In 1968 the first Asian professional football league was started in Hong Kong. Skilled foreign football players such as George Best (ex-Northern Ireland national team) and Bobby Moore (ex-England national team) came to play and the football market was flourishing at that time. A lot of supporters came to the stadiums to watch high level football. This continued for twenty prosperous years after that. However after 1986 they excluded foreign players and the level of the Hong Kong league decreased. This system, which went on for three years, damaged Hong Kong football badly.
After that the league was influenced by economic depression and sponsors withdrew plunging it into a slump season. But Kitchee who are in the first division dared to invest in a big reinforcement and PR campaign. In the 2006/07 season, league giants South China won their 3rd consecutive title and played in the AFC Cup against other big Asian clubs as the league began to reassert itself. Then in the 2008/09 season, former Japan national team MF OKANO Masayuki played for TSW as East Asian players started seeing the league as a solid option.
As of the 2008/09 season, the Hong Kong A League has 13 teams and the B League has10 teams. It begins in September and lasts until the following spring. A champion is named following a round robin match format.

As of July 2009

2008-2009 league standings + promoted clubs