Pre-season After an unsuccessful season coached by
Slovak Ján Kocian,
South China will like to take revenge from
Kitchee, who claimed an historic treble as they won the
First Division League, the
League Cup and the
FA Cup last season. Unlike the previous season, chairman
Steven Lo did not say too much about the changes of the team. He even stopped writing blog articles after the team finished their last
league game until 9 July 2012. On 9 July 2012, chairman
Steven Lo published his first blog articles for the new season. He published the new first team squad and the in-and-out player changes. He also appointed
Liu Chun Fai as the new head coach, and allowed former assistant coaches
Chan Chi Hong and
Chan Ho Yin to leave the club. The team also started having training on the same day. However, public media are not allowed to go into the training court. South China started having public training on 17 July 2012. Chairman
Steven Lo announced that the team would go to
Guangdong for training camp. The team started the training camp on 23 July 2012. However, there are no news about the team in training camp and the players did not say anything on the social networking website, until the team published a photo, showing the players watching a football match in
Guangdong. Soon after, chairman
Steven Lo wrote an article on his blog about the training camp. The team will play total of 6 matches with
Guangdong Sunray Cave, which
Hong Kong and former South China players
Leung Chun Pong and
Chan Siu Ki is playing in, during the training camp. By the day that
Steven Lo published the blog article, the team had a great result as they won 3 matches and tied once. While the team was having training camp in mainland China, chairman
Steven Lo introduced a new player.
defender Sean Tse joined the club from English
Premier League club
Manchester City for an undisclosed fee. Since he is holding a Hong Kong ID card, he will not be registered and counted as a foreign player. They got their first win in recent 4 pre-season matches on 22 August 2012.
Itaparica and
Au Yeung Yiu Chung scored once while
center defender Joel Bertoti Padilha netted twice, as the club defeated
Sun Pegasus 4–0 at
Tsing Yi Northeast park.
September South China began the new season at their home ground
Hong Kong Stadium, playing against
J. League Division 2 club
Yokohama F.C.'s satellite team
Yokohama FC Hong Kong on 2 September 2012.
Tsuyoshi Yoshitake scored for
Yokohama FC Hong Kong at the beginning of the game, but goals from
Dhiego de Souza Martins,
Itaparica,
Ticão and
Lee Hong Lim secured the win for the club, although
Lee Ka Ho of
Yokohama FC Hong Kong scored at the very last minute. Just a week later, South China visited
Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei at
Mong Kok Stadium.
Defender Lee Chi Ho and
Brazilian forward Leandro Rodrigues goals was not enough to see off the defending champions of
Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield, as
Mamadou Barry and
Cheung Kwok Ming equalised the game for
Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei. The match ended as a 2–2 tie. They went back to their home against
Citizen on 19 September 2012.
Lee Chi Ho scored his second goal of the season but
Festus Baise equalised 7 minutes later. Winning goal from
Itaparica helped the team to win over 2–1. As they start playing the
Senior Challenge Shield from the quarterfinals, they had a free weekend, having more time to prepare for the big match against
Kitchee a week later at home. Having won the
First Division League in the past 2 seasons,
Kitchee had achieved a great result against South China in recent years. Both team struggled to make goalscoring chances in the first half, but the second half was totally a different game.
Jonathan Carril's 6-yard strike should have opened the deadlock for
Kitchee but his shot hit the bar.
Dhiego de Souza Martins scored the winning goal for South China in the stoppage time, thanked a lovely cross from
Jack Sealy. This goal also helped the team to climb at the top of the league table.
October Head coach
Liu Chun Fai made two changes to his starting XI for the visit of
Wofoo Tai Po in a league match on 7 October 2012.
Au Yeung Yiu Chung and
Cheng Lai Hin made their first starts of the season.
Lee Hong Lim scored two headers while
Au Yeung Yiu Chung and
Itaparica scored two goals and one goal respectively, which helped the team to stay at the top of the league for another week. This was also the second league clean sheet of the season. Due to the
FIFA international match period, South China did not feature any matches for two weeks. Moreover, a number of players was called up for the international friendly match between
Hong Kong and
Malaysia.
Yapp Hung Fai,
Lee Chi Ho,
Bai He,
Lee Hong Lim and
Au Yeung Yiu Chung had played in the friendly match held at
Mong Kok Stadium. Back to the league after international match period, South China welcomed
Southern, which was at the bottom of the league table before the match, at home.
Southern had gained 2 points in last two matches, after going behind in both matches. Although South China dominated the possession and the attacks, they could not manage to score a goal due to the solid defence of
Southern. The club dropped two points and dropped a place to second in the table. South China ended October at the second place of the league table.
November South China began November with an away match against
Biu Chun Rangers at
Mong Kok Stadium. Thank to goals from
Mauro,
Dhiego Martins and
Chan Wai Ho respectively, they claimed the 3–1 victory on 4 November. Despite winning the match, South China remained at the second place, behind
Kitchee. They reclaimed the first place with a tough win at home against
Tuen Mun on 11 November, thank to
Michael Luk's and
Itaparica's goal. South China faced rivalry club
Kitchee in the
Senior Challenge Shield at
Hong Kong Stadium on 17 November. Midfielder Itaparica's late goal helped the team record an important victory, with Kitchee's defender
Liu Quankun was sent off in the stoppage time of the second half. They soon played against each other again one week later on 25 November at Kitchee's home ground
Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. South China successfully kept a clean sheet and eliminated their rival by 1–0 in aggregate, reaching the semi-finals stage of the shield.
December South China started the new month with a Senior Shield semi-finals 1st leg match against 2011 champions
Citizen at home
Hong Kong Stadium on 15 December 2013. They suffered their first defeat of the season as they lost 2–3 to Citizen.
Mauro's goal in the first half help them take the lead into changing room. However,
Man Pei Tak was sent off on the 67th minute and Citizen's
Campion,
Paulinho and
Festus scored three goals in 11 minutes.
Lee Wai Lim scored a goal in the stoppage time, making a narrower lead for them. Back into the league, they faced
Sun Pegasus at
Yuen Long Stadium a week later on 22 December. Goals from
Kwok Kin Pong,
Cheng Lai Hin and
Lee Wai Lim, all in the second half, helped secure the victory for them. 4 days later on 26 December, South China travelled to
Mong Kok Stadium and faced Citizen for the
FA Cup first round 1st leg match. An easy win by 2–0 thank to
Dhiego Martins and
Au Yeung Yiu Chung in the second half, as well as the second red card from
Chiu Chun Kit.
January South China travelled to
Mong Kok Stadium and faced Citizen for the Senior Shield semi-finals 2nd leg, their first game in 2013. Although taking the advantage throughout the game, they failed to score and was eliminated by Citizen in aggregate. A week later on 13 January, South China hosted Citizen at home
Hong Kong Stadium for the FA Cup first round 2nd leg match. They scored five goals in the match, with
Au Yeung Yiu Chung scoring twice and
Alessandro Celin,
Michael Luk and
Mauro scoring once. They defeated Citizen by 5–1, conceding one goal from
Sandro's penalty kick. Back into the league, South China faced
Wofoo Tai Po at
Hong Kong Stadium on 18 January. More or less the same as last week, they defeated Wofoo Tai Po 5–1, securing themselves in the first place of the league table. A week later on 26 January, they overcame
Biu Chun Rangers from 1 goals down and scored 6 goals later.
February South China started a new month and hosted a league match against
Sun Pegasus at
Hong Kong Stadium on 2 February.
Jaimes McKee converted a penalty kick on the 10th minute and leading South China for almost all the game. A controversial goal from
Dhiego Martins in the stoppage time help South China avoid losing all three points. Two weeks later on 17 February, South China faced
Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei for the FA Cup quarter-finals 1st leg match at
Hong Kong Stadium. Goals from
Au Yeung Yiu Chung,
Ticão and
Itaparica helped secure a 3–1 victory for them. ==Key Events==