Lee Man FC
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| Full name | Branded name: Lee Man Football Club Legal registration name: Lee Man Football Limited | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Golden Dragon | ||
| Founded | 2017 | ||
| Ground | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | ||
| Capacity | 3,500 | ||
| Chairman | Norman Lee | ||
| Head coach | Chu Siu Kei (Interim) | ||
| League | Hong Kong Premier League | ||
| 2023–24 | Premier League, 1st of 11 (champion) | ||
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| Lee Man Football Club | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 理文足球會 | ||||||
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| Lee Man | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 理文 | ||||||
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| Lee Man Football Limited | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 理文足球有限公司 | ||||||
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Lee Man Football Club (Chinese: 理文足球會) is a Hong Kong professional football club based in Tseung Kwan O, which currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. Lee & Man Chemical Limited is the major sponsor of the club.
The club won their first league title in the 2023–24 season with an unbeaten record.
History
[edit]Lee Man Football Club was established on 19 June 2017 by Lee Man Football Limited with the aim of promoting football in Hong Kong and allowing Hong Kong football players to shine with the club.
During the 2017–18 season, Lee Man Football Limited decided to invest their money in building their own football club. They paid a HK$1million entrance fee to the Hong Kong Football Association for the right to enter a club directly into the Hong Kong Premier League.[1] The club hired former Hong Kong international Fung Ka Ki as their first manager on 3 July 2017.[2] Lee Man recorded their first win in the club history on 15 September in a 3–2 league win against Eastern with Spanish player Jordi Tarrés scoring the club's first official goal. However, Manager Fung Ka Ki would only last one season as manager since the club finished a disappointing 8th place.
First piece of silverware
[edit]On 21 May 2018, Lee Man hired former Hong Kong national team and Macau national team head coach Chan Hiu Ming as its manager.[3] Under Chan, the club won its first trophy, capturing the 2018–19 Hong Kong Sapling Cup on 27 April 2019 in a 3–2 victory over Yuen Long.[4]
Lee Man participated in their first intercontinental tournament, the AFC Cup qualifying straight to the 2021 AFC Cup group stage, On 23 June 2021, Lee Man recorded their first win in the tournament against another local club, Eastern SC with Gil scoring the only goal in the match in a 1–0 win. Lee Man went on to win all of their group stage match winning Taiwanese club Tainan City 4–1 on 26 June and winning against Mongolian club Athletic 220 thrashing them 1–5 on 29 June thus qualifying to the Inter-zone play-off finals playing against Uzbekistani club Nasaf on 20 October. Throughout the match, Lee Man put up a good fight against Nasaf drawing with them 2–2 thus seeing them both going through extra time, however in the first half of extra time, opponent player Andrija Kaluđerović scored the goal for Nasaf which would see Lee Man bowed out from the tournament with the final score being 3–2.
Lee Man then qualified for the 2022 AFC Cup group stage being placed with the same opponent in 2021, but this time, the club bowed out from the tournament early in the group stage.
On 5 February 2023, Chan was sacked by Lee Man after a disappointing performance and on 27 April 2023, Tsang Chiu Tat was appointed as the head coach of the club. Lee Man finished the 2022–23 season as runners-up which sees the club qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying phase. On 16 August 2023, Lee Man thrashed Indonesian club Bali United 5–1 at home which saw them qualified for the play-off round against 2022 AFC Champions League winner, Urawa Red Diamonds, however, Lee Man lost 3–0 to the Japanese side at the Saitama Stadium 2002 which see their opponent qualified to the group stage.
First league title with an unbeaten run
[edit]On 19 May 2024, Lee Man secured their first Hong Kong Premier League title after a 6–1 victory against Sham Shui Po.[5] They became the fourth club to win the league title and the second unbeaten title-winning team – a record of 17 wins and 3 draws. Lee Man also directly qualified for the group stage of the inaugural 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two. The club is then drawn into Group G alongside Thailand club Bangkok United, Vietnamese club Nam Định and Singaporean club Tampines Rovers.
Stadium
[edit]Lee Man played their home matches at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground which can hold a capacity of up to 5,000. However as the stadium didn't meet the AFC requirements, Lee Man used the Mong Kok Stadium as their home ground to host all of their 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two matches.
Current squad
[edit]First team
[edit]- As of 14 July 2024[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Remarks:
LP These players are considered as local players in Hong Kong domestic football competitions.
FP These players are registered as foreign players.
Club official
[edit]| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Interim head coach |  Chu Siu Kei |
| Assistant coach | Szeto Man Chun |
| Goalkeeping coach | Cheng Ho Man |
| Fitness coach | Lee Kin Wai |
| Analytical coach | Kwok Chun Lam |
Source:[citation needed]
Season-to-season record
[edit]| Season | Tier | Division | Teams | Position | Home Stadium | Attendance/G | FA Cup | Senior Shield | Sapling Cup | HKPLC Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | 1 | Premier League | 10 | 8 | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | 509 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Group Stage | Not held |
| 2018–19 | 1 | Premier League | 10 | 9 | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | 627 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Champions | |
| 2019–20 | 1 | Premier League | 10 | 4 | Sham Shui Po Sports Ground | 877 | First Round | Runners-up | Group Stage | |
| 2020–21 | 1 | Premier League | 8 | 3 | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | 852 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Semi-finals | ||
| 2021–22 | 1 | Premier League | 8 | Cancelled | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | 943 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| 2022–23 | 1 | Premier League | 10 | 2 | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | 817 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Runners-up | |
| 2023–24 | 1 | Premier League | 11 | 1 | Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground | 716 | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Group stage | Runners-up |
Note:
1st or Champions 2nd or Runners-up 3rd place Promotion Relegation
Continental record
[edit]| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | AFC Cup | Group J | Eastern | 1–0 | 1st | |
 Tainan City | 4–1 | |||||
 Athletic 220 | 5–1 | |||||
| Inter-zone play-off final |  Nasaf Qarshi | 2–3 (a.e.t.) | ||||
| 2022 | AFC Cup | Play-off round | Athletic 220 | 2–1 | ||
| Group J | Eastern | 1–3 | 2nd | |||
| Tainan City | 3–1 | |||||
| 2023–24 | AFC Champions League | Preliminary stage |  Bali United | 5–1 | ||
| Play-off stage |  Urawa Red Diamonds | 0–3 | ||||
| 2024–25 | AFC Champions League Two | Group G |  Bangkok United | 0–1 | 1–4 | |
 Thép Xanh Nam Định | 0–2 | |||||
 Tampines Rovers | 1–3 | |||||
Honours
[edit]League
[edit]Cup competitions
[edit]- Hong Kong Sapling Cup
- Hong Kong Senior Shield
- Runners-up (1): 2019–20
- Hong Kong Premier League Committee Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2023–24
Performance records
[edit]Performance by coach
[edit]| Coach | From | To | Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fung Ka Ki | 1 July 2017 | 9 April 2018 | |
| Fung Hoi Man | 10 April 2018 | 20 May 2018 | |
| Chan Hiu Ming | 21 May 2018 | 5 February 2023[7] | – 2018–19 Hong Kong Sapling Cup |
| Tsang Chiu Tat | 5 February 2023 | 3 October 2024 | – 2023–24 Hong Kong Premier League |
| Chu Siu Kei | 3 October 2024 |
References
[edit]- ^ "上廣州鬥富力來回六粒鐘 港超兵被玩殘". Apple Daily. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017. (in Chinese)
- ^ "理文密密簽唔想再靠借？". on.cc. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2017. (in Chinese)
- ^ "理文宣布陳曉明任主教練 曾昭達做副手 盼成「真專業」球會". Ming Pao. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018. (in Chinese)
- ^ "理文雨戰加時3：2挫元朗 稱霸菁英盃成球隊首冠". Ming Pao. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019. (in Chinese)
- ^ 港超聯 理文大勝6比1 首奪聯賽冠軍 on.cc 19 May 2024
- ^ "球隊資料-理文足球會官方網頁". www.leemanfootball.com. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
- ^ "理文宣布陳曉明任主教練 曾昭達做副手 盼成「真專業」球會". Ming Pao. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018. (in Chinese)
