The Best 7-a-side Pitches for Street Football in Hong Kong
With the city’s British-colonial past and football-crazy neighbours surrounding the islands, Hong Kongers adore the sport and the culture that comes with supporting football – defending, attacking, and goalkeeping are all in the vocabulary and knowledge of most of who live here.
Often outsiders on the international stage and lacking any real success even regionally, locals know how to kick a ball and defend for their life – whether it’s a cold rainy Tuesday night in Mong Kok or a Saturday kick-about with friends in Kennedy Town.
Starving for a goal or want to beat your friends in a cheeky 7-a-side? Check out below the best places for street football across the city!
Pokfulam Road Playground
Affectionately known as “PP” by the groups of high schoolers from local international schools and the bankers who challenge them to weekly Saturday football brawls, Pokfulam Road’s 7-a-side pitch makes for a spectacular game with the lush rolling green hills set behind the pitch and the roar of traffic and congestion that add to the heat and intensity of the matches.
The uniqueness of Pokfulam Playground is it’s symbolic clashing of different peoples of Hong Kong and a real street-football feel. Expats play locals until the overbearing heat kills any remaining motivation to continue. Balls can be lost in a second to a passing car if kicked too high. The rain and cold make conditions worse – yet more exciting – for defending and slips.
Photo by Esther Lee / Google
Location: Pokfulam Road Playground, Pok Fu Lam Rd, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Kowloon Park 7-a-side Soccer Pitch
In the most north point of Kowloon Park, besides Jordan MTR, lies Kowloon Park’s 7-a-side Soccer Pitch, the beating heart of the park’s sports complex and a melting pot of south Kowloon’s Chinese, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian residents and football-crazed fans.
Saturdays and Sundays are the busiest and most rushed for a classic game of 7-a-side. Whilst it may be hard to break in for a match as weekend games are booked in advance of up to 10 days, fans are welcome to cheer on amateur and casual teams hailing from India, Pakistan, central Africa, and the Philippines, to name a few.
Photo by Aldo Kriel / Google
Location: 22 Austin Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Southorn Playground
Regarded as the ultimate ground for local football competition on Hong Kong Island, Southorn playground, located amongst Wan Chai’s bustling center, guarantees fierce sporting feuding and a spectacle to watch for fans and friends hiding under the pitches east-facing stands. Wet, rainy Premier League nights can be recreated for exhilarating humid 11-a-side match ups.
A multi-purpose for-hire market venue, school sports area, and event space by day, the playground roars to life at night under the pitch lights. Bookings can be made in advance, but tradition shows that whoever is eager for a sweat after school or work, just walk right onto the pitch to show their true colours.
Location: 130-150 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Victoria Park Football Field
A host for Hong Kong’s largest community festivals, Victoria Park is the self-appointed mecca for street football in the city. Stretched over six FIFA-regulated 11-a-side pitches, Causeway Bay locals and those who travel from afar are afforded deserved space to swing in those extra-long crosses and to make that extra charge to smashing a goal.
Sandwiched behind Causeway Bay and Tin Hau MTR and flanked by tram and bus service, Victoria Park’s football pitches are most accessible for those down for a kick about. Bookings can be made to secure pitches two weeks in advance but usually veterans of the pitches are happy to share the space.
The pitches to the south face a statue of Queen Victoria, a reminder that the spirit of Britsh-born and world’s best game still runs through the city of Hong Kong.
Location: 1 Hing Fat St, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tai Wan Shan Soccer Pitch
Located beside Whampoa complex alongside Kowloon’s south-east harbor front, Tai Wan Shan hosts games from 7 AM to 11 PM daily. Football-crazy locals from Tsim Sha Tsui travel east and residents of Whampoa join for weekend matches under the heat and away from the bustle of mainland Kowloon.
Locals perching themselves on the pitches south-east facing stands not only have a vantage point to see local Kowloon clubs fight for points, but also sweeping views of Kowloon Boy, Kai Tak, and Quarry Bay. Apart from the shouts of directions and passion from players, Tai Wan Shan is comparatively quieter and an unusually serene scene for football in Hong Kong.
Location: Tai Wan Shan Park 7-a-side Soccer Pitch, Dyer Ave, Whampoa Garden, Kowloon
Blake Garden Football Pitch
Blake Garden, sandwiched in between overgrown and stump residential blocks inside the heart of Tai Ping Shan, is emblematic of street football in Hong Kong: rough, old, and with the ever-present threat of booting your ball over the edge to be lost forever.
A climb and a map are needed to locate Blake Garden, situated in the mess and chaos of Tai Ping Shan. The metal fences of the pitch hug the green 7-a-side outline, which predicates a threat for getting your knees and hands bruised on a late tackle.
With no shade from the sun for either fans overlooking or locals kicking, Blake Garden is real Hong Kong street football without the niceties of air conditioning.
Photo by Wikipedia
Location: Blake Garden, Po Hing Fong, Tai Ping Shan, Hong Kong
Lok Wah Playground
Arguably the most funky and beautiful 7-a-side pitch north of Victoria Harbour, Lok Wah Playground’s football grounds overlook the towering Kowloon Peak to the north and the harbor to the south. The air is equally fresher in Kowloon Bay and the views are less crowded as compared to Hong Kong Islands’ pitches.
The yellow, blue, and red rubber ground color scheme of the pitch gives off the impression that you’re a character in FIFA Street, battling it out against local Lok Wah, Jordan Valley, and Kwun Tong teams. The pitch is a challenge to get to, involving MTR travel and traversing the unfriendly highway passage, but arrival to the playground promises a thrilling match-up.
Location: Hard-surface Pitches, Lok Wah Playground, Lok Wah South Estate, Ngau Tau Kok, Kowloon
How to Book
With some pitches in Hong Kong, local teams and neighbours hold a stronghold over weekday or weekend sessions, preventing others from joining. In most experiences, players are welcoming for others to join the fun but to prevent confusion, bookings can be made in advance through the government’s Leisure and Cultural Services department website.
Subscribe to The Beat's newsletter to receive compelling, curated content straight to your inbox! You can also create an account with us for free to start bookmarking articles for later reading.
