Each team plays the other teams in the division twice, one home and one away game. The ticket profits go to the home team. If there are two matches in the same stadium on the day, the profits are shared between the two home teams. The top two teams in the league are offered promotion to the Premier League while the bottom two are relegated to the Hong Kong Second Division.
Exceptions
There were two teams, The Army and The Police, that are not required to be relegated. The league explained that soldiers in The Army team were frequently redeployed to another country and hence it was very difficult to establish teamwork. The Police team were not required to be relegated as they supply the venue Police Sports and Recreation Club for the league. Another relegation exception was made to South China Athletic Association during the 2006–07 season. The Hong Kong Football Association approved a request from South China to remain in the first division on 14 June 2006. The reason for exception was not disclosed. The public believed that this application was allowed probably because South China has a long history in the First Division League and it would otherwise be humiliating for the club to be relegated to the Second Division. Another reason is that other football clubs rely on the large fan base of South China to generate revenues. Relegation would have resulted in a lose-lose situation for all sides.
Past winners
Records
Undefeated teams
References: Since 1945, there are 4 teams which have remained unbeaten throughout the whole season.
1945–46 There were 10 teams in the First Division. Navy B finished as 4th with a result of 5 wins, 4 draws and 0 losses. Navy B became the first team to go unbeaten in all league and cup matches in a season.
South China
1977–78 There were 12 teams in the First Division. South China finished as the Champions with a magnificent result of 20 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses. South China became the first team in the League to go unbeaten in a season. The two drawn matches were against Eastern and Tung Sing.
In 1985–86 there were 2 unbeaten teams in the league. Both South China and Happy Valley topped the league with 10 wins and 8 draws. South China won the league with a goal difference of +21 five goals better than the +16 held by Happy Valley. South China became the first team to hold a record of 2 unbeaten seasons.
1978–79 In the season immediately after South China becoming the first unbeaten team, Seiko became the second team which achieved this result. With a slightly poorer result compared to the previous year's South China, Seiko still became the Champion of the season. The draw matches were against Kui Tan, Eastern and Caroline Hill. A more marvellous result for Seiko was that it won 5 out of the 6 competitions that season. The only trophy it failed to get was FA Cup, losing to Yuen Long by penalty kicks.
Happy Valley
1985–86 Happy Valley was unbeaten in the season, same as South China. However, Happy Valley finished runners-up because a worse goal difference. It became the first unbeaten team which could not gain the title for the season.
2002–03 Sun Hei became the fourth team to go the whole season without losing a game in the history of the league. However, they were only able to achieve a second-place finish, one point behind Happy Valley.
2016–17 Sun Hei were also the first team since the reformation of the First Division as the second tier of Hong Kong football to finish a season undefeated. They won the title in 2016-17 by one point over Wong Tai Sin.
