Hong Kong - Senior Shield

Hong Kong - Senior Shield

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The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (Chinese: 香港高級組銀牌), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the football knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the fourth oldest football tournament in Asia. Traditionally, only teams that play in the Hong Kong Premier League take part in the competition. However, sometimes teams in the lower divisions, usually the champions of the Junior Shield, are invited in order to increase the number of participating teams.

The current Senior Shield holders are Kitchee.

History

Hong Kong Football Cup was a knockout cup competition which was established in 1895. It had been renamed to Hong Kong Challenge Shield due to the changes of the trophy. It had been divided in Senior Shield and Junior Shield since 1922–23 season. The knockout format has been used except in 1982–83 and 1996–97 seasons. In 1982–83, group matches format was used. In 1996-1997, a double knock-out system were used. Before 1978, a re-match would be played after a draw. After 1978, extra time and penalty kicks were used. Penalty shoot-out has been used for 3 times in the final in history (1988, 1994, 1995). But starting from 2011, Hong Kong Challenge Shield is a two-legged home-and-away ties competition.

Lee Kin Wo is the player who has won the most number of Senior Shield. He won it for 10 times between 1987 and 2005. (Eastern: 1987, 1993, 1994; South China: 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003; Sun Hei: 2005). Ho Ying Fan and Wu Kwok Hung have won the competition for 9 times.

There are 3 teams after World War II which won Senior Shield immediately after their promotions to First Division League. They are Rangers (1966), Jardine (1969) and Seiko (1973).

In 1987–1988, it was the first time to have external sponsor for the competition. Camel Paints sponsored the competition for 6 consecutive years. In 1993–1994, the sponsor was Emperor Financial Services Group. In 2003–2004 and 2004–2005, Sunray Cave was the sponsor and the most recent sponsor is Choi Fung Hong.

One of the most unexpected results in the competition history is a 6–5 win by Army against Happy Valley in 1965. At the time, Army was at the bottom of the First Division League and had to relegate to the Second Division next season while Happy Valley was the league Champion.

Le Senior Shield est la plus ancienne compétition de football de Hong Kong. Créé en 1896, il est disputé par les principaux clubs de Hong Kong. Le tournoi se déroule sous forme de coupe, avec des matches à élimination directe. La finale se joue au Hong Kong Stadium.

Le Senior Shield est considéré comme la compétition de football la plus prestigieuse de Hong Kong. Il est remporté par certains des plus grands clubs du pays, dont le South China AA, le Kitchee FC et le Eastern AA.

Le Senior Shield est un événement annuel très attendu à Hong Kong. Il attire de grandes foules et est retransmis en direct à la télévision. C'est une opportunité unique pour les passionnés de football de voir les meilleurs joueurs du pays s'affronter pour le trophée le plus prestigieux du sport.