[FM24] All aboard the Oriental Express

Raware · November 22, 2023

It’s been a while since I’ve visited these forums or even played Football Manager (my last FM game being FM2020), but with the release of Football Manager 2024, I thought I’d jump back into the game that’s been a part of my life since the original Championship Manager, way back in 1992.

Carrying on with the nostalgic theme; my first career update in this forum back in 2008 was a save in Hong Kong where I was living at the time, so it makes perfect sense to head back to Hong Kong and carry on where my careers update journey began.

I also had another save in Hong Kong back in 2016 - "Wing"ing it in Asia, which saw probably my most enjoyable save throughout the CM/FM franchise, namely because of the TWO…yes, two sons that I got in the game. Having waited for an ‘in-game’ son for over 25 years, to have it finally happen was a really surreal FM moment…so this is another reason why I thought I’d start this year’s save back in Hong Kong.

Database size: Large

Leagues loaded:

Australia (A-League only)
China (First Division and above)
Hong Kong (Premier League only)
India (National Football League only)
Indonesia (League Two and above)
Japan (J3 League and above)
Malaysia (M3 League and above)
Singapore (Premier League only)
South Korea (K League 2 and above)

Previous experience: Sunday morning footballer

I’ve loaded up all the available “out of the box” Asian leagues and holidayed for a year which has taken me to pre-season 2023/24.

Raware · November 22, 2023

South China Athletic Association: A background

South China enjoyed their greatest era during the 1990’s, yet they fell from grace in the 2016/17 season when they were voluntarily self-relegated from the Hong Kong Premier League. They’ve since languished in the Hong First Division and haven’t won anything for the last 10 years. However, given their dramatic fall from the topflight, Shaolin Temple are still one of the most successful clubs in Hong Kong Premier League history. Boasting a proud total of 107 competition wins since their formation in 1908, here are just some of their highlights: South China have won the Hong Kong Premier League forty times and are seventeen-time runners-up, have ten FA Cup wins to their name and finished second best five further times, have thirty Senior Shield wins to their name and finished second best fifteen further times.

Hong Kong Stadium

Edited November 22, 2023 by Raware

Raware · November 22, 2023

Club information | Club profile | Club facilities | Club history

Edited November 22, 2023 by Raware

Raware · November 22, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Pre-season 2024/25

League expectation

Hong Kong Premier League: Board expectation – mid table finish: Media expectation – 7^th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Quarter Final

Hong Kong FA Cup: Quarter Final

Transfer budget: £40k

Wage budget: £8k p/w

Current wage bill: £6k p/w

Season tickets sold: 0

My views for the season ahead: Despite us being the new boys of the league, there’s no suggestion of relegation from either the media, who are expecting us to finish 7^th, or the board, who are expecting us to finish mid-table. Martin Fray, Kohei Ito and Wan Ho Pan look like the standout players in the squad, however, if we are to avoid being dragged into a relegation fight and a possible return to the First Division, then I think we definitely need to make some additions to the squad.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Raware

Raware · November 24, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Youth intake 2024/25

My first season at South China sees us take 16 youth players on trial.

Lee Kwok Shing (25A)

Leung Wai Chuen (25B)

Of those 16 players, only Lee Kwok Shing (25A), Leung Wai Chuen (25B), and Chan Ka Chun (25D) haven’t been offered contracts. The other 13 youth players look like they could be decent prospects, in particularly Wai Tsz Him (25C), so all have been offered contracts with the club.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Raware

Raware · November 25, 2023

South China Athletic Association – End of season 2024/25

Hong Kong Premier League/Hong Kong Premier League progress/Hong Kong Premier League fixtures: Even though we were the new boys to the league this season, there was no pre-season prediction of relegation for us, and we were tipped by many to finish mid-table. We managed to exceed that target by finishing 4^th, just missing out on the Asian Confederation Cup Preliminary round qualification place as Tai Po just pipped us to it.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: The board were expecting us to reach the latter stages of this competition, but having drawn Kitchee in the first round was always going to be a difficult task to overcome as we narrowly lost 3-2 and went out at the first hurdle.

Hong Kong FA Cup: We disposed of Sham Shui Po in the Quarter Final but having once again drawn Kitchee, it was no surprise that we ended up going out of the competition.

Transfers: As I mentioned in the pre-season update, if we were to avoid being dragged into a relegation fight, then we had to make some additions to the squad. In came 17 players, with the pick of them being Ma Man Ching, Mohd Farid Khazali, and Shao Shuai.

Squad: The squad of players exceeded expectations this season as given the fact that we brought in 17 players, they quickly gelled and grew in confidence as the season went on. Mohd Farid Khazali finished as the clubs’ top goal scorer with 9 goals in 21 games, whilst Shao Shuai and Wan Ho Pan both grabbed 6 goals each for the season. Ma Man Ching proved to be a good addition to midfield for us as he knocked in 6 goals from midfield, whilst Wang Xingqiang also proved to be a good signing for us as he looked strong in defence.

Finances: Not looking great as we lost money, but the board did improve our youth facilities and youth recruitment this season, which is the main reason for the losses.

My views of the season: I can have no complaints whatsoever about how the season went given that we were the new boys to the league and still went onto finish 4^th, just outside of the Asian Confederation Cup qualification places. We were quite consistent throughout the season as well as we never fell below 5^th spot in the league, whilst also going on a run of remaining undefeated in 10 league games.

My aims for next season: If we can match our achievements this season and finish 4^th again then that’ll be another great season for us. I do think we need to make some more additions to the squad next season, but the focus will be on quality, rather than quantity.

Career Summary

Season Team League Position Senior Shield FA Cup Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25 South China HK Premier League 4th First round Semi Final

Edited November 25, 2023 by Raware

cerud · November 26, 2023

Good to have you back, @Raware. It's been a while since I've had a career on these forums as well, but happy to see a veteran player back!

Raware · November 28, 2023

On 26/11/2023 at 04:43, cerud said:

Good to have you back, @Raware. It's been a while since I've had a career on these forums as well, but happy to see a veteran player back!

Thanks @cerud :thup: Good to see a familiar face around here. Thought it was about time I dipped my toe back in the FM world

Raware · November 28, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Pre-season 2025/26

League expectation

Hong Kong Premier League: Board expectation – mid table finish: Media expectation – 7^th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Quarter Final

Hong Kong FA Cup: Be competitive

Hong Kong Sapling Cup: Be competitive

Transfer budget: £7.5k (last season £40k)

Wage budget: £11.7k p/w (last season £8k p/w)

Current wage bill: £8.8k p/w (last season £6k p/w)

Season tickets sold: 0 (last season 0)

My views for the season ahead: Again, the board are expecting us to finish mid-table, whilst the media are predicting us to finish 7^th again, despite us finishing 3 places higher last season. If I’m honest, we must strive to at least match last season’s 4^th place finish but I’m obviously wary of the second season syndrome that can all too often hamper a club. To help us achieve our aims this season, I’ve been given a larger wage budget but only a £7.5k transfer budget, so if we are to make any signings, they’ll have to be free transfers again, or I may be able to alter some of the wage budget to allow us to spend a little bit.

Raware · November 30, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Youth intake 2025/26

This season’s youth intake saw the following all being offered contracts as Tam Chi Fai (26A), Tang Chi Him (26B), Chow Ka Yeung (26D), Cheung Ho Yeung (26E), Cheung Ho Yin (26F), Ma Ka Fai (26H), Luk Ka Yin (26I), Ma Wai Pan (26K), and Yue Wai Kit (26N) all look as if they could have some potential..

Cheung Ho Yeung (26E)

Raware · December 3, 2023

South China Athletic Association – End of season 2025/26

Hong Kong Premier League/Hong Kong Premier League progress/Hong Kong Premier League fixtures: We started the season well winning 4 out of our first 5 games which left us sitting top of the pile early on. However, Tai Po brought us back down to earth as they inflicted, what turned out to be our only league defeat of the season, before we then went on quite a remarkable run which saw us go unbeaten for the remainder of the league season, which saw us eventually finish as runners-up, behind Lee Man, who were clearly head and shoulders above everyone else.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: We disposed of Hong Kong Rangers quite comfortably in the First Round which meant that we managed to meet the boards minimum expectation of reaching the Quarter Final in this competition. However, once again, Tai Po proved to be too much for us as they beat us 2-0 to send us out of the competition.

Hong Kong FA Cup: We beat Sham Shui Po in the Quarter Final before we unfortunately lost 3-1 to Eastern in the Semi Final after extra time.

Hong Kong Sapling Cup/Hong Kong Sapling Cup Group B: We progressed to another cup Semi Final after qualifying from Group B but once again, we went out in the Semi Final after losing to Kitchee on penalties, after drawing 1-1 after extra time.

Transfers: As I mentioned in pre-season, we needed to make some more signings if we were to progress, so I was glad that I was able to bring in 9 players as Tsang Yi Hang joined us from Kitchee on a free transfer after spending last season on loan with us. Sung Wang Ngai and Lee Lok Him joined on free transfers from Hong Kong Under 23’s, while Ma Hei Wai joined us on a free transfer from Eastern. Chan Hiu Fung, Tomoya Osawa, Ngan Cheuk Pan, Chang Hei Yin, and Yue Tzs Nam also joined us, all on free transfers.

Squad: The squad of players once again exceed expectations as they went on to help the club finish 2^nd in the league, just behind champions Lee Man, and a place higher than our rivals, Kitchee. New signing Tomoya Osawa finished as our top goal scorer this season as he netted 14 times, while another new signing, Ma Hei Wai finished with 9 goals from midfield. Chang Hei Yin quickly settled in as he grabbed 8 goals for the campaign, Sung Wang Ngai picked up 2 caps for the national Hong Kong side as well as picking up the Hong Kong Premier League Young Player of the Year award, while I have to also give a shout out to our youth academy product, Wai Tsz Him (25C), who at 16 years old has already nailed down the right back position as his own as he played 28 games, scored 4, and assisted 8 times. Without a doubt a very promising academy product for us and one we must strive to keep hold of!

Finances: Not looking good as we’re nearly £100k in debt.

My views of the season: Another great season for us as we once again exceeded expectations, whilst also improving on last seasons league finish. Whilst Kitchee obviously had a poor season by their standards, it’s very pleasing to finish above them and give our fans something to cheer about after what they’ve endured over the last 10 years. We also had some great cup runs as we made 2 Semi Finals and a Quarter Final, only to narrowly miss out on appearing in both the FA Cup Final, and the Sapling Cup Final.

My aims for next season: Given that we’ve exceeded expectations 2 years in a row now, it’ll be interesting to see what the board expect of us for next season. As well as playing in the league campaign, the Senior Shield, the FA Cup, and the Sapling Cup, we’ll also be involved in the Asian Confederation Cup, so we’ll definitely need to make some additions in the summer as I don’t think we’ve currently got the strength, or depth in the squad to compete in 5 competitions. Whether we can bring players in will be another question as given our financial state at the minute, the board are reluctant to give me any funds for new players.

Career Summary

Season Team League Position Senior Shield FA Cup Sapling Cup Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25 South China HK Premier League 4th First round Semi Final -
2025/26 South China HK Premier League 2nd Quarter Final Semi Final Semi Final -

Edited December 3, 2023 by Raware

Raware · December 5, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Pre-season 2026/27

League expectation

Hong Kong Premier League: Board expectation – mid table finish: Media expectation – 4^th (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Asian Confederation Cup: Be competitive

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Quarter Final

Hong Kong FA Cup: Be competitive

Hong Kong Sapling Cup: Be competitive

Transfer budget: £0k (last season £7.5k)

Wage budget: £10.5k p/w (last season £11.7k p/w)

Current wage bill: £12.9k p/w (last season £8.8k p/w)

Season tickets sold: 0 (last season 0)

My views for the season ahead: After finishing as runners-up in the league last season, the board are surprisingly only expecting us to finish mid-table, which takes the pressure off us a little. The media however, are expecting a little bit more as they’re predicting us to finish 4^th in the league. Given our financial struggles as well, I was surprised to find out that I was still able to bring some players in, albeit on free transfers, as I raided North District and brought in their Brazilian trio – Itallo, Nenem, and Pedrao, all on free transfers. Trevor Verity also joined us on a free transfer from Eastern.

Raware · December 7, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Youth intake 2026/27

Quite a promising youth intake this year saw us offer 14 youth players a contract with the club with Kwok Chi Kin (27G), Tsang Hon Lun (27N), and Chan Pak Hei (27P) in particularly looking like they could be exceptional prospects!

Raware · December 11, 2023

South China Athletic Association – End of season 2026/27

Hong Kong Premier League/Hong Kong Premier League progress/Hong Kong Premier League fixtures: Despite us finishing as runners-up last season, the board were only expecting a mid-table finish whilst the media were expecting us to finish a little higher, in 4^thplace. This is something that I was also expecting as we were still fairly new to the league, however, we flew out of the blocks and proceeded to go on an unbelievable run of games that saw us go 16 games unbeaten, before rivals Kitchee inflicted what turned out to be our only defeat of the season upon us. We managed to pick up 3 wins from our remaining 5 games though which saw us finish 4 points ahead of surprise package Eastern as we went on to claim the clubs first league title in 14 years.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: We overcame a tricky first round game as we managed to beat Eastern 3-2 after extra time before we then went on to beat Tai Po 3-1 in the final and claim the clubs first Senior Shield in 13 years.

Hong Kong FA Cup: Once again, as per last year, Eastern sent us packing in the Semi Final of the FA Cup, this time beating us on penalties after the game finished 2-2.

Hong Kong Sapling Cup/Hong Kong Sapling Cup Group A: We finished 2^nd in the group stage before seeing off Lee Man in the Semi Final and then beating Kitchee 1-0 in the Final as we claimed the clubs first ever Sapling Cup.

Asian Confederation Cup/Asian Confederation Cup Group J: We surprisingly breezed through the group stage as we topped the group ahead of favourites Ryomyong before being drawn against rivals Kitchee in the East Asian Zone Final. The two legs turned out to be an unbelievable couple of games as we beat them 4-2 in the first leg to give us the edge in the 2^nd leg, however, we should’ve managed the game better as we were looking comfortable with just 20 minutes to go as although we were losing the game 3-2, we were winning 6-5 on aggregate. A crazy couple of minutes saw Kitchee score twice in as many minutes to give Kitchee the lead on aggregate but our captain, Ma Hei Wai, popped up in the 94^th minute to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat! This set up an Interzone Playoff Semi Final with Istiqlol, who we disposed of with relative ease before we faced a tougher opposition in the form of Melbourne City in the Interzone Playoff Final. A tough fought away leg saw us grab 2 away goals meaning that this was enough to see us through to the Final after holding them to a goalless draw in the return leg at Hong Kong Stadium. Kuwaiti side Al-Arabi awaited us in the Final and despite them dominating, as expected, they didn’t outclass us as we grabbed a goal in each half to look as if we were going to do the unthinkable. However, the dream looked as if it was going to remain a dream as Al-Arabi snatched a 90^th minute equaliser to take the game to extra time. The drama didn’t end there though as our captain, Ma Hei Wai, once again stepped up and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck as he smashed in a winner in the 91^st minute to hand us a very unexpected victory, and with that, our very first Asian Confederation Cup!

Transfers: We brought in Brazilian trio, Itallo, Nenem, and Pedrao, all on free transfers at the start of the season, as well as young goalkeeper Trevor Verity. No further signings were made throughout the season, but we have agreed to sign Alex Crump and Luis Nino on free transfers after their contracts with their respective clubs expire at the end of the season.

Squad: The squad of players massively exceeded expectations this season as they went on to go one better and claim the clubs first Hong Kong Premier League title in 14 years. As well as claiming the league title, they also claimed the Hong Kong Senior Shield, the Hong Kong Sapling Cup, and the clubs first ever Asian Confederation Cup! Whilst every player played their part, much of our success was down to the goals of Tomoya Osawa, who bagged 29 goals for the season, and our captain, Ma Hei Wai who scored an incredible 32 goals from midfield! It was no surprise really that Tomoya Osawa went on to claim the Hong Kong Footballer of the Year award while Ma Hei Wai went on to claim the Hong Kong Young Player of the Year award.

Finances: Our Asian Confederation Cup success eased our financial worries as we made a profit of £2 million.

My views of the season: An unbelievable season for us as we claimed the Hong Kong Premier League, the Hong Kong Senior Shield, the Hong Kong Sapling Cup, and the clubs first ever Asian Confederation Cup! The squad of players look like they’re only going to get better and our financial worries were massively eased as we look financially secure now.

My aims for next season: It’s tough to say what our aims will be for next season as we massively overachieved this season. We’ll find ourselves playing in 5 different competitions again so squad depth will come into play again, so if we can keep the majority of the squad fit then I see no reason why we can’t push for a top 3 finish, or even a push to defend our league title.

Career Summary

Season Team League Position Senior Shield FA Cup Sapling Cup Asian Confederation Cup
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25 South China HK Premier League 4th First round Semi Final - -
2025/26 South China HK Premier League 2nd Quarter Final Semi Final Semi Final -
2026/27 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Semi Final Winners Winners

Edited December 16, 2023 by Raware

Raware · December 16, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Pre-season 2027/28

League expectation

Hong Kong Premier League: Board expectation – top half finish: Media expectation – 3^rd (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Asian Champions League: Be competitive

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Reach the Final

Hong Kong FA Cup: Be competitive

Hong Kong Sapling Cup: Be competitive

Transfer budget: £200k (last season £0k)

Wage budget: £13.4k p/w (last season £10.5k p/w)

Current wage bill: £12.9k p/w (last season £12.9k p/w)

Season tickets sold: 0 (last season 0)

My views for the season ahead: As I mentioned at the end of last season, having massively overachieved last season, it’d be tough to say what our aims will be this season but as I suspected, even with us claiming 4 trophies last season, the board are only expecting us to make a top half finish. I’m probably a little more ambitious than that and am swaying more towards what the media are expecting from us, which is a top 3 finish, however, with an expectation of a top half finish from the board, it gives us a bit of breathing space at least. We’ve also been given quite a large transfer budget as well this season so I’ve wasted no time in spending some of that by bringing in goalkeeper Ng Wai Him for £19k from Southern District, who joins Alex Crump and Luis Nino who joined us at the end of last season on free transfers.

Raware · December 22, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Youth intake 2027/28

A steady youth intake this year as Yau Tsz Him (28C), Yeung Chun Hung (28D), Cheung Ka Ho (28G), Tang King Fung (28H), Lee Ka Keung (28J), Yu Chun Wai (28L), and Ko Wai Lok (28P) were all offered contracts. The remaining 9 youth candidates were all released.

Joe Moore (28A)

Wong Ka Wai (28B)

Yau Tsz Him (28C)

Yeung Chun Hung (28D)

Raware · December 26, 2023

South China Athletic Association – End of season 2027/28

Hong Kong Premier League/Hong Kong Premier League progress/Hong Kong Premier League fixtures: A quite brilliant season for us as we went the whole league season undefeated, winning 20 games and drawing just 2 to retain our title! There’s no doubt that we were the best team in the league but there’s also no doubt that both Kitchee and Lee Man’s poor season made the league weaker this season. Kitchee and Lee Man didn’t even qualify for the Asian Confederation Cup, with Eastern and Rangers (HKG) taking 2^nd and 3^rd spot.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: We claimed our second successive Senior Shield after beating Kitchee on penalties after drawing 1-1 after extra time.

Hong Kong FA Cup: Our first FA Cup since 2011 after we managed to overcome a stubborn North District on penalties.

Hong Kong Sapling Cup/Hong Kong Sapling Cup Group A: We breezed through the group stages winning all 8 games before we saw off Tai Po in the Semi Final and Lee Man on penalties in the Final. It should never have gone to penalties but a lapse in concentration meant that Lee Man grabbed 2 late goals which forced the game to extra time and penalties. Luckily for us, we won our 3^rd cup of the season on penalties again!

Asian Champions League/Asian Champions League Group H: Nobody fancied us to get out of the group stage but we held our own and to many people’s surprise, won the group to progress to the second round. We surprised everyone again by beating Yokohama 1-0 in the second round first leg before losing the second leg 1-0 which forced the game to extra time and penalties. Unfortunately for us though, our penalty luck ran out as Yokohama beat us to progress to the Quarter Final.

Transfers: In addition to Ng Wai Him who joined us at the start of the season, we made two further signings – Moldovan Andrei Bespalco and Gerson Bouth, both on free transfers. Out the door saw 11 players leave the club.

Squad: The squad of players showed that they were the best in the land as they made it a clean sweep of domestic trophies, claiming the league title, the Senior Shield, the FA Cup, and the Sapling Cup. Lee Lok Him hit double figures again as he grabbed 14 goals, whilst Ma Hei Wai also hit double figures from midfield as he chipped in with 15 goals. Luis Nino also got himself into double figures scoring 10 goals but the clear stand out performer was Gerson Bouth who smashed in an incredible 33 goals in just 23 games…and he only joined us in the January transfer window! It’s scary to think how many he could’ve got if he was with us for the full season! Added to the 33 goals that he scored was the Hong Kong Fans’ Player of the Year award, the Hong Kong Footballer of the Year award, the Hong Kong Players’ Player of the Year award, and the Hong Kong Premier League top goal scorer award. Not a bad first season…or should I say first half season!

Finances: A loss of almost £500k isn’t a good sign but much of that was down to the lack of money within both the Hong Kong league and surprisingly, the Asian Champions League. I’d have thought that reaching the second round would’ve brought some notable financial rewards but seemingly not. Surprisingly, the Asian Confederation Cup brought about more financial reward and we stand a better chance of winning that than the Asian Champions League.

My views of the season: An incredible season for us as we cleaned up domestically, winning the league, the Senior Shield, the FA Cup, and the Sapling Cup, whilst also progressing to the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League. We also seem to have found an absolute gem in Gerson Bouth but he’s already refusing to extend his contract with Saudi clubs already sniffing around him.

My aims for next season: We’re clearly the strongest team in Hong Kong now and I’m sure both the board and media will be expecting us to defend our league title. How important the domestic cups will be remains to be seen. If we can also make it out of the Asian Champions League group stages again then that’ll be a bonus. I’ll also be looking to tie down some of our foreign stars but Luis Nino, Andrei Bespalco and Gerson Bouth are already making noises about moving on ☹and are refusing to sign extensions to their contracts.

Career Summary

Season Team League Position Senior Shield FA Cup Sapling Cup Asian Confederation Cup   Asian Champions League
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25   South China HK Premier League 4th First round Semi Final - - -
2025/26 South China HK Premier League 2nd Quarter Final Semi Final Semi Final - -
2026/27 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Semi Final Winners Winners -
2027/28 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners   Winners Winners - Second round

Edited December 26, 2023 by Raware

Raware · December 30, 2023

South China Athletic Association – Pre-season 2028/29

League expectation

Hong Kong Premier League: Board expectation – Win the league : Media expectation – 1^st (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Asian Champions League: Be competitive

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Win the competition

Hong Kong FA Cup: Win the competition

Hong Kong Sapling Cup: Be competitive

Transfer budget: £100k (last season £200k)

Wage budget: £14.5k p/w (last season £13.4k p/w)

Current wage bill: £13.6k p/w (last season £12.9k p/w)

Season tickets sold: 0 (last season 0)

My views for the season ahead: After last season’s performances, the board and media are expecting us to win the league this season, whilst also winning the FA Cup and Senior Shield…no pressure then! As for the Asian Champions League, it’d be nice if we could make it out of the group stages again, but that’s obviously dependant on who we get in our group. To help us achieve our aims this season, I’ve brought in Sogo Ichikawa from Lee Man for a club record £47.5k, Luk Wai Lam from Kitchee on a free transfer, Nigel Hofman from Club Wanderers on a free transfer and Sin-Song Chol on a free transfer.

cerud · December 31, 2023

Doing great in Hong Kong! Starting to think about moving possibly? Outgrown the club and league?

Have you received any job offers yet? Or has reputation not caught up yet?

Raware · January 1

On 31/12/2023 at 06:42, cerud said:

Doing great in Hong Kong! Starting to think about moving possibly? Outgrown the club and league?

Have you received any job offers yet? Or has reputation not caught up yet?

Starting to get itchy feet a little bit, and I've had a few offers from South Korea but nothing to tempt me, as of yet.

Perhaps another few seasons at South China to cement our position as the dominate force in Hong Kong, and perhaps an international role at Hong Kong before I start looking at moving on.

Raware · January 1

South China Athletic Association – Youth intake 2028/29

Our youth intake this year saw a few decent prospects on trial with the club as Leung Yan Kit (29F) and Chu Siu Hang (29L) look as if they could be ones to look out for in the future. However, the obvious stand out youth player this season is Lau Tsz Kin (29M) who already looks as if he’s ready for first team football at just age 15! Needless to say, they were offered contracts with the club!

Bimal Chaudhari (29H)

cerud · January 2

7 hours ago, Raware said:

Starting to get itchy feet a little bit, and I've had a few offers from South Korea but nothing to tempt me, as of yet.

Perhaps another few seasons at South China to cement our position as the dominate force in Hong Kong, and perhaps an international role at Hong Kong before I start looking at moving on.

Fair enough. Although, a move to South Korea would definitely boost your rep!

Raware · January 6

South China Athletic Association – End of season 2028/29

Hong Kong Premier League/Hong Kong Premier League progress/Hong Kong Premier League fixtures: We claimed our third straight league title in a row after finishing an impressive 12 points clear of Rangers (HKG). It’s clear that both Kitchee and Lee Man are no longer the forces that they used to be as once again, they failed to qualify for either the Confederations Cup, or the Asian Champions League. Good news for us though as they’re probably the only two clubs that are on par with us in terms of club size and a legitimate threat to us.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Our third straight Senior Shield title wasn’t as easy as I’d have liked it to be as we needed extra time to beat Kitchee in the Semi Final, before we then comfortably disposed of C & W District in the Final.

Hong Kong FA Cup: We claimed our second FA Cup win in a row after easily beating Kitchee in the Semi Final, before easily beating Lee Man in the Final.

Hong Kong Sapling Cup/Hong Kong Sapling Cup Group B: Having drawn both Kitchee and Lee Man in Sapling Group B, I thought that qualifying from the group would be tricky. That wasn’t the case though as they both struggled in the group stage, and it was actually Tai Po who qualified alongside us. With both Kitchee and Lee Man out of the competition, it made it a bit easier for us as we beat Resources Capital and Tai Po on the way to winning our 3rd Sapling Cup in a row.

Asian Champions League/Asian Champions League Group H: The group stage draw was kind to us as we drew Suwon, Bangkok Utd and Johor DT in Group H, with only Suwon looking as if they’d be the only threat to us. They beat us in the opening group game but 3 wins and 2 draws throughout the remaining group games was enough to see us top the group and qualify for the knockout rounds. Once again, we faced Suwon in the second round as away goals was enough to take us through to the Quarter Final where we met Buriram Utd. Again, the draw favoured us, and we beat them 3-2 in both legs to unbelievably reach the Semi Final. A much tougher game awaited us in the Semi Final as South Korean side Jeonbuk proved to be a tough opponent, but once again, the away goal rule over the two legs was enough to see us, remarkably reach the Final of the Asian Champions League! Given the money in Saudi Arabian football nowadays though, Saudi clubs have dominated the Asian Champions League, so it was always going to be a difficult task to bring home the trophy, and this proved to be the case as Al-Ittihad beat us over the two legs to claim another ACL title for them. Whilst it was obviously disappointing to lose the Final, we had no right to even be in the Final so I can only be delighted with what we achieved in this competition.

Transfers: Along with Sogo Ichikawa, Luk Wai Lam, Nigel Hofman, and Sin-Song Chol who I brought in at the start of the season, I brought in Charles Vilarinho from Kitchee for a club record £100k. We had to do this as annoyingly, the board accepted a bid of £165k on my behalf for Gerson Bouth :mad: , who at the time had already smashed in 14 goals in 11 games, which took him to an incredible 37 goals in 24 games in just one and a half seasons. I wasn’t happy with losing Bouth, especially given that the board accepted on my behalf, but in Charles Vilarinho, we have a player who looks as if he’s just as good and is a player who was poached from rivals Kitchee, which always helps to weaken our opponents!

Squad: Another brilliant season from the players as they romped home to claim four trophies this year, as well as reaching the ACL Final. It was disappointing to lose Gerson Bouth as he was the catalyst throughout much of the first half of the season, but Charles Vilarinho stepped up and filled his boots as he grabbed 17 goals in all competitions. Sin Song-Chol also had a great season as he finished the season as the club’s top goal scorer with 24 goals, whilst captain Ma Hei Wai also had another great goal scoring season as he racked up 18 goals from midfield whilst also claiming the Hong Kong Footballer of the Year award. New signing Sogo Ichikawa settled in quickly as he netted 14 times whilst Moldovan Andrei Bespalco also chipped in with goals, hitting double figures for the season.

Finances: A huge financial boost for us this season as thanks to our ACL run, we’re looking very comfortable with almost £4 million in the bank.

My views of the season: I didn’t think that we could top last season’s achievements but given that we once again won the league, the Senior Shield, the FA Cup, and the Sapling Cup, as well as reaching the Asian Champions League Final, I couldn’t have asked for the season to have gone any better. Some would say that we could’ve won the Asian Champions League to top it off, but we genuinely had no right to even be in the Final so I’m not even a tiny bit disappointed. We lost our star striker, Gerson Bouth, but managed to replace him with like for like quality in the form of Charles Vilarinho and our finances are looking extremely healthy as well. If Carlsberg did seasons…

My aims for next season: I’m not quite sure how I can even begin to try and improve for next season, we did that well this season. Obviously, retaining our league title is the main aim, whilst the board may view the domestic cups as irrelevant now we’ve won them numerous times over the past few years. In terms of our Asian Champions League aims, I don’t think I can even aim to match this season’s achievements as we had no right to make the Final. I should be aiming to match it but I’m also realistic enough to know that if we can make it to the knockout stages, then that will be seen as an achievement.

Career Summary

Season Team League Position Senior Shield FA Cup Sapling Cup Asian Confederation Cup Asian Champions League
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25 South China HK Premier League 4th First round Semi Final - - -
2025/26 South China HK Premier League 2nd Quarter Final Semi Final Semi Final - -
2026/27 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Semi Final Winners Winners -
2027/28 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Winners Winners - Quarter Final
2028/29 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Winners Winners - Runners-up

Raware · January 7

South China Athletic Association – Pre-season 2029/30

League expectation

Hong Kong Premier League: Board expectation – Win the league : Media expectation – 1^st (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Asian Champions League: Be competitive.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Win the competition.

Hong Kong FA Cup: Win the competition.

Hong Kong Sapling Cup: Be competitive.

Transfer budget: £500k (last season £100k)

Wage budget: £17.5k p/w (last season £14.5k p/w)

Current wage bill: £16.5k p/w (last season £13.6k p/w)

Season tickets sold: 0 (last season 0)

My views for the season ahead: It’s going to be a difficult ask to match last season’s achievements, but the obvious aim now is to win the league as both the board and the media are expecting us to retain our title for a 4^th successive season. The board want us to also retain the Senior Shield and the FA Cup, whilst they don’t seem bothered about the Sapling Cup. As for the Asian Champions League, given that we made the Final last season, it’ll be tough to top that, especially given the strength of the Saudi teams in the competition but if we can make the knockout stages again then I’ll be happy. Just a couple of incoming players this season as we brought in Nathan Foster from HKFC on a free transfer and promising Bulgarian Slavi Petkov from Zagorets on a free transfer. Another right winger for the squad but this was due to the bombshell that Andrei Bespalco dropped on me right before the season as he handed in a transfer request stating that he wanted to move to a bigger club. A shame really as he seemed to settle in well last season but, if he doesn’t want to stay then he can happily move along…reserve football for him for the season!

Raware · January 12

South China Athletic Association – Youth intake 2029/30

This year’s youth intake saw just 4 youth players offered contracts as Sin Siu Hong (30D), Leung Tsz Chung (30F), Choi Chung Ki (30H) and Chan Chun Wai (30I). The other 12 players were released.

Chung Wai Keung (30E)

Leung Tsz Chung (30F)

Chan Kwong Hing (30G)

Edited January 12 by Raware

Raware · January 14

South China Athletic Association – End of season 2029/30

Hong Kong Premier League/Hong Kong Premier League progress/Hong Kong Premier League fixtures: An undefeated league season for us saw us drop just 4 points across the season as we claimed our 4^th successive league title! Our second invincible league season in 3 seasons saw us score an impressive 76 goals as well, 4 more than our last invincible season in 2027/28. Lee Man seem to be back on track as they finished as runners-up, although they never really caused us any problems as we breezed to the title.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: A straight forward passage to the final saw us beat Kitchee and Rangers (HKG) on the way as we comfortably disposed of Tai Po in the final to clinch our 4^th straight Senior Shield.

Hong Kong FA Cup: Again, another straightforward passage to the final where we beat Lee Man 2-1 in the final to claim our 3^rd straight FA Cup.

Hong Kong Sapling Cup/Hong Kong Sapling Cup Group A: We easily topped our group before beating Rangers (HKG) in the semi final and Tai Po in the final as we claimed our 4^th Sapling Cup in a row.

Asian Champions League/Asian Champions League Group I: If I thought last seasons heroics in the ACL were something to go by then I wasn’t prepared for what this seasons ACL would bring. 3 wins and 3 draws were just enough to see us top the group and qualify for the knockout stages where we once again faced Kashima in the second round. A comfortable 1^st leg saw us go into the 2^nd leg looking a little complacent and that was the case as we needed away goals to help us through to the Quarter Final. Once again, a win in the Quarter Final 1^st leg saw us go into the 2^nd leg looking as if we had already made the Semi Final, and once again we had to rely on away goals to get us through. A much more assured couple of performances in the Semi Final saw us grab a draw in the 1^st leg before snatching a 1-0 win in the return leg to guarantee us another place in the ACL Final for a 2^nd successive season! Last seasons winners, Al-Ittihad were surprisingly dumped out of the competition by Al-Sadd so I felt that we had maybe just a tiny chance of getting a result and that was the case in the 1st leg as despite us getting dominated for much of the game, we took our chances and came away with a 3-1 lead. The 2nd leg was as difficult as I expected it to be as Al-Sadd gave us a lesson in football. Despite their dominance though we gave as good as we got and it looked as if we were going to win the ACL with just minutes to go…unfortunately for us though, they popped up with a 91^st minute goal that took the game to extra time. To say I was extremely disappointed was an understatement, but I couldn’t deny that they deserved it. Extra time came and went, and the game went to penalties where thankfully, we held our nerve and remarkably claimed the Asian Champions League!!!!

Transfers: Along with Nathan Foster and Slavi Petkov, we brought in some real quality in the form of Mouhamadou Ndiaye and Pedro Guerra, who both arrived on free transfers.

Squad: A quite incredible season for the players as Charles Vilarinho smashed in a club record 50 goals for the season as well as claiming the Hong Kong Footballer of the Year award, the Hong Kong Fans’ Player of the Year award, the Hong Kong Players’ Player of the Year award, and the Hong Kong Premier League top goal scorer award. Slavi Petkov had a very good debut season as he hit the back of the net 18 times whilst Sogo Ichikawa hit 15 goals as well as grabbing 20 assists.

Finances: Our finances are looking extremely healthy now after receiving £3 million for our ACL win as we sit with almost £7 million in the bank!

My views of the season: I said last season, if Carlsberg did seasons…well, this season was even better than a Carlsberg season as it was pretty much a perfect season as we remained undefeated in the league which helped us to claim our 4^th straight league title. We also claimed the FA Cup, the Senior Shield, the Sapling Cup and unbelievably, the Asian Champions League! I’ll be the first to admit that we had luck on our side throughout our ACL journey as we went through on away goals in both the Second Round and the Quarter Final and then got lucky in the Final by facing probably a weak Qatari side as we scraped by on penalties. I suppose it doesn’t matter how you win them though!

My aims for next season: Again, I said last season that I wasn’t sure how we could top the previous season and it’s a very similar story next season. There’s no doubt that we’ll be expected to win the league, and the domestic cups will probably be viewed as unimportant. The ACL is where the challenge will be as after making the Final in 2028/29 and then winning it this season, it’s obviously going to be difficult to try and replicate anything close to that again.

Career Summary

Season Team League Position Senior Shield FA Cup Sapling Cup Asian Confederation Cup Asian Champions League
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25 South China HK Premier League 4th First round Semi Final - - -
2025/26 South China HK Premier League 2nd Quarter Final Semi Final Semi Final - -
2026/27 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Semi Final Winners Winners -
2027/28 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners   Winners Winners - Quarter Final
2028/29 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners   Winners Winners - Runners-up
2029/30 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners   Winners Winners -   Winners

Honours

Hong Kong Premier League - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Hong Kong Senior Shield - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Hong Kong FA Cup - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Hong Kong Sapling Cup - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Asian Confederations Cup - 2026/27
Asian Champions League - 2029/30

Raware · January 18

Hong Kong – 2030

A big offer came my way during the summer as the Hong Kong Football Association offered me the job of being the national manager. I’m not ready to leave South China just yet so I accepted the offer with the condition that I could continue in my role as South China manager whilst managing the national team alongside it…something that I don’t think a manager has done; although I seem to remember Kevin Keegan almost doing it when he was at Fulham.

As expected, Hong Kong haven’t faired that well in recent years and there aren’t any competitive competitions coming up this season, so it’ll just be a case of friendly games in order to get to know some of the players. Two stand out players that we have are Wong Wing Sum, who got a move to China a few seasons ago and Poon Chun Kit, who I’ve just signed for South China.

In terms of expectations, there aren’t any just yet.

Raware · January 20

South China Athletic Association – Pre-season 2030/31

League expectation

Hong Kong Premier League: Board expectation – Win the league : Media expectation – 1^st (out of 12)

Cup expectations

Asian Champions League: Reach the Champions League proper.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Not important.

Hong Kong FA Cup: Not important.

Hong Kong Sapling Cup: Not important.

Transfer budget: £300k (last season £500k)

Wage budget: £27.5k p/w (last season £17.5k p/w)

Current wage bill: £24k p/w (last season £16.5k p/w)

Season tickets sold: 0 (last season 0)

My views for the season ahead: As is expected now, both the board and the media are expecting nothing but another league title whilst the domestic cups are seen as not important now, so this should give me an opportunity to give some of our youth players a run out in the cup games to aid their development. Given that we won the Asian Champions League last season and made the final the previous year, the expectation is to still only make the ACL proper, which we’ve already done as we automatically qualify for the group stages, so the pressure is off us a little. Having received some hefty prize money thanks to our ACL win, I’ve also been given a transfer budget of £300k as well as a budget of £27.5k p/w. With that increased budget, I’ve brought in Tsang Pak Ho from Tai Po, Brazilian youngsters Serginho and Bebeto, Poon Chun Kit and Wong Kwok Keung all on free transfers, and Law Chi Fung from Eastern for £70k.

Given that we’ve brought in two more Brazilians after bringing in Pedro Guerra and Mouhamadou Ndiaye last season, some may be wondering how we’re going to fit all of these foreign players into our squad when we have a limit of 6 foreigners per match squad. This was made possible as Brazilian trio Pedrao, Itallo and Nenem who we brought in from North District during the 2026/27 season helped us out by gaining Hong Kong citizenship after living in the country for 7 years.

Raware · January 21

Some interesting news hit the headlines halfway through the season as a takeover bid was rumoured to be happening as our Chairperson, Fong Yu Hin is looking sell the club with a local investor being lined up…

Raware · January 22

…or so I thought! Breaking news is that a mystery foreign tycoon is now looking to complete a buy out of the club and invest large sums of money in new players and facilities!

Raware · January 22

…looks like that breaking news could have some truth in it! £39 million?!?!

Raware · January 23

Confirmed! Radik Goryachkin is our new owner and it looks as if he’s willing to put his money where his mouth is! In all my years of CM/FM, I’ve never had a tycoon takeover so to finally get one is quite surreal actually!

Radik Goryachkin has wasted no time in getting to work as he’s announced improvements will start on the clubs training and youth facilities, as well as improving our youth recruitment network!

Raware · January 26

South China Athletic Association – Youth intake 2030/31

It seems as if the improvements to our youth recruitment network that the chairman invested in this season have already started to make a difference as this years youth intake sees a number of standout candidates with Tsang Tsz Kin (31A), Yip You Cheong (31B), Ma Wai Man (31C), Delmo (31I), Cheng Tsz Lung (31J), Cheng Ka Ho (31K) and Ng Ka Fai (31L) all looking as if they have some potential, in particularly Chen Ka Ho (31K), who looks as if he’s ready for first team football now at just 15 years old. It’s also pleasing to see that our Brazilian contingent is having an effect on our recruitment as Delmo (31I) looks very promising too.

Deisler26 · January 26

Who gets the fabled ‘Silver Shoes’ title as best youngster?

Raware · January 27

20 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

Who gets the fabled ‘Silver Shoes’ title as best youngster?

They're reserved for awards night!

Raware · February 1

South China Athletic Association – End of season 2030/31

Hong Kong Premier League/Hong Kong Premier League progress/Hong Kong Premier League fixtures: An almost perfect season as we won 21 of our 22 league games, with only Eastern ruining it for us! Combined with last seasons league form as well, that makes it two seasons in a row that we’ve maintained an unbeaten league season. Although no-one really challenged us, Kitchee seem to be back on track after 4 seasons out of the top 3, so they could once again become a rival for us.

Hong Kong Senior Shield: Our 5^th straight Senior Shield came after we managed to beat Kitchee in extra time.

Hong Kong FA Cup: Kitchee gained revenge on us in the FA Cup as they surprisingly dumped us out in the first round after beating us on penalties after equalising in the 89^th minute which took it to extra time.

Hong Kong Sapling Cup/Hong Kong Sapling Cup Group B: A fairly straight forward group stage saw us qualify with ease, so it gave me a chance to give some of our youngsters an opportunity. A tough lesson for them as despite having numerous chances to win the game, their naivety showed as we ended up losing 4-1.

Asian Champions League/Asian Champions League Group J: I’m not entirely sure where we stand in this competition now as we’ve finished as runners-up and as winners in the last two seasons, yet the board are only expecting us to qualify for the ACL group stages and the media aren’t expecting us to progress past the group stage. We did manage to qualify from Group J as we disposed of South Korean sides Pohang in the Second round and Ulsan in the Quarter Final and I did think we’d be disposing of a third South Korean side after we beat Seoul 2-0 in the first leg, but a poor performance from a superior Seoul side in the second leg saw us exit the competition in the Semi Final. Still, no complaints from me given that we’re still relatively new to the competition and seen as one of the smaller teams in the competition.

Transfers: Just one new face joined us this season as Shen Xianjun joined us on a free transfer after his contract with Suwon expired.

Squad: Despite us not winning as many trophies as we did last season, it was still another brilliant season from the group of players as we won our 5^th straight league title and also claimed our 5^th straight Senior Shield. Charles Vilarinho continued where he left off as he smashed in 37 goals in 39 games whilst also claiming the Hong Kong Footballer of the Year award, the Hong Kong Fans’ Player of the Year award, the Hong Kong Players’ Player of the Year award, and the Hong Kong Premier League top goal scorer award. Slavi Petkov had another good season as grabbed 14 goals whilst Sogo Ichikawa also hit 13 goals in all competitions. Serginho claimed the Hong Kong Goalkeeper of the Year award whilst Bebeto had a good debut season as he hit 11 goals in 35 games whilst also grabbing the attention of some J-League clubs who are interested in signing him.

Finances: After our tycoon takeover we’re looking very secure as we sit with £35 million in the bank with a huge transfer and wage budget available to me!

My views of the season: Last season’s antics were always going to be difficult to replicate but given that we retained the league title for a 5^th straight season and also retained the Senior Shield for a 5^th straight season, I’ve got to be pleased with our achievements. Even our Asian Champions League campaign was extremely pleasing as despite us failing to defend our title, to make it to the Semi Final was extremely pleasing. The domestic cups aren’t seen as being important now so I gave opportunities for some of our youngsters so I can’t be too disappointed with how we exited these competitions. Hopefully the experiences will stand them in good stead.

My aims for next season: The league title will obviously be a priority whilst the domestic cups will give me another opportunity to try and develop some of our young and promising youngsters. Again, the Asian Champions League will be where the challenge will be and if we can make it to the knockout stages then I’ll be happy. Given our recent tycoon takeover as well, this may give me the opportunity to take us to the next level in terms of player recruitment, but it’ll be a very measured approach as we’re only allowed 6 foreign players in the matchday squad and we already have 9 foreign players in the squad.

Career Summary

Season Team League Position Senior Shield FA Cup Sapling Cup Asian Confederation Cup Asian Champions League
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25 South China HK Premier League 4th First round Semi Final - - -
2025/26 South China HK Premier League 2nd Quarter Final Semi Final Semi Final - -
2026/27 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Semi Final Winners Winners -
2027/28 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Winners Winners - Quarter Final
2028/29 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Winners Winners - Runners-up
2029/30 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners Winners Winners - Winners
2030/31 South China HK Premier League 1st Winners 1st round Semi Final - Semi Final

Honours

Hong Kong Premier League - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31
Hong Kong Senior Shield - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31
Hong Kong FA Cup - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Hong Kong Sapling Cup - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Asian Confederations Cup - 2026/27
Asian Champions League - 2029/30

Edited February 1 by Raware

Raware · February 2

An interesting offer has landed on my desk…

Raware · February 3

…which in the end, was just too good to turn down.

Despite things going really well at South China, having recently had a tycoon takeover, dominating domestically now and teetering on the edge of continental glory with two Asian Champions League Final appearances in the last three years, it seemed a “no-brainer” to take charge of a club like Beijing and I’d be silly if I didn’t jump at the opportunity. I’ve been at South China for 7 years now and have completed what I set out to do – taking them back to the top of Hong Kong football and claiming the biggest domestic trophy in Asian football in the form of the Asian Champions League. The timing feels right to move on to my next challenge and whilst it’s a different challenge to South China, it feels like the next logical move.

I’ve also resigned as the national manager of Hong Kong, which is a shame as I didn’t really get the chance to get stuck into a World Cup Qualifying campaign but having left Hong Kong football for the Chinese Super League, it only seemed right to move on from the national scene too.

Raware · February 3

Beijing Gu’aon: A background

Having enjoyed success as recently as 2029, Yulinjun are a club with a growing history. Beijing won the Chinese top division in 2009 and 2025 and finished as runners-up eight times, have 6 Chinese FA Cup wins to their name and finished second three further times, won the Chinese Super Cup in 1998, 2004 and 2026 and finished second best four further times.

Beijing Stadium

cerud · February 4

Congrats on the new job! A change of scenery is probably a good thing at this stage of your career.

Raware · February 4

8 hours ago, cerud said:

Congrats on the new job! A change of scenery is probably a good thing at this stage of your career.

Thanks @cerud. Yeah, it felt a bit of a no-brainer to move on at this point despite a tycoon takeover at South China. This save was never going to be a one club save, hence the "Oriental Express" title . Time to test myself in China now.

Raware · February 7

Club information | Club profile | Club facilities | Club history

Raware · February 7

Beijing Gu’aon – Pre-season 2032

League expectation

Chinese Super League: Board expectation – Finish in the top four : Media expectation – 2^nd (out of 16)

Cup expectations

Chinese FA Cup: Reach the latter stages.

Transfer budget: £46.5 million

Wage budget: £475k p/w

Current wage bill: £195k p/w

Season tickets sold: 23,244

My views for the season ahead: A new challenge at Beijing brings a different challenge to what I faced at South China. The aim at South China was to bring them back to where they once were and over the 7 years, I think I managed to do that.

Beijing, however, are already a club that are sitting within the top 4/5 clubs in the Chinese Super League so the aim will be to make them the best team in the league. Beijing did win the Chinese Super League in 2025 but ever since then, the league has been dominated by Shanghai Port and Chengdu Rongcheng, who have claimed the title 6 times between them.

The board are expecting us to finish in the top four, which is more than achievable and takes the pressure off me a little in my first season. To achieve this, the board have given me a huge budget of £46.5 million with an allowance of £475k p/w for wages.

The current squad looks quite a strong group of players with Gao Gang, Yao Qi and Anselmo looking like the standout players, as well Kokichi Ilzumi but he returns to his parent club after a season long loan. I’ve identified a few areas that I think need improving so have brought in 10 players to bolster the squad. In come Hong Long from DL Pro for £525k, Wang Yong for £3.5 million and Chen Yiming for £275k both from Tianjin, Du Hong from CD Rongcheng for £1.6 million and Hu Bin from Zhejiang for £3.5 million. I also raided my former club, South China as I brought in Bebeto for £350k and Shen Xianjun for £170k whilst Brazilians Max and Rodrigo Wisnik also joined us from CTB and JUV, respectably. The biggest signing that I made though was Gerson Bouth from Al-Batin for £10 million who once again joins up with me after a short stint working together at South China. Some might remember that he smashed in an incredible 37 goals in just 24 games when he was at South China but was quickly sold to Al-Batin after the South China board accepted an offer for him on my behalf. Hopefully, we’ll be working together for a bit longer at Beijing and the board won’t feel the need to sell him under my nose as there’s no doubting that he’s a great striker. With those new additions, the squad looks a lot more balanced and should have more than enough quality to achieve our objectives this season.

Edited February 7 by Raware

Raware · February 11

Beijing Gu’aon – Youth intake 2032

A decent first youth intake for us as Su Yang (32C), Li Zhe (32I), Gui Zijian (32K), He Ming (32M) and Zhu Tianyi (32N) were all offered contracts. The remaining 11 players were deemed as not good enough so were released from the club.

Raware · February 12

Beijing Gu’aon – End of season 2032

Chinese Super League/Chinese Super League progress/Chinese Super League fixtures: The media were expecting us to finish 2^nd in the league this season whilst the board just wanted us to finish in the top 4, so to finish as runners-up in my first season at Beijing was very pleasing. We had a brilliant start to the season as we remained unbeaten in our first 20 games which did actually see us lead the table for a number of weeks. A poor August though saw us fall away as Shanghai Port showed their superiority as they went on to claim the title, finishing 2 points ahead of us.

Chinese FA Cup: We had a fairly straight forward route to the final which saw us draw Shanghai Port, who are fast becoming our main rival. A 1-1 draw in the 1st leg and a 1-1 draw in the 2nd leg led to a penalty shoot out where we were able to keep our nerve and claim the Chinese FA Cup for just the 3^rd time in the club’s history. A nice bit of silverware in my first season too!

Transfers: Almost all of our signings were made at the start of the season as we signed Hong Long from DL Pro for £525k, Wang Yong from Tianjin for £3.5 million, Chen Yiming from Tianjin for £275k, Du Hong from CD Rongcheng for £1.6 million, Hu Bin from Zhejiang for £3.5 million, Bebeto from South China for £350k, Shen Xianjun from South China for £170k, Max on a free transfer from CTB, Rodrigo Wisnik for £45.5k from JUV and Gerson Bouth from Al-Batin for £10 million. The only other signing we made was Jose Ribamar from SBE for £37.5k.

Squad: Beijing finished 5^th last season and that saw the previous manager get sacked, so it was obvious that we needed to make additions if I was to improve on that and achieve this seasons expectations. I was pleased at how well the existing players, and new signings gelled as they had a brilliant season to help us finish as runners-up in the league, whilst also claiming the Chinese FA Cup. Much of that was down to Gerson Bouth who smashed in 27 goals in 31 games in his debut season which helped him claim the CSL Golden Boot. Yao Qi also had a great season as he grabbed 13 goals and 7 assists to help him claim the CSL Best Under 23 player award and the CSL Most Popular Domestic Player award whilst Bebeto seemed to have no problem settling in to life in China as he hit 10 goals in his first season at the club.

Finances: Even with a £22.9 million loss this year (£20 million was on players), we’re still looking financially healthy as we have almost £40 million in the bank with a guaranteed £30 million for transfers next season.

My views of the season: An absolutely fantastic first season in the Chinese Super League for us as we ran Shanghai Port close in the league to finish as runners-up, just 2 points behind them. Given that they walked the league last year, finishing a whopping 20 points clear of Changchun, it’s really pleasing to see us close the gap on them so quickly. We also had a win in the Chinese FA Cup after narrowly beating Shanghai Port on penalties to claim the club’s 3^rd FA Cup in their history. It’s always important to pick silverware up as quickly as you can when you move to another country, so I’m obviously pleased that I’ve managed to do that in my first season. I’m also pleased that Gerson Bouth seems to have picked up where he left off when I had him at South China before the board sold him on my behalf! I was delighted to have found such a gem but was then left feeling betrayed when I lost him. Sometimes you get an attachment to FM players so to have him back is something I’m enjoying at the minute.

My aims for next season: The clubs aims are to finish in the top four again so I feel that that’s more than achievable after this season. With the right kind of signings in key areas (a centre half, a centre mid, and a winger), I think we can run Shanghai close again. Obviously, it’d be nice if we could challenge for the FA Cup again, but we’ll have the Asian Champions League to compete for next season, if we make it through the playoff. If we don’t then I think we automatically qualify for the Asian Confederation Cup then so either way, we’ll be playing some form of continental football.

Career Summary
Club
Season	Club	League	Pred.	Pos.	Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25	South China	HK Premier League	7th	4th	-
2025/26	South China	HK Premier League	7th	2nd	-
2026/27	South China	HK Premier League	4th	1st	League Champions, ACC Winners, Senior Shield Winners, Sapling Cup Winners
2027/28	South China	HK Premier League	3rd	1st	League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners
2028/29	South China	HK Premier League	1st	1st	League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners
2029/30	South China	HK Premier League	1st	1st	League Champions, ACL Winners, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners
2030/31	South China	HK Premier League	1st	1st	League Champions, Senior Shield Winners
2032	Beijing	Chinese Super League	2nd	2nd	FA Cup Winners

International
Season	Country	Competition			Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2030	Hong Kong	-			-
2031	Hong Kong	-			-

Honours

Asian Champions League - 2029/30
Asian Confederation Cup - 2026/27
Hong Kong Premier League - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31
Hong Kong FA Cup - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Hong Kong Senior Shield - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31
Hong Kong Sapling Cup - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Chinese FA Cup - 2032

Raware · February 17

Beijing Gu’aon – Pre-season 2033

League expectation

Chinese Super League: Board expectation – Finish in the top four : Media expectation – 2^nd (out of 16)

Cup expectations

Asian Champions League: Reach the group stages.

Chinese FA Cup: Reach the Semi Final.

Transfer budget: £27.4 million (last season £46.5 million)

Wage budget: £382k (last season £475k p/w)

Current wage bill: £248k (last season £195k p/w)

Season tickets sold: 23,573 (last season 23,244)

My views for the season ahead: As mentioned in the end of season update, the media are expecting us to finish 2^nd while the board are expecting a top 4 finish. Given how close we pushed Shanghai last season, I think we can make a title challenge, especially if Gerson Bouth can stay fit. I also mentioned in the end of season update about making the right kind of signings if we are to push, in particularly at centre half, centre mid and on the wing. We’ve done just that in the transfer window as we’ve brought in Ni Jinqing on a free transfer and Guilherme Toda for £325k both from Shanghai, Liu Yi from rivals Shenhua on a free transfer, Li Ming from Henan for £1.4 million and Mitsuo Fukano from Japanese side Iwata for £3 million.

R7LHJ · February 18

Sorry im late to the party but ive only just seen this thread - welcome back Pete, amazing to see you back here!

Raware · February 22

On 18/02/2024 at 07:16, R7LHJ said:

Sorry im late to the party but ive only just seen this thread - welcome back Pete, amazing to see you back here!

:thup:

Raware · February 22

Beijing Gu’aon – Youth intake 2033

A steady youth intake as Xing Rui (33E), Zheng Bo (33H), Cai Feng (33J), Zhou Bin (33K) and Cui Bin (33L) were all offered contracts. The remaining 11 trialists were all released.

Raware · March 1

Beijing Gu’aon – End of season 2033

Chinese Super League/Chinese Super League progress/Chinese Super League fixtures: A quite phenomenal season for us as we romped home to the title after winning 29 games out of 30, drawing just one game! The media were predicting us to finish 2^nd again whilst the board were wanting a top 4 finish again so to win the title in such emphatic fashion is very pleasing, and surprising. Shanghai were the only team to take points off us this season as we also scored over 100 goals and conceded just 13!

Asian Champions League: After finishing 2^nd in the league last season, we qualified for the ACL playoffs where we drew J1 League side Urawa Reds. I was quietly optimistic of progressing to the group stage, but we just never turned up as Urawa dominated us from the 1^st minute to last minute as we lost 2-1 in the East Playoff.

Asian Confederation Cup fixtures/Asian Confederation Cup East Asian Zone Group I: Our loss to Urawa Reds in the Asian Champions League East Playoff meant that we were automatically put into the Asian Confederation Cup. If I’m honest, we could’ve done without being in this competition as we’re probably levels above some of the teams in this competition and that has shown so far as we’ve pummelled the teams in our group, easily topping our group, and even smashing in 12 goals in one game past Macau minnows Associacao Desportiva Ka I. As the Chinese Super League runs from April to November though, our ACC journey will continue next season where we’ve drawn North Korean side Rimyongsu Sports Group in the East Asian Zone Final.

Chinese Super Cup: As we were FA Cup winners last year, we met last season’s Chinese Super League winners Shanghai in the season opener where a goal fest that saw 7 goals scored went our way as a 4-3 win was enough for us to claim our first piece of silverware for the season.

Chinese FA Cup: Other than a scare against Chinese First Division side Ji’nan Xingzhou in the 5^th round, it was a fairly straight forward journey for us as we retained our FA Cup thanks to a 6-2 aggregate win against Changchun.

Transfers: As mentioned in the pre-season update, we brought in 5 players as Ni Jinqing and Guilherme Toda joined us from Shanghai Port for a combined fee of £1.4million, Liu Yi joined us from rivals Shenhua on a free transfer, Li Ming joined us from Henan for £1.4 million, and Mitsuo Fukano joined us from Japanese side Iwata for £3million.

Squad: A quite incredible season for the players as they lost just one game and drew one game all season! Much of that was down Gerson Bouth who is rapidly becoming a wanted man as he smashed in an unbelievable 40 goals in 36 games. As I mentioned last season, I was disappointed to lose him the way I did when I was at South China so to have him back now at Beijing really is a huge positive. There are a few Saudi clubs sniffing around him though so I’m hoping he isn’t tempted by their lucrative offers. Bouth also claimed the Chinese Super League Player of the Year award as well as the Chinese Super League Golden Boot award for a second successive season. Gerson Bouth’s strike partner also had a fine season as he scored 25 goals with most of them coming off the bench whilst Guilherme Toda also hit double figures as he grabbed 14 goals. Yao Qi had a great season as grabbed 16 goals as well as the Chinese Super League Most Popular Domestic Player award, whilst Mitsuo Fukano and Gao Gang also got in on the goal scoring action as they scored 24 goals between them.

Finances: Even with a £22.9 million loss this year (£20 million was on players), we’re still looking financially healthy as we have almost £40 million in the bank with a guaranteed £30 million for transfer’s next season.

My views of the season: A phenomenal season for us as we romped home to claim the clubs first league title in 8 years, and only the clubs 3^rd league title in their history. To finish so far ahead of Shanghai and Roncheng, who have dominated the league over the last 7 years, so quickly into my tenure shows just how far this squad have come in such a short space of time. As well as claiming the league title, we also claimed the Chinese Super Cup and the Chinese FA Cup so to clean up domestically shows how dominant we were. It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns though as we slipped up in the Asian Champions League playoff game against Urawa Reds as we just didn’t show up which has meant that we now find ourselves in the Asian Confederation Cup. As I mentioned, we could do without being in this competition really as we’re levels above most teams and that showed as we scored 40 goals in our 6 group games that have left us facing North Korean side Rimyongsu Sports Group in the East Asian Zone Final. Still, I suppose it’s an opportunity to claim some more silverware to add to the cabinet.

My aims for next season: Expectations have certainly been increased for next season as we’re expected to retain our league title, the FA Cup, and the Chinese Super Cup! Given our dominance this season, I have no doubts that we can challenge again but the pressure is most definitely on us now. Whilst the squad is obviously one of the strongest in the league now, I think we still need to look at making a couple of additions, just to keep things fresh and maintain a competitiveness for places. We’ll also have our remaining games in the Asian Confederation Cup to play as we’ve progressed to the latter stages now. Without being too disrespectful to the competition and the clubs involved in it, we should really be winning this competition, even if it is a bit of a hindrance for us.

Career Summary
Club
Season	Club	League	Pred.	Pos.	Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25	South China	HK Premier League	7th	4th	-
2025/26	South China	HK Premier League	7th	2nd	-
2026/27	South China	HK Premier League	4th	1st	League Champions, ACC Winners, Senior Shield Winners, Sapling Cup Winners
2027/28	South China	HK Premier League	3rd	1st	League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners
2028/29	South China	HK Premier League	1st	1st	League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners
2029/30	South China	HK Premier League	1st	1st	League Champions, ACL Winners, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners
2030/31	South China	HK Premier League	1st	1st	League Champions, Senior Shield Winners
2032	Beijing	Chinese Super League	2nd	2nd	FA Cup Winners
2033	Beijing	Chinese Super League	2nd	1st	League Champions, FA Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners

International
Season	Country	Competition			Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2030	Hong Kong	-			-
2031	Hong Kong	-			-

Honours

Asian Champions League - 2029/30
Asian Confederation Cup - 2026/27
Hong Kong Premier League - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31
Hong Kong FA Cup - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Hong Kong Senior Shield - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31
Hong Kong Sapling Cup - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30
Chinese Super League - 2033
Chinese FA Cup - 2032, 2033
Chinese Super Cup - 2033

Edited March 1 by Raware

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