Former Hong Kong boss White would consider return, non-football issues forced 2018 move
Gary White said he had unfinished business with Hong Kong and would not rule out a second stint as head coach, six years after he walked away to take charge of Tokyo Verdy in Japan.
Should the stars align in the future, however, White would welcome another crack with the city team. He was Hong Kong head coach for just three months, before being lured away by J1 League club Verdy in December 2018.
White said his reasons for leaving “had nothing to do with football”. Following his appointment, in September 2018, it was reported that White’s application arrived after the deadline, and he was not interviewed by the entire recruitment panel.
Local football association board member Canny Leung Chi-shan was publicly critical of the hiring process and eventually resigned over the issue.
“We were moving forwards, but there were lots of issues around the hiring process, which annoyed me and helped me move,” White said. “I didn’t feel everyone was supporting me, there were too many fractures.
“It was difficult to understand why [Leung] would make such a big deal over it. We were doing well, so why not get behind it? Maybe she wanted her own people in.
“I loved it in Hong Kong, but if somebody is not behind me, why am I going to be bothered being here, when I have another option?”
White won two and drew two of his five matches in charge. His final act was to win the qualifying tournament for the 2019 East Asian Football Federation Championship [EAFF] finals.
“The best thing was to win the competition, because all the noise got shut up,” White said. “But I wondered what would have happened if we didn’t win it, and I didn’t want to be in that position in the future.
“I had great relationships with the players and clubs, and most of the board. It was just a small section I felt were working against me. Without that, I would have stayed.”
White is managing Chinese Taipei for the second time, after overseeing a climb from world No 151 to No 121 during his first spell between September 2017 and September 2018.
He returned to discover “everything we put in place had finished”, something he said was “devastating, because we’d worked so hard to change the system”.
“We have a massive pool of people playing football, but we lack leagues, facilities and professional academies,” White said. “At the ages of 12 and 13, the level is no different from anywhere else.
“When a lot of children get to around 14, they stop playing, because parents don’t see an elite pathway. Our administration is the same as it was 25 years ago, it’s not developed with the modern game. I would love for us to fulfil our potential, we could be a mini-Japan if we get everything in place.”
Chinese Taipei lost 2-1 to Hong Kong in a decisive EAFF qualifying game at Mong Kok Stadium, and White got the chance to look at the host nation up close. Not everything impressed him.
All five teams involved in the qualifying competition shared the same hotel in Sha Tin, where White said he saw a divide between Hong Kong’s local and naturalised players.
“Some of the Hong Kong staff left the foreigners to themselves, they were not like a group,” White said. “To me, that would be worrying.”
Nonetheless, White said Hong Kong would be an “easy team to coach, because the players are more experienced and know the game”.
“The biggest challenge is to keep them together, and make them feel they are part of something bigger than themselves,” White said. “There is talent here, the fans are great and the football has real potential.”
Asked if he had unfinished business with Hong Kong, White said: “For sure, I was here for a shorter period than I would have liked. I don’t believe in the saying about never going back.
“I know the environment and the people, and what does and doesn’t work. It’s a great place to be, so who knows in the future.”
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