1896–97 Hongkong Challenge Shield

1896–97 Hongkong Challenge Shield was the 2nd season of Hong Kong Challenge Shield, the now existing oldest football tournament in Asia.

1896–97 Hongkong Challenge Shield

Tournament details
Country	Hong Kong
Final positions
Champions	H.M.S. Centurion (1st title)
Runner-up	Kowloon
← 1895–96 1897–98 →

Fixtures and results

First round

The draw of first round was made on 4 December 1896.^[1]

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Date & time	Venue	Referee	Notes
H Company, 14th Regiment	1–1	D Company, 14th Regiment	1896-12-29 16:00	Happy Valley	P. G. Davies (R.A.)	[2][3]
Hongkong Colts	1–1	35th Company, S.D., R.A.	1897-01-06 16:00	Happy Valley		[4][5]
Hongkong Football Club	3–0	12th Company, R.A.	1897-01-09 16:00	Happy Valley	J. Henderson	[6][7]
Hongkong Colts	1–0	35th Company, S.D., R.A.	1897-01-15 16:15	Happy Valley	D. Wood	Rematch The match was scheduled playing on 11 January 1897, but later was postponed due to bad state of the ground.[7][8][9]
H.M.S. Narcissus		Kowloon
B Company, 14th Regiment		Officers, 14th Regiment

Second round

The draw of second round was made on 11 January 1897.^[10]

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Date & time	Venue	Referee	Notes
H.M.S. Centurion	1–1	Hongkong Football Club	1897-01-21 16:30	Happy Valley	J. W. L. Oliver	[11][12]
Hongkong Colts	0–2	Royal Engineers	1897-02-13 16:15	Happy Valley	A. E. M. Head (R.A.)	[13][14]
B Company, W.Y.R.	1–2	Kowloon	1897-02-27 16:00	Happy Valley	A. E. M. Head (R.A.)	[15][16]
A Company, W.Y.R.		D Company, W.Y.R.

Semi-finals

The draw of semi-finals was made on 1 March 1897.^[17]

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Date & time	Venue	Referee	Notes
A Company, W.Y.R.	0–3	Kowloon	1897-03-06 16:00	Happy Valley	J. W. L. Oliver	[18][19]
H.M.S. Centurion	4–1	Royal Engineers	1897-03-13 16:00	Happy Valley	P. G. Davies (R.A.)	[20][21]

Final

The match was scheduled playing on 20 March 1897, but later was postponed to 23 March 1897.^[22]

Kowloon	1–2	H.M.S. Centurion
	[23]

1897-03-23

16:00

Happy Valley

Referee: P. G. Davies (Royal Artillery)^[24]

GK Moore DF Robinson DF Gambion MF Egan MF Wilson MF Henderson (c) FW Symington FW Gow FW MacSwayed FW Sutherland FW Simpson

GK Greenwood (R.M.A.) DF W. Chambers (A.B.) (c) DF H. Stirland (A.B.) MF W. Street (A.B.) MF S. Hardy (A.B.) MF D. Allan (leading seaman) FW F. Richards (R.M.A.) FW Steel FW J. Dalton (A.B.) FW P. Buchanan (A.B.) FW A. Mayes (A.B.)

References

1. The China Mail, 1896-12-05, page 3
2. The China Mail, 1896-12-28, page 3
3. The China Mail, 1896-12-30, page 3
4. The China Mail, 1897-01-05, page 2
5. The China Mail, 1897-01-07, page 3
6. The China Mail, 1897-01-08, page 2
7. The China Mail, 1897-01-11, page 2
8. The China Mail, 1897-01-09, page 3
9. The China Mail, 1897-01-14, page 2
10. The China Mail, 1897-01-12, page 3
11. The China Mail, 1897-01-20, page 2
12. The China Mail, 1897-01-22, page 2
13. The China Mail, 1897-02-12, page 2
14. The China Mail, 1897-02-13, page 3
15. The China Mail, 1897-02-26, page 3
16. The China Mail, 1897-02-27, page 2
17. The China Mail, 1897-03-02, page 3
18. The China Mail, 1897-03-05, page 3
19. The China Mail, 1897-03-06, page 2
20. The China Mail, 1897-03-12, page 2
21. The China Mail, 1897-03-13, page 3
22. The China Mail, 1897-03-20, page 3
23. The China Mail, 1897-03-23, page 3
24. The China Mail, 1897-03-22, page 2

The China Mail in 1897 may be read through Hong Kong Public Libraries - MultiMedia Information System on the Internet.