Queens Park Rangers will be making their debut appearance at the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens this year. ‘QPR’ had an impressive start to the 2022-23 campaign, competing at the top end of the second tier but struggled to maintain form to regain their Premier League status. February 2023 marked the start of a new era at the Club, with newly appointed Manager Gareth Ainsworth taking the reins, and with the support of Technical Director Chris Ramsey (ex. Tottenham Hotspur and the Football Association) and Director of Football Les Ferdinand (ex. QPR, Newcastle, Tottenham and England international), there is optimism for the 2023-24 campaign. The wealth of experience amongst the staff is contrast to its newly emerging talent within its B-Team cohort, who are travelling to represent West London on the international stage. The youngsters are hoping to emulate their recent graduates, such as Eberechi Eze, to go on to achieve their own success in the game, having mirrored a similar campaign to their senior, where they exited the Premier League Cup Round of 16 to neighbours Fulham.
Rio Cricket Associação Atlética was founded on August 15th 1897 in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Shepherded by George E. Cox and Basil Freeland, British citizens and descendents who lived in Rio de Janeiro at that time decided to create a space where they could play cricket and tennis. After all these years, the club has kept the pillars from its founders and modernized itself.
Football has been one of the main sports practiced by Rio Cricket’s members. As a matter of fact, the club has formed some prestigious professional Brazilian footballers such as Leonardo Araujo, Daniel Cortes and Flavio Pinto.
Some other important highlights in the history of Rio Cricket are: it held the 1st soccer football match of the State of Rio de Janeiro in 1901, the 3rd official football match of Brazil, it had the 1st tennis court of Brazil and participated in the Rio de Janeiro tournament from 1906-1915.
The founders adopted the colors green and yellow as the ones for its flag paying homage to Brazil, the country that has generously welcomed them and the new members of the club.
Tai Po Football Club is a district football team founded 20 years ago. Over the years, we have trained more than 20,000 teenagers and more than 5% have become professional players. We unite people hearts through their performance on the pitch and take social responsibility off the pitch. We organize school campus visits to enhance the interests of young people and establish teamwork and discipline through football.
We also collaborate with the Home Affairs Bureau, District Councils, regional organizations and charitable groups to promote positive messages through football. Our goal is to recruit more teenagers to join the team and we will provide them guidance to support their dreams of being a football player. As our slogan says, “Play for Community.”
The club plays across three competitions in Singapore’s domestic leagues and is currently top of all three. SFC’s playing squad comprises of a number ex
Singaporean internationals, and former professional as well as semi professional expatriate players.
CPK FOOTBALL TEAM is a Macau sports club established in 2009 to participate in the Macau First Division Football League. The chairman is Stephen Chow, the director is Iancio Hui.
The sponsor for 2017 is GRANDE LAB sporting goods. In January 2017, CPK announced the establishment of youth to discover talents for the future of the Macau football world.
In 2018, CPK won the title sponsorship of MACAU SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY GROUP CoLtd and will use “ MUST CPK “ to compete in all competitions throughout the following year, including seven-a-side and youth leagues.
Finally, our main ambition is to win every single soccer trophy in the world.
The Club was born when a school teacher and churchwarden formed a team for local boys at Fulham St Andrew’s Church in 1879. Although cricket initially took the priority, seven years later, the team won their first silverware, the West London Amateur Cup, beating St Matthew’s 2-1 in the Final.
The Club’s title was shortened to Fulham Football Club in January 1889, meaning the original nickname of the Saints had to be dropped.
In 1896, after two years of development, the Club finally took residence in their new home – one that would not only match our ambitions but also offer a more secure foundation to move forward.
Fulham won their first home game, too, beating Minerva 4-0 in the Middlesex Senior Cup, and very quickly the symbolic relationship between Club and ground was forged. To this day, few clubs can claim to be more synonymous with its home.
The FA Cup Final was the unprecedented highlight of the 1970s. Having reached the Semi-Final for a fourth time in 1962, Fulham finally made the Wembley showpiece in May 1975 after a staggering 11-game run (a never-to-be-beaten record of most games en route to the final) that included six replays.
Then a Division Two club, Fulham would meet Division One West Ham United in the Final – a match that would sadly end in a 2-0 defeat. However, against all the odds we had finally got to the Final and in going close the side, led by Captain Mullery, would be remembered for many years to come.
Brighton & Hove Albion will reflect on the 2022/23 season as the finest in the club’s history. The Seagulls headed into the final five games of the Premier League season with the prospect of qualifying for Europe for the first time.
When Graham Potter left after six games of the season to become Chelsea’s head coach the club appointed former Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk coach Roberto De Zerbi, and after a period of adjustment the team’s fortunes have been on an upward curve.
Wins over the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea, as well as a club Premier League record 6-0 victory against Wolves in early May propelled Albion into a European place.
De Zerbi hasn’t just relied on the tried and tested in his squad, with striker Evan Ferguson getting first-team action after progressing through the academy, while teenagers Julio Enciso and Facundo Buonanotte have also been given regular opportunities.
Academy graduate Odel Offiah was handed his Premier League against Nottingham Forest in April, playing in a team that already included fans’ favourites Lewis Dunk and Solly March, who also came through the club’s youth pathway.
Despite the disappointment of losing the FA Cup semi-final to Manchester United on penalties, it is still hard to believe that 26 years ago it needed a draw in the final game of the season to stop the club dropping out of the Football League.
Playing in exile at Gillingham and then in a converted athletics stadium at Withdean were trying times but since Tony Bloom was appointed chairman in 2009 the club has enjoyed a meteoric rise.
Promotion to the Championship in 2011 came in the same year as the club moved into the American Express Community Stadium.
They played in the second tier until 2017 before winning promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 1983. After consolidating their place in the for three seasons Albion obtained their best points with 51 in the 2021-22 campaign, a total they have already beaten this season with five games to go.
Hong Kong, China U22 Representative Team is made up with promising young talent in Hong Kong football. Talented, motivated and hungry to showcase their skills in front of local and overseas football fans, Hong Kong, China U22 Representative Team is ready to go all out in this year’s HKFC Citibank Soccer 7s tournament, hoping to test themselves against the world’s finest emerging football talents, as well as to delight the crowd on hand.
Rangers are Scotland’s most successful football club with the origins dating back to 1872 when the club was formed on the banks of the River Clyde at Glasgow Green. Being the most successful club in Scotland, the team is under pressure to win every game, whether that be home or away, to ensure the club remains the dominant force in Scottish Football.
Rangers have won more league titles and trebles than any other club in the world, winning the league title 55 times, the Scottish Cup 34 times and the Scottish League Cup 27 times. In European football, Rangers were the first British Club to reach a UEFA tournament final in the inaugural European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1961. Rangers were runners-up again in the same competition in 1967 before going on to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 defeating Dynamo Moscow. More recently, Rangers have been runners-up in the UEFA Cup in 2008, and last season witnessed an incredible cup run in the UEFA Europa League where Rangers were runners-up in the final to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Based at the Rangers Training Centre in Milngavie, Glasgow, the club prides itself on consistently producing players that have gone on to represent the Men’s 1st Team. Recent examples of this have been Nathan Patterson, Danny Wilson and Alan Hutton, to name a few. Whereas this season has seen 1st Team debuts for Adam Devine, Alex Lowry, Bailey Rice and Zak Lovelace.
Returning to the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens is Wallsend Boys Club, a club that boasts a proud history as one of the most renowned footballing institutions in England. The likes of Alan Shearer, Michael Carrick and Steve Bruce spent their early playing days at the North Tyneside club, while former Premier League stars Michael Bridges, Alan Thompson and Robbie Elliot have all represented their former team at the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens.
One of the side’s most famed graduates, Peter Beardsley, who represented England at the 1990 World Cup and boasts legendary status at both Liverpool and Newcastle United, also turned out for Wallsend in 2014 and 2015. A quarter final appearance on their debut was followed by a runner-up finish a year later. In 2016, the team advanced to the semi-finals but were eliminated by USRC. They made further progress in 2017, this time winning their group before seeing off HKFC Masters in the semi-finals to set up a meeting with Citi All Stars in the final. But Wallsend’s wait for that title continued after an agonizing 3-2 defeat.
The hunt for that elusive trophy ended in 2019, with the Club managing to win the tournament for the first time. The 2023 tournament will see Wallsend doing their best to retain their title!
Established 1852, the Singapore Cricket Club is one of the premier sports clubs in Singapore. SCC is represented by two teams in the HKFC Soccer Sevens 2023, SCC Singapore Football League (SFL) team for the main tournament and SCC Masters team in the masters tournament. SCC has been in this tournament for over 5 years.
The SCC Masters team, which competes in several domestic football leagues, comprised ex-professional footballers and players who were formerly from the SCC SFL team.
Tournament regulars KCC Veterans return to the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens once more, since the last edition of the competition in 2019. They have a long-established history in the event and this year have signed-up the Leicester City Premier League Winning Defender, Danny Simpson, who joins KCC for the 2023 edition. Danny follows a long list of former players including Chelsea, West Ham and England International Carton Cole, Liverpool and England International legend John Barnes, ex-Scotland International and Everton forward Pat Nevin and former Northern Ireland International and Wimbledon striker Lawrie Sanchez, all who have represented the Club. The KCC Veterans reached the final of the Plate competition in both 2015 and 2016, losing to HKFC Chairman’s Select and Discovery Bay in respective years. KCC have also previously won the second-tier competition in 2009, by defeating Yau Yee League Masters 2-0 in the final. Their best-ever performances were in 2008 and 2011 when they advanced beyond the group stage to make the Cup quarter-finals. This year the team will be coached by the Hong Kong National Team Asst. Coach, Wolfgang Lussier and KCC are excited to be involved again in Hong Kong’s best Football 7’s Tournament.
The HKFC Masters team is honoured to be one of the two teams representing the Hong Kong Football Club in the upcoming annual seven-a-side event. Following a four-year break, the team has been working tirelessly to prepare for the tournament and is excited to represent the club once again. Although the results didn’t go their way in 2019, the players are optimistic that this year’s competition will be both enjoyable and successful.
The HKFC Chairman’s Select team regularly participates in the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens tournament. After a disappointing performance in the 2019 event, the team is determined to bounce back and make a strong showing this year. With their sights set on being competitive, the Chairman’s Select team has been working hard to improve their game and is eager to take the field. Along with the other HKFC team, the Chairman’s Select team hopes to represent the club and play some high-quality football proudly.
The lads from Discovery Bay (DB) return to the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens for the tenth time and this year as Ampcontrol Discovery Bay, having secured a new main sponsor that specializes in high voltage electrical engineering services and following their notable performances in 2017 and 2019 (reaching the plate final) and especially in 2018 (cup winners) the team will be fully charged for an electrifying display in this year’s tournament.
Ampcontrol Discovery Bay consist of local amateur and professional players from Discovery Bay Football Club (DBFC) and the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) league teams, having separated from the previous years of partnership with the boys from Brazil, who this year field their own team in the tournament. Discovery Bay teams from the past have included some star attractions such as former England Internationals Peter Beardsley, Teddy Sheringham and Darren Anderton.
Ampcontrol Discovery Bay will be coached again by former Hong Kong star forward and Discovery Bay resident Tim Bredbury and big support will come from the teams main and secondary sponsors’ representatives, who are all Discovery Bay residents.
