There's a Manc football team with a big following in the Far East - and it isn't City or United

On a Saturday morning, scores of spectators make their way to watch their local football team play in Manchester. On the other side of the world, thousands tune in online sending messages of support and encouragement via the live stream.

The well supported team in question isn’t Manchester City or Manchester United. It is Konger FC, a club that is made up of Hong Kong natives, some who have fled their home due to political turmoil.

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The team was formed in 2021 and is a mixture of ex-pros, students and the common man. The backroom staff coached at the highest level in Hong Kong football but they now play in the Manchester Saturday Morning League with most matches taking place on the Hough End Playing Fields.

One of those players is Ethan Wong, a 23-year-old student who joined the team back in February to connect with his countrymen. He told the MEN: “We want to take this forward and we want to help more people and encourage Hong Kong teenagers or young children to play football. We also want to promote the Hong Kong culture and integrate into society.

“It’s the identity of the Hong Kong people that brought us together. Hong Kong is very special culturally.”

In 2019 a number of protests erupted in Hong Kong after long-standing tensions between China and pro-democracy campaigners.

The protestors were highlighting what they feel is an encroachment of their civil liberties from the Chinese central government which has sovereignty over Hong Kong.

In 2020, a sweeping national security law was imposed over Hong Kong which saw anybody who had voiced pro-democracy sentiments arrested.

The following year, the British government launched