Jump to content

Hong Kong Sapling Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Sapling Cup)
Hong Kong Sapling Cup
The current logo for the JC Sapling Cup, starting from 2022–23.
Founded2015
RegionHong Kong Hong Kong
Number of teams9
Current championsRangers (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Kitchee (2 titles)
2024–25 Hong Kong Sapling Cup

Hong Kong Sapling Cup (Chinese: 菁英盃), currently known as JC Sapling Cup (Chinese: 賽馬會菁英盃) for sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong domestic football competition contested by all the teams in the Hong Kong Premier League. The objective of the Cup is to provide more playing opportunities for youth players in Hong Kong.

HK$120,000 will go to the winners, with the runners-up getting HK$60,000. The two other losing semi-finalists will each receive HK$30,000, with the six remaining teams getting HK$15,000 each. Players will also be rewarded for their performances, with the best under-22 player from each team winning HK$3,000. The best of the best will earn an additional HK$5,000.[1]

The current Sapling Cup holder is Rangers.

Competition name and Rules

[edit]
Season Name due to sponsorship 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 teams in each group advance to the semi-finals.

During the course of competition, each team must have on the pitch no fewer than two players under the age of 21 and no more than six foreign players at any time, or to send no more than four 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 teams in each group advance to the semi-finals.

During the course of competition, each team must have on the pitch no fewer than two players under the age of 22 and no more than four foreign players at any time.
2018–19
2019–20 The participating teams are divided into two groups for a double round-robin tournament.

Top team in each group advances to the final.

During the course of competition, each team must have on the pitch 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 teams in each group 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 teams in each group advance to the semi-finals.

2023–24
2024–25 Participating teams are divided into two groups for a single round-robin tournament.

Top two teams in each group advance to the semi-finals.

Finals

[edit]

Key

[edit]
* Match went to extra time
Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time

Results

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

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^
    Match was played behind closed doors due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.[2]

Performance by clubs

[edit]
Club Winners Last final won Runners-up Last final lost
Kitchee 2 2019–20 1 2023–24
Pegasus 1 2015–16 1 2016–17
Tai Po 1 2016–17 1 2017–18
Lee Man 1 2018–19 1 2022–23
Southern 1 2022–23 1 2020–21
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

[edit]

Most appearances

[edit]
As of the end of 2023–24 season
Rank Player Apps
1 Japan Shu Sasaki 48
2 Hong Kong Lam Ka Wai 42
Hong Kong Yu Wai Lim
4 Hong Kong Tomas Maronesi 41
Hong Kong Stefan Pereira
6 Hong Kong Leung Kwun Chung 40
Hong Kong Cheng Tsz Sum
Hong Kong Wong Chun Ho
Hong Kong Cheng Chin Lung
10 Hong Kong Chan Hoi Pak 39
Hong Kong Lau Hok Ming
Hong Kong Wu Chun Ming

Bolded players still playing in Hong Kong Sapling Cup.

Top scorers

[edit]
As of the end of 2023–24 season
Rank Player Goals Apps Ratio
1 Hong Kong Stefan Pereira 30 41 0.73
2 Brazil Mikael 19 33 0.58
Hong Kong Everton Camargo 19 36 0.53
4 Brazil Lucas Silva 17 21 0.81
Hong Kong Juninho 17 32 0.53
6 Hong Kong Mahama Awal 15 36 0.42
Japan Shu Sasaki 15 48 0.31
8 Hong Kong Sandro 14 17 0.82
Australia Travis Major 14 19 0.74
10 Hong Kong Wellingsson de Souza 13 29 0.45
Hong Kong Sun Ming Him 13 32 0.41

Bold denotes players still playing in the Hong Kong Sapling Cup.


See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  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.
[edit]