 20 April, making it nearly impossible to complete the season before most player contracts expired on 31 May. The HKFA held an emergency meeting with the clubs on 25 February, after which it was determined that the remainder of the season would be cancelled.

## Teams

A total of 8 teams contest the league, including six teams from the 2020–21 Hong Kong Premier League, one team promoted from the 2020–21 Hong Kong First Division and one newly established team. Pegasus and Happy Valley decided to self-relegate to amateur leagues due to lack of funds.
| Club | Founded | Position Last Season |
| Kitchee | 1931 | 1st |
| Eastern | 1932 | 2nd |
| Lee Man | 2017 | 3rd |
| Southern | 2002 | 5th |
| Rangers | 1958 | 6th |
| Resources Capital | 1982 | 7th |
| HKFC | 1886 | 1st in First Division |
| HK U23 | 2021 | N/A |
* Pink denotes a newly promoted/established club entering the league this year.

### Stadia and locations

Primary venues used in the Hong Kong Premier League:
| Kitchee Eastern | Rangers | Lee Man |
| Mong Kok Stadium | Sham Shui Po Sports Ground | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground |
| Capacity: 6,664 | Capacity: 2,194 | Capacity: 3,500 |
| HK U23 Resources Capital | HKFC | Southern |
| Tsing Yi Sports Ground | HKFC Stadium | Aberdeen Sports Ground |
| Capacity: 1,500 | Capacity: 2,750 | Capacity: 4,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Captain | Kit Manufacturer | Main sponsor |
| Eastern | Lam Kin Ming | Roberto Losada | Leung Chun Pong | Adidas | Upbest Group |
| Kitchee | Ken Ng | Chu Chi Kwong | Huang Yang | Nike | EDPS Systems Ltd. |
| Lee Man | Norman Lee | Chan Hiu Ming | Fernando Recio | Adidas | Lee & Man Chemical |
| Rangers | Peter Mok | Chiu Chung Man Wong Chin Hung Lai Ka Fai | Lam Ka Wai | Ucan | Biu Chun Watch Hands & Parts Manufacturers Ltd. |
| Southern | Matthew Wong | Zesh Rehman | Shu Sasaki | Macron | Isuzu |
| Resources Capital | Hanson Wong | Joan Esteva | Cheng King Ho | | Future Hong Kong Football Development Charity Limited |
| HKFC | Tony Sealy | Tony Hamilton-Bram | Freek Schipper | Adidas | The Executive Centre |
| HK U23 | Eric Fok | Cheung Kin Fung | Wong Wai | Lotto | Key Connect |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Kitchee | Chu Chi Kwong | Change of Role | 2 August 2021 | Pre-season | Kim Dong-jin | 2 August 2021 |
| Kitchee | Kim Dong-jin | Change of Role | 3 March 2022 | 2nd | Chu Chi Kwong | 3 March 2022 |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to six per team, with no more than five on the pitch during matches, the fifth player must be a marquee player.
According to the decision made by Hong Kong Football Association Board of Directors on 15 July 2020, the marquee player must fulfil one of the following criteria:
i) played for a club which is in a world's top professional league of one of the top 50 associations in the FIFA ranking published by FIFA on 11 June 2020 for at least 1 season or ii) fielded by his association in an international match, which his association is one of the top 50 associations in the FIFA ranking published by FIFA on 11 June 2020.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Former/Unregistered Players |
| Eastern | Marcos Gondra | Mikael | Víctor Bertomeu | Tamirlan Kozubayev | | | Toni Dovale Everton Eduardo Praes |
| Kitchee | Manuel Gavilán | Raúl Baena | Dejan Damjanović | Park Jun-heong | Charlie Scott | Cleiton | Ruslan Mingazow |
| Lee Man | Gil | Junior Dutra | Jonathan Acosta | José Ángel | Kim Seung-yong | Manolo Bleda | |
| Southern | Stefan Pereira | Zesh Rehman | Dudu | Luciano | Shu Sasaki | Kota Kawase | |
| Rangers | Oleksii Shliakotin | Juninho | Leandro Bazán | Kim Min-kyu | Ryota Hayashi | | |
| Resources Capital | Albert Canal | Felipe Sá | Carles Tena | Joan Esteva | Jordon Brown | | Diego Peláez |
There are no restrictions on the number of foreign players HKFC can register. However, the team must have at least nine Hong Kong players in the squad, with no less than three on the pitch during matches.
| 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 |
| HKFC | Christopher Chung | Brian Fok | To Chun Kiu | Oliver Laxton | Poon Ka Ming | Chan Wai Hin | Hardikpreet Singh | Lucas Yan | Tristan Cheung |
| HKFC | HK Player 10 | HK Player 11 | HK Player 12 | HK Player 13 | HK Player 14 | HK Player 15 | HK Player 16 | HK Player 17 | HK Player 18 |
| HKFC | Noa Fjelddahl | Ghislain Bell Bell | Liu Sui Man | Yue Yixing | Robert Scott | Freek Schipper | Stephen Liu | Robert Bacon | Matthew Hoare |
HK U23 is not allowed to register any foreign players. Meanwhile, the number of overaged players is restricted to five for the team, with no more than three on the pitch during matches. The rest of the players must meet the registration status of U23 local players.
| Club | Overaged Player 1 | Overaged Player 2 | Overaged Player 3 | Overaged Player 4 | Overaged Player 5 |
| HK U23 | Wong Wai | Law Hiu Chung | Kwok Tsz Kaai | Chan Ching Him | Wong Ho Yin |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Southern | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 12 | Qualified to Championship Group |
| 2 | Kitchee | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 10 | Qualified to Championship Group |
| 3 | Lee Man | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 7 | Qualified to Championship Group |
| 4 | Eastern | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 | Qualified to Championship Group |
| 5 | Rangers | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 6 | Qualified to Challenge Group |
| 6 | HKFC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | −7 | 1 | Qualified to Challenge Group |
| 7 | HK U23 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 1 | Qualified to Challenge Group |
| 8 | Resources Capital | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 | −10 | 0 | Qualified to Challenge Group |
* ↑ Teams are split into two groups (Championship Group and Challenge Group) after each have played 14 matches.

## Results

| Home \ Away | KIT | EAS | LEE | SOU | RAN | RES | HKF | U23 |
| Kitchee | — | 1–0 | 16 Mar | 23 Jan | 5 Mar | 6 Apr | 2 Mar | 6–0 |
| Eastern | 26 Feb | — | 2 Apr | 0–1 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 5 Feb | 19 Mar |
| Lee Man | 2–2 | 15 Jan | — | 6 Feb | 20 Mar | 20 Feb | 23 Apr | 4–0 |
| Southern | 20 Mar | 5 Mar | 12 Mar | — | 15 Jan | 23 Apr | 3–0 | 4–1 |
| Rangers | 1–6 | 24 Apr | 23 Jan | 5 Apr | — | 27 Feb | 10 Apr | 6 Feb |
| Resources Capital | 5 Feb | 16 Apr | 6 Mar | 0–4 | 3–5 | — | 19 Mar | 3 Apr |
| HKFC | 16 Jan | 13 Mar | 0–3 | 25 Feb | 1 May | 23 Jan | — | 6 Mar |
| HK U23 | 20 Feb | 23 Jan | 27 Feb | 17 Apr | 2–3 | 16 Jan | 2–2 | — |

## 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 |
| Kitchee | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Eastern | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Lee Man | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Southern | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Rangers | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Resources Capital | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| HKFC | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| HK U23 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
* Qualification for the Championship Group
* Qualification for the Challenge Group

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of matches played 12 December 2021
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Stefan Pereira | Southern | 7 |
| 1 | Leandro Bazán | Rangers | 7 |
| 2 | Dejan Damjanović | Kitchee | 4 |
| 3 | Chang Hei Yin | Lee Man | 3 |
| 4 | Juninho | Rangers | 2 |
| 4 | Víctor Bertomeu | Eastern | 2 |
| 4 | Wong Wai | HK U23 | 2 |
| 4 | Raúl Baena | Kitchee | 2 |
| 4 | Chan Siu Kwan | Kitchee | 2 |
| 4 | Tomas | Kitchee | 2 |
| 4 | Júnior Dutra | Lee Man | 2 |

### 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 | Stefan Pereira | Brazil | Southern | HKFC | 3–0 | 25 October 2021 |
| 2 | Dejan Damjanović | Montenegro | Kitchee | HK U23 | 6–0 | 30 October 2021 |
| 3 | Stefan Pereira | Brazil | Southern | HK U23 | 4–1 | 6 November 2021 |
| 4 | Leandro Bazán | Argentina | Rangers | HKFC | 3–2 | 7 November 2021 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Match(es) |
| 1 | Ng Wai Him | Southern | 3 |
| 2 | Paulo César | Kitchee | 1 |
| 2 | Wang Zhenpeng | Kitchee | 1 |
| 2 | Yapp Hung Fai | Eastern | 1 |
| 2 | Chan Ka Ho | Lee Man | 1 |
| 2 | Yuen Ho Chun | Lee Man | 1 |

## Attendances

    As of matches played 12 December 2021
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Kitchee | 4,355 | 3,163 | 1,192 | 2,178 | +31.8%$^†$ |
| 2 | Rangers | 1,076 | 1,076 | 1,076 | 1,076 | +75.5%$^†$ |
| 3 | Eastern | 3,158 | 1,325 | 908 | 1,053 | −9.4%$^†$ |
| 4 | Lee Man | 1,886 | 1,504 | 382 | 943 | +10.7%$^†$ |
| 5 | HKFC | 978 | 537 | 441 | 489 | n/a$^1$ |
| 6 | Resources Capital | 938 | 514 | 424 | 469 | −18.4%$^†$ |
| 7 | Southern | 847 | 451 | 396 | 424 | −32.4%$^†$ |
| 8 | HK U23 | 260 | 260 | 260 | 260 | n/a$^1$ |
| | League total | 12,580 | 3,163 | 260 | 973 | +0.4%$^†$ |
Source: HKFA Notes: 1: Team did not play in the Premier League last season