Hong Kong-born Daniel Bennie chasing Premier League dream with Championship club QPR
Teenager thriving in England almost eight years after swapping Hong Kong for Australia to pursue football ambition
Rarely can a momentous decision have paid off so handsomely as the one Daniel Bennie’s parents made to turn their lives upside down for their eldest son’s football dream.
Currently enjoying a breakthrough period with Queens Park Rangers and targeting the English Premier League, Bennie, who was born in the city, was 12 when his mum and dad relocated the family from Hong Kong to Australia “to give me the best chance possible”.
“Football in Hong Kong is unbelievable, but we wanted to see what could come from moving, and it was a really good decision,” Bennie told the South China Morning Post.
Still only 19, Bennie has played 21 games for QPR, following a 2024 transfer from Perth Glory, and won last year’s Under-20 Asian Cup with Australia.
As somebody who “loved Hong Kong”, Bennie, along with his brother and sister, found it “hard at the start” down under.
“Hong Kong is home for our family, they are back there now,” said Bennie, whose 18-year-old brother Jack is a forward for Football Club, where Daniel grew up playing, and whose parents teach at his alma mater, Australian International School Hong Kong.