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Aston Villa Win 2023 Soccer Sevens

Aston Villa secured a record-extending seventh HKFC Soccer Sevens title on Sunday as the Premier League outfit defeated Hong Kong’s Tai Po FC 3-0 at a packed Hong Kong Football Club to claim the trophy for the first time since 2016.

Omari Kellyman scored twice in the first half before Lee Ka-ho’s red card for a foul on the 17-year-old left Tai Po short-handed, with Frankie Ealing hitting his side’s third ahead of Luizinho’s late sending-off, which saw the Hong Kong side finish the game with five players.

“At the start of the tournament we had a disappointing result against Tai Po, so to bounce back and win all the games after that hasn’t been an easy thing to do,” said Kellyman, who ended as the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals.

“But we did it and I’m proud of the boys. It’s been a great experience. The tournament has been all about experience and to come out here and play the game I love has been great.

“The physical side of the game, the heat is very different from England. Coming out here, you’ve got to run the hard yards and do everything to the best of your ability. It’s been great.”

Tai Po had pulled off a surprise 1-0 win over Villa in the group meeting between the teams on Saturday but there was to be no repeat of that result as the Premier League side raced into an early lead.

Kellyman gave Villa the perfect start when he bent the opener into the top corner with less than two minutes on the clock and, five minutes later, he doubled the advantage with another strike from outside the area, steering a low left-foot shot beyond Tse Ka Wing.

Lee’s clumsy attempt to halt Kellyman in the ninth minute saw him receive a direct red card and Villa exploited their advantage, with Ealing netting his side’s third from close range after a miss-hit attempted clearance by Tse.

Luizinho received a second yellow card seven minutes into the second half to leave Tai Po with only five players and effectively ensure Villa were crowned champions once again.

Earlier in the day, defending champions Newcastle United crashed out in the quarter-finals, losing 2-0 to Aston Villa, who took on Kitchee in the last four after the Hong Kong Premier League champions had seen off Queens Park Rangers.

Tai Po, meanwhile, notched up a 1-0 win over Leicester City to set up a semi-final meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion following their 1-0 win over fellow Premier League club Fulham.

The Hong Kong Premier League outfit eliminated Brighton & Hove Albion in a penalty shoot-out as Villa beat Kitchee to set-up the decider, with the English club ultimately emerging victorious.

In the Masters Event, defending champions Wallsend Boys Club retained the title with a 2-1 sudden-death extra-time win over 2018 winners Ampcontrol Discovery Bay in the final, with Kim Dong-jin netting the winner.

Wallsend had seen off Rio Cricket Association Athletic to advance to the final for the second tournament in a row while Ampcontrol Discovery Bay defeated Hong Kong Football Club Masters to progress to the decider.

This year’s HKFC Soccer Sevens was the first since 2019 after the event was forced to take a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The 2023 HKFC Soccer Sevens has been a resounding success and I would like to thank all of our sponsors, the teams, Hong Kong Football Club members, and the fans who turned out in fantastic numbers to support this very special event,” said Hong Kong Football Club Chairman Neil Jensen. “We hope through future editions we can continue to showcase the positive qualities of our unique city and its love for this remarkable game.”

Soccer Sevens
Date: 26-28 May, 2023
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: $200 (Weekend pass), $120 (Day ticket), Free (Friday night)
More info:
22 May (Fri): 6 – 9pm; exhibition youth matches start at 4.30pm
23 May (Sat): 9am – 7.40pm
24 May (Sun): 8:30am – 6pm

images: HK Soccer Sevens

Soccer Sevens Return

Defending back-to-back champions Newcastle United and six-time winners Aston Villa headline the Premier League clubs competing at this weekend’s Soccer Sevens, which returns for the first time in four years.

This year’s Soccer Sevens is the 21st edition of the competition, first held in 1999, and runs from 26-28 May featuring 26 teams across a main event and masters tournaments at Hong Kong Football Club.

Sixteen teams will compete in the main competition, with Aston Villa looking to win a record-extending seventh title and their first since 2016, while Newcastle will be aiming to become the first club to win the trophy at three consecutive events.

“We are delighted to be returning to the HKFC Soccer Sevens,” Mark Harrison, Aston Villa’s academy manager, said. “We are looking forward to defending our record at the tournament and our players and staff are excited to come and experience all that the tournament has to offer.”

Other clubs coming to take part include Leicester City, who have won the event twice, as well as Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham.

They will be joined by Scottish giants Rangers as well as a Hong Kong Football Association representative side, while domestic champions Kitchee and WoFoo Tai Po will fly the flag for the city’s top flight.

In the master’s tournament, the Citi All Stars will take on defending champions Wallsend Boys Club in a 10-team event that will also boast sides representing the Portuguese Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association.

Neil Jensen, the HKFC chairman, said the club was “absolutely thrilled” to bring the Soccer Sevens back to the city “The last three years have been challenging for everyone, but the love of football runs deep in Hong Kong and we are looking forward to seeing some of the finest young talent in the global game back on the pitch at Hong Kong Football Club.”

Match schedule here

Newcastle United Win Twentieth Anniversary Soccer Sevens

Captain Owen Bailey scored an extra-time winner as Newcastle United defended their HKFC Soccer Sevens title defeating Scotland’s Rangers 4-3 in a thrilling final at Hong Kong Football Club on Sunday.

In a repeat of the 2018 final, Rangers raced into a two-goal lead at half-time courtesy of a brace from Andrew Dallas only for Bailey and Luke Charman to restore parity.

Elias Sorensen completed the comeback for Newcastle from the penalty spot only for Rangers’ Josh McPake to force extra-time, setting the scene for Bailey’s dramatic winner to hand Newcastle a third title.

“We’re really happy because we’ve worked really hard over the weekend, defended really well and I think we’ve got the result we deserve,” said Bailey, who was also part of the triumphant 2018 team.

“At 2-0 down at half-time it didn’t seem like we had much chance because it’s so hard to score in these kind of games, but we got two goals, we got the job done and we’ve won it again.

“I can’t remember much about the goal, it just came back to me and I thought I’d have a go; thankfully it went in and we got the result we wanted.”

Newcastle, who also won the title in 2012, had earlier beaten Portugal’s Portimonense in the last eight and Hong Kong’s Kitchee in the semi-finals as Ben Dawson’s side posted an unbeaten record from their six games.

Rangers were forced to settle for a fourth runner-up finish having also lost in extra-time to Newcastle in 2018 despite earlier beating two-time champions Leicester City and West Ham United in the knockout stage.

“We started the game so well and missed a few chances to kill it, and losses of concentration then affected us,” said Rangers captain Cameron Palmer.

“But we’ve done so well this tournament so we’ve got to be proud of ourselves and hold our heads up high. We’re devastated but we just need to focus, not let it bring us down and look ahead to next year.”

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/HK-Soccer-Sevens-HK-Football-Club-18-May-2019/i-KXsGgZx

Two-time runners-up Wallsend Boys Cub, meanwhile, won the Masters title for the first time after beating Citi All Stars 2-1 after extra-time in the final following a brace from striker Craig Dundas.

“I feel elated! With the team being in the final twice and not winning it, it was really time to bring it home and it feels really good,” said Dundas, who was making his debut in the tournament.

“To get the two goals is a beautiful feeling. A few of the guys are crying so you know how much it means to everyone.”

Debutants Wolverhampton Wanderers, meanwhile, won the Main Shield after beating Leicester 2-1 after extra-time in the final.

And six-time champions Aston Villa won the Main Plate following a 2-0 victory over Hong Kong’s Kerry Yau Yee Select in the final.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/HK-Soccer-Sevens-HK-Football-Club-18-May-2019/i-dR6MWkb

Additional reporting and images: HK Soccer Sevens