They were promoted to the [[Hong Kong First Division League|Hong Kong First Division]] for the first time in the 2011–12 season, as they were the 1st runner-up of the [[Hong Kong Second Division League|Hong Kong Second Division]], three points behind champions [[Hong Kong Rangers FC|Rangers]].
They were branded as '''Royal Southern''' in the 2013–14 season, and finished 4th out of 12 teams. However, the club chose to self-relegate after the end of the season.
They returned to the top flight in the 2015–16 season. Starting from this season, the club was rebranded as '''Kwoon Chung Southern''' due to sponsorship reasons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=冠忠巴士集團有限公司 - 企業社會責任 |url=https://www.kcbh.com.hk/charity_events.php |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=www.kcbh.com.hk}}</ref>
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In [[2016–17 Hong Kong Premier League|2016–17]], Southern finished third in the table, their highest position in club history.
Southern matched their table position from 2016–172016 to 2017 with another third-place finish in [[2018–19 Hong Kong Premier League|2018–19]]. The club also reached the finals of [[Hong Kong FA Cup]] for the first time, losing 2–0 to [[Kitchee SC|Kitchee]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southern and Kitchee ready for FA Cup Final |url=https://www.chinadailyhk.com/articles/241/14/112/1558605217272.html |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=chinadailyhk |language=en}}</ref>
The club claimed their first silverware in the form of the [[2022–23 Hong Kong Sapling Cup|2022–23 Sapling Cup]] with a 2-02–0 win over [[Lee Man FC|Lee Man]] aided by a brace by [[Stefan Pereira]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-20 |title=Southern beat Lee Man to win Sapling Cup in Hong Kong season finale |url=https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3221245/sapling-cup-final-kwoon-chung-southern-beat-lee-man-claim-hong-kong-seasons-last-silverware |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref>
== Name history ==
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After Southern was promoted to the [[Hong Kong First Division League|Hong Kong First Division]], the club have continued to use Aberdeen Sports Ground as their home stadium.
In September of 2018, the canopy of the main grandstand at Aberdeen Sports Ground was damaged due to [[Typhoon Mangkhut]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=White |first1=Jonathan |title=Typhoon Mangkhut: Hong Kong sport counts the cost of damage to facilities as repairs begin |url=https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/2164552/typhoon-mangkhut-hong-kong-sport-counts-cost-damage-facilities-and |website=South China Morning Post |access-date=17 September 2018}}</ref> Although a temporary canopy was erected over the opposite grandstand in order to allow Southern to continue to use the stadium for the remainder of the [[2018–19 Hong Kong Premier League|2018–19 season]], the [[Leisure and Cultural Services Department]] determined that installation of a new canopy on the main grandstand was to begin in June of 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Notice |url=https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/facilities/facilitieslist.html |website=Leisure and Cultural Services Department |access-date=16 May 2019}}</ref> As the renovations were scheduled to last until the end of March 2020, Southern applied to use [[Mong Kok Stadium]] as their home stadium for the [[2019–20 Hong Kong Premier League|2019–20 season]].<ref>{{cite web |title=「華人射手」落選港足？ 夏志明解畫：望球會與港隊盡早溝通 |url=https://www.sportsroad.hk/archives/252040 |website=Sportsroad.hk |access-date=21 May 2019}} {{in lang|zh-hk}}</ref>