Hong Kong Sapling Cup

Hong Kong Sapling Cup
Founded	2015
Abolished	2025
Region	Hong Kong
Teams	9
Last champions	Southern (2nd title)
Most championships	Kitchee; Southern; (2 titles)

Hong Kong Sapling Cup (Chinese: 菁英盃) was a Hong Kong domestic football competition contested by the Hong Kong Premier League teams. The objective of the Cup was to provide more playing opportunities for youth players. It was discontinued after the 2024–25 season.

HK$120,000 reward goes to the winners, with the runners-up getting HK$60,000. The two other losing semi-finalists receive HK$30,000. The remaining teams get HK$15,000. The best under-22 player from each team gets HK$3,000, and player of the tournament earns an additional HK$5,000.^[1] The last Sapling Cup holder is Southern.

Competition name and rules


Season	Name	Logo	Format	Rules
2015–16	Henderson Sapling Cup (Sponsorship from Henderson Land Development)		Participating teams are divided into two groups for a single round-robin tournament. Top two advance to the semi-finals.	Each team must have no fewer than two players under the age of 21 and no more than six foreign players at any time.
2016–17	R&F Properties Sapling Cup (Sponsorship from R&F Properties)		Participating teams compete in a single-elimination tournament.
2017–18	Sapling Cup (No sponsorship)		Participating teams are divided into two groups for a single round-robin tournament. Top two advance to the semi-finals.	Each team must have no fewer than two players under the age of 22 and no more than four foreign players at any time.
2018–19
2019–20			Participating teams are divided into two groups for a double round-robin tournament. Top team advances to the final.	Each team must have no fewer than three players under the age of 22 and no more than four foreign players at any time.
2020–21			Participating teams are divided into two groups for a double round-robin tournament. Top two advance to the semi-finals.
2021–22			Participating teams compete in a double round-robin tournament.
2022–23	JC Sapling Cup (Sponsorship from Hong Kong Jockey Club)		Participating teams are divided into two groups for a double round-robin tournament. Top two advance to the semi-finals.

2023–24

2024–25		Participating teams are divided into two groups for a single round-robin tournament. Top two advance to the semi-finals.

Finals

Key

*	Match went to extra time
†	Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time

Results

Edition	Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Venue	Attendance
1	2015–16	Pegasus	1–1 †	South China	Mong Kok Stadium	2,150
2	2016–17	Tai Po	2–1 *	Pegasus	Mong Kok Stadium	2,956
3	2017–18	Kitchee	2–1	Tai Po	Hong Kong Stadium	2,165
4	2018–19	Lee Man	3–2 *	Yuen Long	Mong Kok Stadium	2,685
5	2019–20	Kitchee	3–1	Southern	Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground	0^[1]
6	2020–21	Eastern	2–0	Happy Valley	Mong Kok Stadium	2,243
7	2021–22	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
8	2022–23	Southern	2–0	Lee Man	Mong Kok Stadium	2,519
9	2023–24	Rangers	1–0	Kitchee		3,769
10	2024–25	Southern	4–0	Lee Man		3,072

Notes

^
Match was played behind closed doors due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.^[2]

Performance by teams

Team	Wins	Last final won	Runners-up	Last final lost
Kitchee	2	2019–20	1	2023–24
Southern	2	2024–25	1	2020–21
Lee Man	1	2018–19	2	2024–25
Pegasus	1	2015–16	1	2016–17
Tai Po	1	2016–17	1	2017–18
Eastern	1	2020–21	–	–
Rangers	1	2023–24	–	–
South China	–	–	1	2015–16
Yuen Long	–	–	1	2018–19
Happy Valley	–	–	1	2020–21

Players record

Most appearances


Rank	Player	Apps
1	Shu Sasaki	53
2	Leung Kwun Chung	44
2	Wong Chun Ho	44
4	Cheng Chin Lung	43
	Cheng Tsz Sum
	Stefan Pereira
	Yu Wai Lim
8	Lam Ka Wai	42
8	Wu Chun Ming	42
10	Chan Hoi Pak	41
	Kessi
	Lam Hin Ting
	Tomas Maronesi

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Apps	Ratio
1	Stefan Pereira	32	43	0.74
2	Mikael	19	33	0.58
2	Everton Camargo	19	38	0.5
4	Lucas Silva	17	23	0.74
4	Juninho	17	32	0.53
6	Mahama Awal	15	37	0.41
6	Shu Sasaki	15	53	0.28
8	Sandro	14	17	0.82
8	Travis Major	14	19	0.74
10	Wellingsson de Souza	13	29	0.45
10	Sun Ming Him	13	33	0.39

References

↑ "Hong Kong Jockey Club to pump nearly HK$2 million into Sapling Cup in new 3-year deal". SCMP.
↑ Chan, Kin-wa. "No showers for players with Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground to host domestic games again behind closed doors". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 March 2020.

External links

FA Cup, The Hong Kong Football Association website.
Hong Kong Football Archived 2020-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
RSSSF – Hongkong – List of FA Cup winners

[cnote_1] 
Match was played behind closed doors due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.^[2]

[1] "Hong Kong Jockey Club to pump nearly HK$2 million into Sapling Cup in new 3-year deal". SCMP.

[2] Chan, Kin-wa. "No showers for players with Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground to host domestic games again behind closed doors". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 March 2020.

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