Chan Yuen-ting, the first woman to lead a men’s football team to a top-division national title, yesterday revealed that she hopes to one day coach in the Premier League.

Eastern Sports Club’s title win gives it a shot at next year’s Asian Champions League and despite club bosses having promised to invest in the squad to pursue further success in 2017, Chan has ambitions beyond Hong Kong.

“I want to go to another country, maybe just as an assistant coach to get more knowledge,” Chan said.

“Hong Kong’s football level is not very high compared with the likes of Japan, Korea or even other countries like [Britain] or the US.

“So if I have the chance, I want to go out [there]. And I want to learn something and then bring something back to Hong Kong football.”

Chan took charge at Eastern in December, with the club not having won the Hong Kong league for 21 years, and last month the team clinched that elusive title and made their female coach the talk of the town.

“I’m really lucky,” Chan said. “Now I [have] made history, [something] no-one thought would happen in Hong Kong. I have to say thanks to the club that they trusted me, gave me support and also [the] players encouraged me a lot this season.”

Chan revealed that her fam

ily refused to let her play football and were against women’s involvement in what they deemed “men’s sports.”

Add to that her own anxieties about whether she could command authority with players who were often verbally — and occasionally physically — aggressive, her achievement becomes even more remarkable.

“When I was like, maybe, 13 years old, I wanted to play football. My family didn’t allow it because in Chinese culture, girls or women shouldn’t play football. [They said] you should go dance or draw something, something [along those lines],” Chan said.

A couple of years after that knockback by her family, Chan forged her mother’s signature on a form to apply for a summer training programme and joined her local club at Sha Tin.

Though her path into the sport, and her subsequent climb to the top of the game in Hong Kong, was littered with hurdles, her initial inspiration to get involved in football was a common one for teenage girls at the time — a love for David Beckham.

Chan has turned that affection into respect for the former Manchester United and England midfielder and now uses videos of his career as inspiration.

“Every time I want to quiz something, I watch Beckham’s match videos and just try to get some message or positive energy, messages from him,” she said.