I spotted in the league football second division section of the news in November 1909 a team from the M.R.C. (Moslem Recreation Club). There were a number of recreation clubs in the early history of Hong Kong to cater to all sorts of people residing in the Colony, but this was the first time I have heard of the existence of a M.R.C.
The China Mail, page 5, 12th November 1909
They managed to cobble together a football team and played for the first time then, and was described as:
"This is the first match the Moslem played in this division so far. Their team is not a bad one, but the only drawback with them is want of practice. The gunners won by 2 goals to nil."
I wonder where they had their club? Did they have their own grounds to play sports on? I suppose this was the precursor to the Indian Recreation Club which opened in July 1919 in Sookunpoo. I recognised a few names on the team, some of whom became members of the I.R.C. ....
N.M. Bux = Noor Mahomed Bux (1889-24th July 1932)
S.E. Ismail = Sheik Ebrahim Ismail (1883-11th August 1927)
A. Arculli = Abbas el Arculli (9th June 1891-25th August 1964)
N. Rumjahn = Noordeen Rumjahn (29th April 1892-19??)
M. Rumjahn = Mohamed Rumjahn (3rd October 1895-24th December 1989)
F. Mootee = Fazal Mootee (1882-11th September 1955) etc
It's like a completely forgotten piece of HK cultural history as there is nothing more on 'googling'. There were similarly named clubs in Singapore and states of Malaya etc. If anyone comes across any further information, please add it to this thread.
I have had the same problem
I have had the same problem with the HongKong Islam Club which according to the 1912 edition of the Directory and Chronicle my Great Grandfather Mahomed Sewjee Alarakia was listed as the Hon Secretary and Treasurer. Google has thrown a blank with both.Could it be that the MRC and HKIC were actually the same club? It would make sense as all those mentioned in your piece were contemporaries of Mahomed and the various families known to socialise together. Could the MRC have morphed into the HKIC or viceversa and then later into something else?
More questions than answers.
Since India is mainly Hindu,
Since India is mainly Hindu, I doubt that the India Club figures here.
Perhaps you could ask at the Pakistan Club
https://www.pakassociation.com.hk/
I can't work out how to postr a pic here but you can get the location from Google Maps. On hill overlooking Princess Margaret Rd.
Yes, I'll drop a line to the
Yes, I'll drop a line to the Pakistan association. The India Club is separate from the Indian Recreation Club though and was established later.