Lee Man Football Club () is a Hong Kong professional football club based in Mong Kok, which currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. Lee & Man Chemical Limited is the major sponsor of the club.
The club won their first 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 an entrance fee of HKD 1 million to the Hong Kong Football Association for the right to enter a club directly into the Hong Kong Premier League. The club hired former Hong Kong international Fung Ka Ki as their first manager on 3 July 2017. Lee Man recorded their first 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 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. 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.
Lee Man participated in their first 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 Hong Kong Premier League title after a 6–1 victory against Sham Shui Po.港超聯 理文大勝6比1 首奪聯賽冠軍 on.cc 19 May 2024 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. The club is then drawn into Group G alongside Thailand club Bangkok United, Vietnamese club Nam Định and Singaporean club Tampines Rovers.
Stadium Lee Man played their home matches at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground which can hold a capacity of up to 5,000. However, as the stadium didn't meet AFC requirements, Lee Man played all of their 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two home matches at the Mong Kok Stadium. Since the start of the 2025–26 season, the team has played all their home fixtures at this location.
Current squad First team
Out on loan
Club official {|class="wikitable" |- ! style="color:black; background:#ffee00;"|Position ! style="color:black; background:#ffee00;"|Staff |- |Head coach|| Giancarlo Italiano |- |rowspan=2|Assistant coaches|| Pouria Nabi |- | Lo Chi Kwan |- |Goalkeeping coach|| Cheng Ho Man |- |Fitness coach|| Lee Kin Wai |- |Technical analyst|| Tai Sze Chung
Season-to-season record SeasonTierDivisionTeamsPositionHome StadiumAttendance/GFA CupSenior ShieldLeague CupSapling CupHKPLC Cup2017–181Premier League108Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground509Quarter-finalsQuarter-finalsNot heldGroup StageNot held2018–191Premier League109627Quarter-finalsQuarter-finalsChampions2019–201Premier League104Sham Shui Po Sports Ground877First RoundRunners-upGroup Stage2020–211Premier League83Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground852Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemicSemi-finals2021–221Premier League8Cancelled943Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemicCancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic2022–231Premier League102817Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsRunners-up2023–241Premier League111716Semi-finalsSemi-finalsGroup stageRunners-up2024–251Premier League92574Quarter-finalsRunners-upRunners-upDefunct2025–261Premier League103Mong Kok Stadium1,157Quarter-finalsQuarter-finalsChampionsDefunct2026–271Premier League11
Note:
Continental record SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayAggregate2021AFC CupGroup J Eastern1–01st Tainan City4–1 Athletic 2205–1 Inter-zone play-off final Nasaf Qarshi2–3 (a.e.t.)2022AFC CupPlay-off round Athletic 2202–1Group J Eastern1–32nd Tainan City3–12023–24AFC Champions LeaguePreliminary stage Bali United5–1Play-off stage Urawa Red Diamonds0–32024–25AFC Champions League TwoGroup G Bangkok United0–11–44th Thép Xanh Nam Định0–20–3 Tampines Rovers0–01–3
Honours League Hong Kong Premier League Champions (1): 2023–24
Cup competitions Hong Kong Sapling Cup Champions (1): 2018–19 Hong Kong League Cup Champions (1): 2025–26
Performance records
Performance by coach +CoachFromToAchievements Fung Ka Ki 1 July 20179 April 2018 Fung Hoi Man10 April 201820 May 2018 Chan Hiu Ming21 May 20185 February 2023 2018–19 Hong Kong Sapling Cup Tsang Chiu Tat 5 February 20233 October 20242023–24 Hong Kong Premier League Chu Siu Kei (Interim)3 October 202421 November 2024 Matthew Holland21 November 202410 March 2025 Chu Siu Kei 10 March 20258 March 2026 Darren Read (Interim)8 March 202617 May 20262025–26 Hong Kong League Cup Giancarlo Italiano17 June 2026
References
External links