Hong Kong female star playing against English Premier League men as she chases pro dream
Lucia Ko Pak-ling on Derby County books after 2022 move to Brooke House Football Academy, where she plays with and against male counterparts
A 17-year-old Hong Kong girl has been playing football against all-male teams, including the academy of Premier League surprise-package Nottingham Forest, as she chases her professional dream in the UK.
Lucia Ko Pak-ling is among a handful of girls at the Brooke House College Football Academy, where she moved to play and study in 2022. Also on the books of Derby County Women, Ko lines up alongside her male college peers against the likes of Forest and English Football League academy teams Northampton Town and Burton Albion.
“The level is very high and the men are faster and stronger, so I have to think quicker and focus on small details, like my first touch and the next movement,” Ko said.
“I need to use my brain, because there’s so much to compute in a split second, and it has been really beneficial for me.”
Ko said the male players welcomed their female counterparts, but “they can get so emotional and angry that, sometimes, it’s difficult to communicate with them”.
The forward, who played for Chelsea Soccer School, was recommended to Brooke House, the alma mater of men’s representative team players Tan Chun-lok and Jacky Leung Nok-hang, by one of her Hong Kong under-16 coaches.