Hong Kong plan on schedule

By Matthew Jones
August 20 2002

Chairman Freddy Shepherd has travelled to Hong Kong to take Newcastle's dream of forming a new club in the Chinese League one step closer.

Chairman Freddy Shepherd has travelled to Hong Kong to take Newcastle's dream of forming a new club in the Chinese League one step closer.

Shepherd intends to establish Hong Kong's first professional team - Hong Kong United - and enter it into Chinese domestic football next year.
He visited Hong Kong last week and insists his plan is bang on schedule.

"Hong Kong, despite its size, has never had a team in the Chinese League and sponsors are falling over themselves to be apart of it," said Shepherd.

"If we get the go-ahead, we would provide Hong Kong United with a manager and players - a mixture of Chinese and European - and the team would play in a stadium of 40,000 or 50,000 capacity.

"If we can build up a big fanbase, there is a lot of money to be made.

"With merchandising rights, broadcasting rights, sponsorship and the like, the Far East is a fantastic commercial market waiting to be tapped."