South China Athletic Association traces its roots to 1904, when a group of Chinese students in Hong Kong founded a football team, making it one of the oldest clubs in Asia. Based in Hong Kong, the club formally adopted its present name in the early 1920s and quickly grew into the dominant force in local football.
The club's record in Hong Kong football is unmatched. Over the decades, South China claimed 41 First Division championships, 31 Senior Shields, 10 FA Cups, and 3 League Cups — figures that dwarf those of any rival. Their defining era ran from the 1950s through the early 1990s, when they were almost perennially at the top of the league table. A second golden period arrived in the late 2000s, when heavy investment in the squad delivered three consecutive league titles between 2007 and 2009, a treble in 2006–07, and a run to the semi-finals of the 2009 AFC Cup — still among the finest achievements by any Hong Kong club in continental competition.
For much of their history, South China maintained a Chinese-only player policy, a rule that defined their identity until it was voted away in November 1981 as professional football reshaped the regional game. The club plays home matches at Happy Valley Recreation Ground and is nicknamed "Shaolin Temple." Following sustained struggles to compete with rivals Kitchee and Eastern, South China voluntarily relegated themselves from the top division after the 2016–17 season, fielding a younger amateur squad since then.