Englishman Ashley Westwood named Hong Kong’s new football coach, and vows to entertain
Ex-Afghanistan coach and Manchester United youth player seeks front-foot style and rise in Fifa rankings
Hong Kong’s football association has unveiled Ashley Westwood as head coach of the city’s men’s representative team.
The FA confirmed the move on Wednesday, and said the 47-year-old would be in camp next month for Hong Kong’s matches in a tri-nations tournament in Fiji.
Westwood, who has signed a two-year contract, has joined Hong Kong after resigning as manager of Afghanistan. The former Manchester United youth player has previously managed Bengaluru FC in India, and Malaysian side Penang FC.
Caretaker coach Wolfgang Luisser, who was an assistant to previous head coach Jorn Andersen, will still lead the side for the matches against Fiji and Solomon Islands.
The announcement completes the search for a successor to Andersen, who quit in May, ending a 2½-year reign.
Appearing before media at Hong Kong Football Club, Westwood vowed to adopt an attacking style of play, and said his goals included qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia and improving Hong Kong’s world ranking of 159.
“We’ll certainly be playing on the front foot,” Westwood said. “We’ll look to entertain the fans, and obviously above anything else we’ll be looking to win games.
“[Hong Kong are] quite close to Afghanistan’s rank [of 151]. I improved them, and I think I can improve Hong Kong.
“I’ll set high standards. I won’t settle for mediocre standards. Climbing the rankings is one thing, but improving the football, improving our attitude, our culture, our spirit, our environment and getting results will be a short-term target as well.”
Westwood will select his first squad for games away to Liechtenstein on October 10 and at home to Cambodia five days later.
It was also announced on Wednesday that Hong Kong will play home games against Philippines and Mauritius on November 14 and 19.
By then, Westwood will hope to have made an impression.
“First and foremost, we’ll set a good culture and we’ll make sure the environment that we bring [players] into is one that they’ll want to play in – they’ll want to come and learn and improve,” he said.
“I don’t have any reservations about the quality [of football] in Hong Kong. I’ve played here before with Indian sides, I’ve seen the standard. I think there are good players here.”
Westwood said he would use the time behind the scenes in Fiji to get to know the players. He added that he had “no involvement” in squad selection for those matches.
“We’ll [also] be spending a lot of time with the local clubs, with the local coaches, going in, monitoring,” he said. “We’ll find players and we’ll improve them. I’m sure, together with the clubs, we can raise the standard.”
FA chairman Eric Fok Kai-shan said Westwood was chosen for his breadth of experience, but would need time to adjust.
“The main reason is he has coached in [both Europe and Asia], and led national teams and clubs,” he said.
Fok sidestepped when asked whether he had given Westwood any specific targets.
“He just arrived in Hong Kong, last night in fact. He needs some time to get used to it,” Fok said. “Although he has a lot of experience in the international arena, he has to understand more about the situation in Hong Kong, including our current Hong Kong players.”
The FA also confirmed it would use the video assistant referee (VAR) system at all Hong Kong Premier League matches in the new season, having used it for most but not all in the last campaign. It will also be deployed in some youth and women’s fixtures.
A HK$500,000 initiative to promote refereeing has been launched, with the aim of sending officials to international competitions.
And Hong Kong’s women’s team are to play two games away to Myanmar, on October 23 and 26.
