page_title: Football in Hong Kong
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Football in Hong Kong / History
caption_attribution_description: Hong Kong football team.
context_page_description: Football is the most popular sport in Hong Kong, followed by rugby union. The Hong Kong Football Association is the governing body for football in Hong Kong.
context_section_description: The first football club of Hong Kong is Hong Kong Football Club, usually known as The Club, founded in 1886. The Club is one of the oldest existing football clubs in Asia. 
  The first football competition of Hong Kong is the Challenge Shield, which founded in 1898. Its format is similar to the FA Challenge Cup in England. 
  Tracing back to early 20th century, the Hong Kong football league was founded in 1908. It is probably the oldest professional league in Asia. Most records before the Second World War have been lost and not many people can remember the old glory of Hong Kong's professional football. 
  The Hong Kong Football Association, the governing body of Hong Kong football, was founded in 1914 and is one of the oldest football associations in Asia.
  In the 1970s and 1980s, football in Hong Kong was strong and popular, with competitive local teams boosted by well known overseas players and managers, playing in front crowds of tens of thousands.
  In 1985, in a famous match, Hong Kong upset China, 2-1, in Beijing to move towards a place in the 1986 World Cup. The team ultimately fell short of qualification.
  In recent years, major attempts have been made by Hong Kong government to improve both HKFA’s governance and the quality of Hong Kong football under a government scheme called ‘Project Phoenix’.
caption: The Hong Kong football team in 1923 or 1924
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