There is always a real buzz of excitement around the start of any new sports season, and with the Hong Kong racing season still a couple of weeks away, football fans have been focused on the first weeks of the major leagues in Europe. The English Premier League, the Bundesliga in Germany and Spain’s La Liga have already kicked off, and tomorrow the Italian top tier, Serie A, will join the action.
I must say, I’m pleased to see my home team Monchengladbach making a solid start. They played out a draw with Stuttgart in their opening league match last weekend and progressed to the group stage of the Europa League by defeating Bosnian side Sarajevo last night.
Most of the top teams across Europe have made a solid start, but not Manchester United. I know many fans were expecting a positive start to the campaign after a good pre-season to begin the Louis Van Gaal era, but after playing three official matches they are still without a win. I think their fans would have been most shocked to see the team suffer a humiliating 4-0 defeat to League One side MK Dons in the Capital One Cup in midweek. Despite new manager van Gaal securing the record-breaking purchase of Angel di Maria from Real Madrid this week, it appears that his biggest problems are in defence and he must surely be looking for big-name reinforcements. It will be interesting to see which other new players United will sign before the current transfer window closes next Monday.
Here in Hong Kong, local football development will also step into a new era in the new season, with the commencement of the inaugural Hong Kong Premier League season next month. This season the Football Association has introduced an exciting curtain-raiser, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Cup, a competition which is similar to the eve-of-season contests held by many top leagues in the world. The match will feature last season’s league champions Kitchee and play-off champions South China, and they will play against each other at the Mong Kok Stadium this Sunday.
I’m sure you’re all aware, the Club is very committed to our efforts in supporting and promoting local football development. On this occasion we are happy to offer a donation of HK$1 million for the title sponsorship of this new event. The sponsorship funds not only cover the prize money for the two participating teams, the other seven teams in the league this season will each benefit with a share of the fund for them to better prepare for the new challenges of the Premier League.
As you can guess from its name, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Cup is not purely a football concern. It has various charity elements, with the aim of benefitting more people outside football. One thing that will happen is that the two participating teams will each nominate a specific community group that will then benefit from part of the proceeds from the match - Kitchee has nominated United Christian Hospital and South China has named the Society for Community Organisation. In the meantime the Club has also invited hundreds of people from underprivileged families to come along and watch the match for free on Sunday. I hope they all will be happy with our arrangements; I’m looking forward to joining them for what will be an entertaining day at Mong Kok Stadium.
Apart from this meaningful football match, I would recommend that any racing fans who find themselves “Island side” on Sunday pay a visit to Hong Kong Park, as trainer Dennis Yip will be showing off his squash skills in a special glass court set up in the park! Our 2012/2013 champion trainer will be taking on other celebrities in Hong Kong Squash’s Celebrity Cup 2014. The event will be held prior to the finals of the Hong Kong Squash Open, an international competition that has the Club’s Charities Trust among its major sponsors. Many people know how good Dennis is at training horses, and many of you know that he enjoys cycling, so with the event being free, why not head over and give your support to Dennis and see how competent he is with a squash racquet!
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