Football – an unnoticed connection between Hong Kongers and the UK
Joyce Chiang, Project Director, Welcoming Committee for Hong Kongers
I am not a big fan of football myself – I only watch the World Cup every four years. But we probably all have a friend,, especially guys, who’s a fan of one of the big English Premier League clubs – maybe Manchester Utd, Liverpool, Newcastle or Arsenal. You can always hear them discussing the matches of the teams they love – in Hong Kong you can watch all the games on some paid TV channels. And the results of these matches are frequently reported in news – so when many clubs are named after the town or city where they are located, their Chinese translation becomes many Hong Kongers’ first knowledge of these English places. (Speaking of which, some Chinese translations of the cities on our HK Arrivals page are also adapted from the Chinese translation of some football teams)
So for some Hong Kongers who moved to the UK after 2020 – even if many of us had little choice in this move and still miss Hong Kong – there was a certain level of excitement linked to coming to the UK. “I can watch the team I love every week!” While many later found that the tickets for some popular teams are extremely difficult to get, the matches are more accessible here and their love of football has helped them settle in the UK.
Some chose to extend this from watching to playing – and playing properly. A recent story from Greenbean media focused on some Hong Kongers who organised a Hong Konger football team, Burgos FC, in Birmingham; more than that, they even organised a champions league, inviting Hong Konger football teams in other cities of the UK to participate. It’s now the second year of this champions league, with 12 teams taking part.
Football to these Hong Kongers is not just a hobby or an exercise, but also a means for them to grow, to understand themselves better, to make new friends, build their support network – and enhance their resilience when settling in a new place.
Hongkongers playing at the champions league of Hong Kongers (photo credit: Greenbean media)
And the Hong Konger football teams continue to grow. The Hongkonger team at Manchester, Konger FC (Champion of last year’s Hong Kongers Champions League) started competing in the Manchester Saturday Morning Football league this season. And FC Sutton HKer, first runner-up of this year’s Hong Konger League, is now working with Sutton Union Foundation to provide regular training for Hong Konger footballers.
Like in the UK and most parts of the world, football was traditional more popular amongst men, making male football fans and players more visible. However, there are also women football teams in Hong Kong – a female friend of mine is an experienced footballer in Hong Kong and has won a few women’s leagues. With the increasing popularity of women football in the UK recently, hopefully we will see Hong Konger female football teams playing in the UK soon!
*Thanks Greenbean media for allowing us to share this story