Friday 25 January 2013

我們需要整合策略 讓體育於香港更為普及
(We need a joined-up strategy to build on the popularity of Hong Kong)

我們需要整合策略  讓體育發展於香港更為普及

巴克萊亞洲錦標賽將再次由英格蘭超級聯賽帶來香港,並於7月上演。這項每兩年一次於亞洲不同城市輪流舉辦的盛事,對上一屆亦正是於香港舉行。同樣地,來自中國、泰國及韓國的球隊亦會雲集香江,參與農曆新年賽事。其實有不少足球中介公司經常會聯絡我,並希望可撮合一些來自世界各地的球會及國家隊來港比賽,但由於賽期緊密及設施不足等原因而未能成事。再者,香港才剛於東亞盃外圍賽中主場與澳洲、中華台北、朝鮮及關島對戰。而我們亦經常收到申辦亞洲足協不同賽事的邀請。雖然香港的世界排名較低,但仍能吸引各方興趣。
「人們希望來港」。當然,這是在不同動機的推動下,當中可能因為地理位置、商業原因、語言、文化、氣候、安全理由、作為進入可觀市場的「踏腳石」、甚至是一些特別原因如7人欖球賽及巴克萊亞洲錦標賽!但不論他們的原因為何,不少人就是想來。他們來港不但能大大帶動消費,更能讓社會受惠。運動盛事絕對可以成為一種催化劑以剌激經濟活動,而這亦應屬於整體策略的一部分。
對遊客而言,香港有一流的基礎設施、交通運輸、通信及住宿。不用多說,體育設施亦應反映此等質素。香港大球場肯定是一個標誌性的建設,於滿座時更可營做出一個很好的氣氛,然而,長年累月的損耗及缺乏足夠設施已不足以滿足一流運動員及演藝人的要求。
取而代之的將是一個更新更大、興建於啟德的體育場館,足總100%支持這個期待已久的計劃。若香港要繼續吸引頂級的體育賽事,並不讓其他地區的對手過頭,如新加坡(他們新的體育場館正在興建中),就必需加快發展步伐。另外,香港亦必須將更多資源投放於其他體育基建設施,使香港有能力舉辦更大型的體育盛事。
觀眾的熱血激情絕對是各方體育賽事為何鍾情於香港舉辦的原因之一。香港本地的球迷亦值得使用更佳的設施,因為他們正是讓這個地方變得吸引的原因。我呼籲大家繼續支持體育賽事,而我期待著看到更多球迷入場支持香港的甲組聯賽、盃賽、賀歲盃、3月港隊主場對戰越南,當然不少得7月舉行的巴克萊亞洲錦標賽。
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We need a joined-up strategy to build on the popularity of Hong Kong

It’s official, the Barclays English Premier League will be bringing the Barclays Asia Trophy 2013 to Hong Kong in July. This event happens every two years and usually rotates around various cities in Asia and yet it was held here in 2011. Similarly, teams from mainland China, Thailand and Korea will be here for the Chinese New Year Tournament. I am regularly contacted by football agents looking to bring Club and National Teams from literally all over the world to play in Hong Kong. Mostly it is impossible to accommodate these requests because of fixture congestion, availability of facilities etc. Furthermore, Hong Kong recently played host to teams from Australia, Chinese Taipei, North Korea and Guam in the EAFF Tournament. We are often asked to apply to host various AFC competitions. All of this interest, despite our lowly FIFA Ranking.
People want to come to Hong Kong. Of course, their motivations vary widely; some because of the geography, some the commerce, some the language, some the culture, some the climate, some the security, some the ‘gateway’ to other lucrative markets and some for specific reasons such as the Rugby 7s or the BAT! It doesn’t matter why they want to come – the point is that they just do. When people come to Hong Kong they spend money, it boosts the economy and creates multipliers that trickle down into the community. Sport can be the catalyst for this upsurge in economic activity and should be part of a cohesive strategy.
Hong Kong has great infrastructure for visitors, the transportation, communications and accommodation are all first class. It goes without saying therefore that the sports infrastructure needs to reflect that quality. The Hong Kong Stadium is certainly iconic and creates a great atmosphere when full, but it is ageing and lacks the amenities that top class sports people and entertainers require.
The plans to replace it with a new larger stadium at Kai Tak are long overdue and the HKFA backs the proposals 100%. If Hong Kong is going to continue to attract top class sporting events and not lose ground to rival destinations such as Singapore (their new Sports Hub is under construction), this development needs to gather pace. Further investment is also needed in the other sports facilities in Hong Kong so that larger events can be catered for as well.
One of the reasons why sports events like to come to Hong Kong is the enthusiasm and passion of the spectators. The local fans of Hong Kong sport deserve better facilities too. It is them that make the place attractive in the first place. I urge people to continue to support sports events and I look forward to seeing as many people as possible at our 1st Division matches, Cup competitions, the Chinese New Year Tournament, our home match against Vietnam in March and of course the BAT in July.


11 comments:

  1. Hi Mark,

    I find very difficult to come up with a strategy that would change the football culture in HK. I grew up in Sao Paulo / Brazil, I am a member of the club that I support, I started my football career in this club when I was about 5 years old, my first pro match was for the club, and on a everyday basis I went to the club to enjoy the facilities as my apartment is just 5 minutes walking from there. My life was spent in the stadium and that atmosphere, feelings and sense of community are hard to be beaten and has molded me and million others in passionate football/club fans.
    I am saying that because I understand that the big deal is not only changing the actual football supporters' behavior (which is pretty hard) but the main thing is to "create" and "develop" the supporters of tomorrow. That is a long-term strategy but with potential solid results. I am still thinking about a short-term strategy that would help the development and improvement in the football - club - fan relation as I am using the HK football scenario as part of my studies for the Master in Sport Management.
    I would love to have the chance to discuss it a bit further as I think that everyone has some experience of life in football that would be of great value.
    I am looking forward for the opportunity to show you my thoughts as I sent my CV for the futsal manager vacancy. I am sure that I could help a lot and would be delighted of being part of the project.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Bruno Cannavan

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  2. Dear Bruno,
    Thank you for your comment. It is indeed difficult to change the football culture overnight. Like you, I come from a place where life often revolves around a local club. That concept exists here to a limited extent with the District teams but many of the other teams do not have a consistent 'home' ground. This makes it very difficult to build up a sense of belonging and empathy.
    We need to create something unique about Clubs that attracts a new loyal fan base. That might be a certain 'brand' of football, a high profile player, a certain style of play, a partnership with another foreign team etc etc. We are working on ideas to make the new league different. For the professional part of the sport to be sustainable, we must find ways to break down the apathy and as the marketeers would say 'put bums on seats'.
    I would like to hear from people with ideas in this respect.
    Good luck with your studies.
    Regards
    Mark

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    Replies
    1. Could you please explain a bit about the "New League". How is that it going to be different to the current division one? What are the benefits of having a new league in realistic terms?

      As for creating a loyal fan base, we should not be thinking of new. We already have a lot of loyal fans of football, just not HK football. It is not about high profile player (check what happened with Drogba/Anelka in Shanghai Shenhua). It is not about brand of football or style of play, because that needs long term players, coaches, and academies development. Barca way is not suited for everyone. New stadium should be the least of our worries, whereas better football grounds around HK for grassroots development will prove vital.

      Bums on seats: YES! Will they buy tickets all the time? NO! So the question is do you want tiny revenue or do you want a packed Mongkok Stadium every day? If it is the latter, then there are gazilion ways to achieve that. With a little bit of innovative marketing, technology, and social responsibility, it is easily achievable.

      I understand that there are too many grounds to cover and there are things you cannot say or decide. But please be honest with us on what can be achieve that will realistically improve the future of football in HK.

      I am still looking forward to your invite and when we can possibly meet up for tea.

      Delete
    2. Dear Herman,
      Thank you for your latest comment.
      We have established a Working Party to involve stakeholders in the planning and preparation of the new league. At the moment, this group includes the Government and the Clubs as well as the FA. When the plans are more developed we intend to include other stakeholders including the media and fans.
      Next season will be a 'transitional' year with 12 teams. The following season will be the inaugural Premier League. The speed with which we can make it different will largely depend on how much additional funding we can lever in. We are aware that some of the Clubs currently have very limited resources (it was reported in the media recently in a way that implied that we are not aware of the financial difficulties and that we are not doing anythin about it - that is not true) and will need help if they are to introduce the changes that will ultimately improve the quality of play and make the 'product' more exciting and entertaining.
      To make a difference, Clubs will need help to enhance their 'off-pitch' performance in areas such as governance, management, marketing, community development etc and additional resources to help to improve their 'on-pitch' performance for example coaching and conditioning programmes, youth academies etc. All of this will need time as well as resources and some patience will be required. Initially we will be looking for sponsorship to fund these changes and in time the league should become more sustainable through increased gate receipts, merchandising, advertising, broadcasting etc. There is a long way to go and the transition will not be easy.
      The reason for doing this is that the professional part of our sport is very important for generating interest and for nurturing talent for our national teams. A strong league and national teams should inspire young people to get involved in football at the grassroots level. More people playing increases the talent pool and eventually a virtuous circle is created. We do not see the new league as an independent initiative, but rather as part of an integrated and systematic strategy to raise the standard of football in Hong Kong.
      Improving community football facilities is part of that strategy but there again so is the provision of a new Stadium and a Football Training Centre.
      All of the above are important factors in the long term transformation of football. Hopefully we can, over time encourage the existing football fans in Hong Kong to be loyal to local football as well as folowing foreign football.We should also be working to interest those that are currently not 'engaged'. The more interest we can get, new and old, the better.
      The decline of local footall in Hong Kon has happened over say a 20 year period, it can't be turned around overnight.
      What we are trying to do with Project Phoenix is lay down strong foundations that will reap benefits in he long run.
      Regards
      Mark

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  3. Hello Mark,

    Did you mean Hong Kong Stadium would be demolished for property or other purposes?

    Even a new stadium is expected to appear at Kai Tak, HKFA should negotiate with the Government and stand firm on keeping Hong Kong Stadium in use (renovating it if necessary), as we need "more" rather than "replacement", especially the new football league is going to be in place.

    Desmond.

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  4. Desmond,
    You make a good point. I do not know what the Government plans to do with the existing stadium when the new one is ready (which by the way is likely to be around 2019/2020). The HKFA has been asked to respond to an 'Expressions of Interest' consultation document and I will address the issue in our response.
    Thank you for your observation.
    Regards
    Mark

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  5. Dear Mr. Sutcliffe,

    Thank you for writing your blog and sharing your thoughts on HK football with the local fans.

    I am a local football supporter but I have always found it difficult to be interested in the weaker and smaller clubs. Sure, we can get thousands to watch South China versus Kitchee, but you will never get a big crowd for Sun Hei versus Citizen, for example.

    HK is not the only league to suffer this problem. Singapore's S-League has also had years of problems with small crowds. Many of their small clubs gone bust and they have to get teams from Korea, Japan, Brunei, France and Malaysia to join their league.

    My suggestion is, why don't HKFA, FAS, Macau, Brunei and maybe Chinese Taipei work together to form a professional league? Hong Kong and Singapore provide 4 clubs, Macau and Brunei 1 clubs each and 2 clubs from Taiwan for a 12 club pro-league. This will provide a real and competitive home and away format football league with some real rivalry among clubs.

    I know it has never been done before but I am quite sure AFC and FIFA will understand the need for its development. The countries/regions I listed: Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Brunei and Taiwan are really too small to have commercially successful professional leagues.

    I hope you will give it a thought.

    BTW, The Standard said Hong Kong Stadium will be adapted into a 10,000 capacity multi-use stadium for district use. Apparently Wan Chai Sports Ground will be torn down to make way for HKCEC phase III.

    Regards,

    Allan Ng

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  6. Dear Allan,
    Your suggestion has some merit and I will give it some thought. There are many examples of domestic leagues having teams from other countries playing in it. One of the main issues will be that the local League is supposed to be the 'training ground' for young players and so in turn strengthen the representative teams. If there are too many foreign teams playing in the league, fewer local players will get the chance to play and improve.
    Thank you for the information on the stadium, I will check this out.
    Regards
    Mark

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  7. Dear Mark,

    I am talking a combined league. That means S-League and Hong Kong First Division League combines to form a new professional league and Macau, Brunei and Taiwan are invited to take part, as they have no pro leagues of their own.

    The issue about local leagues being the training ground can be resolved by limiting foreign players.

    Right now we allow six foreigners to be registered and five to be played (or something like that). If we lower the limit then more locals will get to play.

    It can be applied to all participating teams. A Singaporean team can only have 4 foreigners and 7 local Singaporeans on field. A Hong Kong team likewise can only have 4 foreigners and 7 local Hong Kong players. If you add the reserves you still get quite a good pool of local players for the national team. A squad of 20 players with only 4 foreigners means you still have 16 local players per team. If we have 4 HK teams we will get 64 players which is not bad, and these are players who play more competitive matches week in week out.

    Today it is really easy to travel between Singapore and Hong Kong. Do you know Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific EACH operate 14 flights a day (to and from) between the two cities? And then you add Tiger Airways, Air Asia, Jetstar...etc. It is because lots of businesses operate both in Hong Kong and Singapore as well as Macau. If the league offers HK, SG and Macau markets then it will become a much more efficient marketing tool for sponsors.

    Today any "away" game in the Hong Kong First Division League is just a one hour MTR journey away. But it would be much more difficult for the average HK fan to travel to the away game if it is in Singapore or Brunei or Taiwan and thus they will want live TV coverage. That's when TV companies can charge for the coverage and you get your TV income. Of course it is more complicated than this but I am sure you understand what I am getting at.

    Sorry for this long winded message, I hope it is clear and you understand the sporting and commercial merits of my suggestion.

    By the way, Happy Chinese New Year!

    Regards,

    Allan Ng

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  8. Dear Allan,
    I understand what you are getting at and as I said previously your ideas have some merit. I will give it some more thought and consideration. I am always open to new ideas.
    Happy Chinese New Year to you too! Mark

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  9. http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Sports/Story/A1Story20130404-413520.html

    ASEAN countries area already joining up together to form an ASEAN Super League, even to the point of destroying their local leagues, because they know their local leagues are not commercially viable.

    This is what our neighbours in Asia are moving towards, and Hong Kong is being left very far behind, the people here still day-dreams that with government support the premier league will flourish, sponsors and fans will stream to the stadiums and bucket loads of money will appear.

    Regards,

    Allan Ng

    ReplyDelete