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Paul McNamara

Champions Tai Po are geared up for a meeting with big-spending Lee Man on Saturday, as the new Hong Kong Premier League campaign gets under way with a bumper weekend of matches.
Eastern District, who have joined what is now a 10-team top flight, will go to last season’s assured new boys Kowloon City on Sunday. The whole show gets on the road when Eastern host Kitchee on Friday at Mong Kok Stadium.
North District, tipped by a lot of insiders for a vastly improved campaign, host Football Club on Sunday. FA Cup runners-up Rangers are at Southern 24 hours earlier. After the teams play each other home and away, the league will be divided into championship and challenge groups for the closing four fixtures.
Here, Post reporter Paul McNamara gets out his crystal ball to tell us what we might expect to see over the next nine months.

Tai Po
Manager: Lee Chi-kin.
Home ground: Tai Po Sports Ground.
Last season: 1st.
Summer report: Wily boss Lee has added local know-how in the shape of Hong Kong pair Fernando and Ngan Cheuk-pan, while striker James Temelkovski, wooed from Australian A-League team Western Sydney Wanderers, has promised to “bring a lot of eyes to the league”.
Powerful Brazilian pair Mikael Guterres Michel and Daciel Elis dos Santos are signings straight from the Lee playbook.
Forecast: Expect Tai Po to be in the hunt for a second straight title. Against them is the addition of AFC Champions League 2 football this season, coupled with nearest rivals Lee Man’s capture of a host of quality performers. Prediction: 2nd.
Lee Man
Manager: Chu Siu-kei.
Home ground: Mong Kok Stadium.
Last season: 2nd.
Summer report: President Norman Lee Man-yan sprang a surprise when he installed caretaker Chu as permanent head coach. High-profile foreigners, including Mitchel Paulissen, Henri Anier and Samuel Rosa, were let go as the 2023-24 champions set about a squad overhaul in a bid to regain their title.
Forecast: Noah Baffoe looks like the signing of the summer after the relentless centre-forward scored 65 goals in two seasons for Eastern. Joining Baffoe in the Lee Man revolution are attacker Mikael Severo, a treble winner with Kitchee two years ago, ex-Tottenham youth winger Cy Goddard, Hong Kong forward Max Poon Pui-hin, and two centre-halves in Uzbekistan international Dostonbek Tursunov and William Gaucho, who was nabbed from Kowloon City. Prediction: 1st.

Eastern
Manager: Roberto Losada.
Home ground: Mong Kok Stadium.
Last season: 3rd.
Summer report: A familiar story for Eastern who have seen their best players whisked away by moneyed rivals. Losing Baffoe to Lee Man was a sledgehammer blow, given they have not only lost their talisman but helped strengthen a direct rival. Sharing a training base with Lee Man will rub Eastern’s noses in their loss every day, too.
In the plus column, the club has retained the most important man in the building in exceptional head coach Losada, who has been tasked with going to the well once more.
Forecast: Spaniard Losada said he would settle for top five, but he has recruited typically imaginatively and can be banked on to forge a competitive unit. Prediction: 4th, with a cup win.
Kitchee
Manager: Inigo Calderon.
Home ground: Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground (we think).
Last season: 4th.
Summer report: On the face of it, Kitchee have played a blinder hiring ex-Brighton & Hove Albion right-back Calderon as boss. He has elite pedigree and a point to prove after his Bristol Rovers team was relegated from League One last season.
Guilty in recent seasons of a scattergun transfer policy, the 12-time champions appear to have recruited shrewdly. The former Barcelona defender Roger Riera is a headline signing, while another new boy, Kendy Ikegami, was fantastic in a struggling North District team last season.
Forecast: Far too early to say Kitchee are back, and their struggles over the past 18 months serve as testament to the fact that gaining success in Hong Kong is not as easy as the league’s detractors claim. Owner Ken Ng Kin has stayed calm in turbulent times, and this season should serve as a stepping stone towards future success.
Questions remain about where Kitchee will be based. They are beginning the season at Mong Kok and are scheduled to move into Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground in early 2026, but are keen to secure Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground as their new home. Prediction: 3rd.

Southern
Manager: Calvin Pui Ho-wang.
Home ground: Aberdeen Sports Ground.
Last season: 5th.
Summer report: After coming on strong at the end of last season and demolishing Lee Man in the Sapling Cup final, Southern got their transfer business done early. Striker Matheus Chulapa, from North District, and Brazilian midfielder Murilo Souza, who has been on the books at Sporting Lisbon, are the stand-out additions.
Forecast: Pui and his respected coaching team breathed new life into Southern after taking over in January, but they will do very well to deliver a coveted top-five berth given increased competition from elsewhere. Prediction: 6th.
Kowloon City
Manager: Chan Ming-kong.
Home ground: Sham Shui Po Sports Ground.
Last season: 6th.
Summer report: An intriguing tie-in with the academy of Italian giants Juventus underlined the impression of last season’s debutants as an enterprising and ambitious operation.
Their 16 signings include the excellent midfield pair of Habib Bah, on loan from Tai Po, and the mobile Kessi Isac from Southern. Kowloon also created a buzz by pinching three promising youngsters from Eastern.
Forecast: Expect some big guns to come unstuck against Kowloon, and another solid campaign for the district club. They should be targeting a cup final appearance. Prediction: 7th.

Rangers
Manager: Wong Chin-hung.
Home ground: Tsing Yi Sports Ground.
Last season: 7th.
Summer report: A young squad has been left looking vulnerable following the departures of Oleksii Shliakotin, Barak Braunshtain, Luizinho and Guilherme Biteco, who had been on loan from Tai Po.
They have firepower in Lau Chi-lok and Yakubu Nassam Ibrahim – however, Kim Min-gyu, the South Korean defender who spent last season with Semen Padang in the Indonesian top flight, looks a solid acquisition.
Forecast: Like Kowloon, Rangers will not be easy opposition for any team, but they are short of the quality and experience to consistently perform. Prediction: 9th.
North District
Manager: Chan Chi-hong.
Home ground: North District Sports Ground.
Last season: 8th.
Summer report: A flood of South American talent has descended on this unfashionable club, headlined by a 22-year-old Brazilian midfielder in Kayke David, who was in the Flamengo squad for a Copa Libertadores semi-final three years ago.
Centre-back Andy Wong Ho-yin, from Southern, and ex-Lee Man midfielder Wong Chun-ho are among several arrivals with local knowledge.
Forecast: Word on the street is that North District beat Lee Man in a closed-doors pre-season friendly, and we fancy them as this season’s dark horses. Prediction: 5th.
Hong Kong Football Club
Manager: Chancy Cooke.
Home ground: HKFC Stadium.
Last season: 9th.
Summer report: Left-back Callum Beattie, who recently obtained his Hong Kong passport, left for Kitchee, while Eastern District have provided a new home for forwards Leo Peres, Marcus McMillan and Bosley Yu. Experienced campaigners Andy Russell, Jack Sealy and Freddie Toomer have all gone, leaving Cooke to assemble a squad packed with plenty of promise but short on experience.
Forecast: They will not be anyone’s pushovers in a league refreshingly devoid of whipping boys. Come the final reckoning, however, Football Club’s tiny budget is likely to be reflected in the standings. Prediction: 10th.
Eastern District
Manager: Ng Wai-chiu.
Home ground: Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground.
Last season: 8th, Hong Kong Division One.
Summer report: Making their top-flight debut, Eastern District’s creative chiefs are promising to generate a “carnival atmosphere” for home matches. They have signed a whopping 21 players, including full internationals from Chinese Taipei and the Central African Republic, and multiple title-winning experience in former Kitchee duo Helio Goncalves and Paulo Cesar.
If Ng can help Marcus Chang Hei-yin recover his mojo on loan from Lee Man, he will have a serious talent on his hands.
Forecast: The ambition for season one is to play entertaining and competitive football, and make positive strides towards becoming a top-flight fixture. Expect both goals to be fulfilled. Prediction: 8th.


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The Hong Kong Premier League kicks off for the 2025-26 season with teams battling to improve on last term. Photo: Dickson Lee

Australian striker James Temelkovski in pre-season action for Tai Po against Southern. Photo: Tai Po FC

Eastern’s players put the finishing touches to their preparations for the new campaign. Photo: Eastern FC

Jubilant Southern savour their 2025 Sapling Cup success after hammering Lee Man. Photo: Nora Tam

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Grace Lau (second from right) with her fellow Hong Kong World Games medallists. Photo: Elson Li

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Eastern’s players warm up ahead of a pre-season training session. Photo: Eastern

Roberto Losada (front, right) joins club bosses and experienced players to lead Eastern’s pre-season worship ceremony. Photo: Eastern

Sport

Football

On the eve of the domestic season, Post reporter Paul McNamara nails his colours to Lee Man’s mast, backs North District to surprise


On the eve of the domestic season, Post reporter Paul McNamara nails his colours to Lee Man’s mast, backs North District to surprise.


Hong Kong Premier League: Lee Man to pip Tai Po to title, more silverware for Eastern

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}On the eve of the domestic season, Post reporter Paul McNamara nails his colours to Lee Man’s mast, backs North District to surprise

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Tai Po

On the eve of the domestic season, Post reporter Paul McNamara nails his colours to Lee Man’s mast, backs North District to surprise

Tai Po