A football weekend featuring over 20 hours of action in one place is many fans' dream. And it’s actually a reality at one of the greatest annual events that few Australians know about.

Held within the infield of Happy Valley racecourse and showcasing retired greats and world football's next generation, the 18th Hong Kong Soccer Sevens took place between May 26-28 before a crowd of predominantly British expats and local supporters of English Premier League clubs.

In addition to the likes of Leicester City, Aston Villa and West Ham United, there was A-League interest in the event through Wellington Phoenix's participation.

The Hong Kong Soccer Sevens was played with a stunning city backdrop

Phoenix would ultimately make the final of the secondary plate competition, beaten 2-1 by German club Bayer Leverkusen, while a Wallsend Boys Club side featuring former A-League players Daniel McBreen, Paul Ifill, Michael Bridges and Patrick Zwaanswijk made the Masters final.

For McBreen, who took part in the 2016 Sevens and also finished his professional career in Hong Kong, participation in the tournament is a chance for people to unite through football.

“It's the camaraderie, everyone is here and has a laugh and you get to play a bit of football and basically that's what it's about,” he said.

“The more times you come, the more you meet different people and even people from different teams so it's always good to catch up.”

Similar to the popular Rugby Sevens, matches at the Hong Kong tournament are played over seven minute halves with seven players per side.

The pitch is also roughly five metres smaller on each side than normal. Other rules are virtually the same as regular football, however offside is not used and drawn knockout games are decided by a frantic four-minute golden goal period with just four players per side.

McBreen believed the Sevens concept could catch on around the world and also hoped to see more Australian representation in future Hong Kong editions.

Action from the Sevens match between French club Marseille and Hong Kong club Kitchee

“I think it should catch on, it's a really good concept,” he said. “It's a totally different style to 11 v 11 – normally when the teams come, you don't really get it in the first game with the offside and the things that are different.

“They're trying to go more global with more teams from other countries so I'd love to see an Aussie team here, why not?”

Sixteen teams, mainly Academy and Under-23 sides, from around the world participated in this year's main competition.

In addition to the English clubs and Wellington, well-known sides including Rangers, Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille, Cagliari and Kashima Antlers were involved.

The young British talent shone across the weekend, with attractive passing football being a feature.

The main final was a battle between the tournament's two top scorers, Leicester's Josh Eppiah and Aston Villa's Harry McKirdy.

Eppiah scored twice in the final as Leicester won 3-0 to deny the Villains, who are the most successful club in Hong Kong Sevens history with six triumphs, a second straight title.

A Citi All Stars team including the likes of former Premier League players Luis Boa Morte, Frank Sinclair and Lauren beat Wallsend 3-2 to win the masters final, while famous names including Emile Heskey, David James, Colin Hendry and Mikael Silvestre also turned out for the playON Pros side.

Premier League representation was not restricted to the players as top-flight official Roger East flew to Hong Kong to be a guest referee.

East said his experiences and impressions of the tournament had been positive and while he believed it benefited players, he was less sure about whether Sevens would work in England.

“This is an excellent opportunity for under-23s to play against different nationalities, so I think the concept is excellent for Hong Kong,” he said.

“In England it's very different because there is the concept of six-a-side football and I think it would probably impose on that rather than add to it.”

Masters team Wallsend Boys Club, in yellow, boasted a number of former A-League players

He also said the “quick and attractive” nature of the game, plus the slightly smaller field, were the biggest differences as an official.

“From a referee's point of view we still have to run up and down but not as far,” East said.

“I think you have to run more intensely but for shorter periods.”

For spectators, the tournament features 65 back-to-back matches over the weekend with Saturday's play running non-stop from 9am until about 7pm.

It offers an intimate yet comfortable fan experience, a carnival atmosphere, the opportunity to drink 2L jugs of beer at your seat and high quality football with a stunning city backdrop.

“I'm more than happy to come to Hong Kong – great place, great weather and a good tournament,” East said.

“It's a very well run tournament, everyone knows what they're doing, the teams are organised very well and everything seems to run like clockwork – it's excellent.”