R&F (Hong Kong)

R&F (Hong Kong) Soccer Limited (Chinese: 富力（香港）足球有限公司), commonly known as R&F (Chinese: 富力R&F), was an association football team based in Guangzhou, China which competed in the Hong Kong Premier League between 2016 and 2020. It was owned by Chinese property developers R&F Properties as a satellite team of Chinese Super League side Guangzhou City.

R&F
Full nameR&F (Hong Kong) Soccer Limited
富力（香港）足球有限公司
Founded2016
Dissolved2020
GroundYanzigang Stadium, Guangzhou
Capacity2,000
PresidentHuang Shenghua
Head coachYeung Ching Kwong
LeagueHong Kong Premier League
2019–20Hong Kong Premier League, 3rd of 10
WebsiteClub website
R&F
Chinese富力R&F

The club's name "R&F" is short for "Rich" (富) and "Force" (力) in Mandarin Chinese.

History

R&F were founded and registered at the Hong Kong Football Association in the summer of 2016. As a satellite team of Chinese Super League side Guangzhou City, most of its players were loanees from the Guangzhou City reserves. On 1 August 2016, they were accepted into the Hong Kong Premier League with following conditions: (1) Signing at least eight Hong Kong players. (2) Using at least three Hong Kong players in a match. (3) Sponsoring a cup competition with a fee of $1 million.[1] The club finished their inaugural season in 10th place with 3 wins, 1 draw and 16 defeats in the 2016–17 Hong Kong Premier League, which secured their position in the top flight for the next season.

In June 2017, R&F was allowed to move their home matches to Yanzigang Stadium in Guangzhou after previously using Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground as their stadium. They were permitted to register three foreigners for the 2017–18 Hong Kong Premier League season.[2] R&F signed Brazilian Giovane from Eastern as well as four naturalized Hong Kong players Vas Núñez, Roberto, Itaparica and Godfred Karikari in their squad, hoping to be a more competitive team.[3]

After another disappointing season, R&F abandoned their mission of training Guangzhou City's reserve players. Starting with the 2018–19 season, the club's budget was increased to HK$50 million and the squad was composed mainly of Hong Kong players.[4] Chairman Huang Shenghua claimed that the club's goal was to win at least one trophy in the season and applied for full membership within the HKFA in order to represent Hong Kong in Asian Football Confederation club competitions.[5] The club finished as runners-up, five points behind Tai Po.

On 28 June 2019, it was confirmed that the HKFA had accepted R&F's proposal to follow the same registration rules as other HKPL clubs.[6] This moved meant that R&F could now register up to seven foreigners, while Chinese passport holders would no longer qualify as local players.

After 4 years in the HKPL, R&F officially announced that they would withdraw from the league on 14 October 2020.[7]

Honours

League
Runners-up (1): 2018–19

Results

All-time league rankings
As of 11 October 2020[8]
Year Div Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos. FA Cup Senior Challenge Shield Sapling Cup Att./G Stadium
2016–1712031161353-401010R1R1R2207Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground
2017–1811871102735-8227R1R1Group stage797Yanzigang Stadium
2018–191181134512625362QFSFGroup stage707Yanzigang Stadium
2019–2011053221156183Runner-upSFGroup stage388Yanzigang Stadium

Managerial history
As of 11 October 2020
# Name Period Pld W D L GF GA GD Win% Honours
1 China Li Zhihai July 2016 – May 2017 23 3 1 19 14 62 −48 013.04
2 Poland Marek Zając June 2017 – 12 March 2018 18 6 1 11 22 36 −14 033.33
3 China Bito Wu 12 March 2018 – 3 June 2018 6 2 0 4 11 13 −2 033.33
4 Hong Kong Yeung Ching Kwong 14 June 2018 – 14 October 2020 52 29 9 14 134 74 +60 055.77

Past and present internationals

Names in bold indicate players who had international appearances for their countries while playing for R&F.[9]

 Burkina Faso


 China


 Hong Kong


 Congo


 Ecuador

References
  1. "港超聯　足總董事會拍板 東方無緣亞洲賽". hk.on.cc. Oriental Press Group Limited. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  2. "富力将战港超预备队联赛". Netease. Guangzhou News. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  3. "R&F富力 重装出征港超". Netease. Nanfang News. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  4. Chan, Kin Wa. "Footballer of the year Igor Sartori's switch to R&F Hong Kong from champions Tai Po confirmed". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  5. "富力R&F:"争取两年后参加亚冠"". Information Times. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  6. Gao, Si Kei. "貝鈞奇自動當選主席　富力來季盡用外援主場未定". HK01. Retrieved 28 June 2019. (in Chinese)
  7. 港超︱富力R&F落實棄戰港超　稱退出因現時香港足球氛圍 Ming Pao 14 October 2020
  8. "R&F FC (HONG KONG) Statistics". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  9. "R&F FC". national-football-teams.com.
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