Lee Man FC explained

Lee Man Football Club is a Hong Kong professional football club based in Tseung Kwan O, which currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club is owned by Lee & Man Chemical.

The club won their first ever league title in the 2023–24 season with an unbeaten record.

History

Lee Man Football Club was established on 19 June 2017 by Lee Man Football Limited with the aim of promoting football in Hong Kong and allowing Hong Kong football players to shine with the club.

During the 2017–18 season, Lee Man Football Limited decided to invest their money in building their own football club. They paid a HK$1million entrance fee to the Hong Kong Football Association for the right to enter a club directly into the Hong Kong Premier League.^[1] The club hired former Hong Kong international Fung Ka Ki as their first manager on 3 July 2017.^[2] Lee Man recorded their first ever win in the club history on 15 September in a 3–2 league win against Eastern with Spanish player Jordi Tarrés scoring the club's first official goal. However, Manager Fung Ka Ki would only last one season as manager since the club finished a disappointing 8th place.

First ever piece of silverware

On 21 May 2018, Lee Man hired former Hong Kong national team and Macau national team head coach Chan Hiu Ming as its manager.^[3] Under Chan, the club won its first trophy, capturing the 2018–19 Hong Kong Sapling Cup on 27 April 2019 in a 3–2 victory over Yuen Long.^[4]

Lee Man participated in their first ever intercontinental tournament, the AFC Cup qualifying straight to the 2021 AFC Cup group stage, On 23 June 2021, Lee Man recorded their first win in the tournament against another local club, Eastern SC with Gil scoring the only goal in the match in a 1–0 win. Lee Man went on to win all of their group stage match winning Taiwanese club Tainan City 4–1 on 26 June and winning against Mongolian club Athletic 220 thrashing them 1–5 on 29 June thus qualifying to the Inter-zone play-off finals playing against Uzbekistani club Nasaf on 20 October. Throughout the match, Lee Man put up a good fight against Nasaf drawing with them 2–2 thus seeing them both going through extra time, however in the first half of extra time, opponent player Andrija Kaluđerović scored the goal for Nasaf which would see Lee Man bowed out from the tournament with the final score being 3–2.

Lee Man then qualified for the 2022 AFC Cup group stage being placed with the same opponent in 2021, but this time, the club bowed out from the tournament early in the group stage.

On 5 February 2023, Chan was sacked by Lee Man after a disappointing performance and on 27 April 2023, Tsang Chiu Tat was appointed as the head coach of the club. Lee Man finished the 2022–23 season as runners-up which sees the club qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying phase. On 16 August 2023, Lee Man thrashed Indonesian club Bali United 5–1 at home which saw them qualified for the play-off round against 2022 AFC Champions League winner, Urawa Red Diamonds, however, Lee Man lost 3–0 to the Japanese side at the Saitama Stadium 2002 which see their opponent qualified to the group stage.

First league title with an unbeaten run

On 19 May 2024, Lee Man secured their first ever Hong Kong Premier League title after a 6–1 victory against Sham Shui Po.^[5] They became the fourth club to win the league title and the second unbeaten title-winning team – a record of 17 wins and 3 draws. Lee Man also directly qualified for the group stage of the inaugural 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two.

Stadium

Lee Man played their home matches at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground which can hold a capacity of up to 5,000.

Current squad

First team

^{[6] FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP}

Out on loan

Remarks:
^LP These players are considered as local players in Hong Kong domestic football competitions.
^FP These players are registered as foreign players.

Club official

Position	Staff
Head coach	Tsang Chiu Tat
Assistant coach	Szeto Man Chun
Assistant coach	Chu Siu Kei
Goalkeeping coach	Cheng Ho Man
Fitness coach	Lee Kin Wai
Analytical coach	Kwok Chun Lam

Notes and References

1. Web site: 上廣州鬥富力來回六粒鐘 港超兵被玩殘. Apple Daily. 23 June 2017. 30 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170630203950/http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/sports/art/20170623/20065597. live.
2. Web site: 理文密密簽唔想再靠借？. on.cc. 3 July 2017. 29 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221129145946/http://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/sport/20170703/bkn-20170703000519377-0703_00882_001.html. live.
3. Web site: 理文宣布陳曉明任主教練 曾昭達做副手 盼成「真專業」球會. Ming Pao. 21 May 2018. 6 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180706163027/https://news.mingpao.com/ins/instantnews/web_tc/article/20180521/s00006/1526882962308. live.
4. Web site: 理文雨戰加時3：2挫元朗　稱霸菁英盃成球隊首冠 . Ming Pao . 27 April 2019 . 28 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190428143655/https://news.mingpao.com/ins/%e9%ab%94%e8%82%b2/article/20190427/s00006/1556357924681/%e3%80%90%e8%8f%81%e8%8b%b1%e7%9b%83%e3%80%91%e7%90%86%e6%96%87%e9%9b%a8%e6%88%b0%e5%8a%a0%e6%99%823-2%e6%8c%ab%e5%85%83%e6%9c%97-%e7%a8%b1%e9%9c%b8%e8%8f%81%e8%8b%b1%e7%9b%83%e6%88%90%e7%90%83%e9%9a%8a%e9%a6%96%e5%86%a0 . live .
5. https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/sport/20240519/bkn-20240519165443874-0519_00882_001.html?eventsection=hk_sport&eventid=4028828d4d9a0d6f014dc43e82ec5983 港超聯 理文大勝6比1 首奪聯賽冠軍
6. Web site: 球隊資料-理文足球會官方網頁 . 2024-02-15 . www.leemanfootball.com.