Hong Kong Sapling Cup

Hong Kong Sapling Cup
	The current logo for the JC Sapling Cup, starting from 2022–23.
Founded	2015
Region	Hong Kong
Number of teams	11
Current champions	Southern (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Kitchee (2 titles)
	2023–24 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 Southern.

Competition name and Rules


Season	Name due to sponsorship	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

Finals

Key

*	Match went to extra time
†	Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time

Results

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

Notes

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

Performance by clubs

Club	Winners	Last final won	Runners-up	Last final lost
Kitchee	2	2019–20	0	–
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	0	–
South China	0	–	1	2015–16
Yuen Long	0	–	1	2018–19
Happy Valley	0	–	1	2020–21

References

↑ "Hong Kong Jockey Club to pump nearly HK$2 million into Sapling Cup in new 3-year deal". SCMP.
↑ 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.

External links

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[cnote_1] 
Match was played behind closed doors due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.^[2]

[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.

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