Kitchee survive late Lee Man onslaught to maintain perfect start- Lee Man 2 Kitchee 3

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill

Wenweipo

After four and a half years, Kitchee finally won a league game against Lee Man. Goals from Kendy and Kanda just before half time set the platform, before Adrian got off the mark with less than twenty minutes to go. Lee Man rallied, scoring twice in the last ten minutes, but Kitchee held firm for what could prove to be a monumental victory come the end of the season.

Team news

Sportsroad

Bear remained injured, while Tan Chun-lok was suspended after his harsh red card last week. Big name signing Asier Illarramendi continued to watch from the stands as he builds his fitness after his time out of the game. Kitchee made three changes, with Haddow, Lung and Kanda coming in for Lok, Juninho and Mingazow. Cheng Chin-lung captained the side for the first time, despite Law Tsz-chun taking the armband after Lok's sending off last week, and captaining the club on eight previous occasions.

Wang; Law, Riera, Dantas, Beattie; Haddow (Jason 61), Lung (c) (Juninho 61), Martinez; Kendy (Jordan 73), Adrian (Slattery 82), Kanda (Mingazow 73)

Unused subs: Buddle, Tuscany, Chan Shing-chun, Li Siu-hin, Lam Pak-yin

Match highlights

Ultrasbluewave

A very wet day at Mong Kok, but still over 1600 fans were in attendance. Wang had to be alert early to deny Barak Braunshtain and Cy Goddard, before Baffoe's dangerous cross evaded everyone. Martinez went close from a freekick, before controversy arose towards the end of the first half, as poor work on the ball from Kitchee saw Everton break through, being fouled by Riera with no one covering. Arguably Riera was extremely fortunate to avoid a red card first time around, and VAR agreed with the referee which wound up a number of Lee Man players. This sparked Kitchee into life, and with the weather rendering tikitaka ineffective, Kanda played it long to Martinez who had come out to the right hand side. His cross was met by Kendy running into the box late. Minutes later Kitchee doubled their advantage. A Kitchee corner was cleared away, but good recycling of possession from Lung and Beattie teed up Kendy on the left wing, and his right footed cross was headed in by Kanda. Despite the linesman's flag, VAR allowed the goal giving Kitchee a remarkable 2-0 lead.

Scoop

Wang denied Baffoe as the ever-worsening pitch made the second half a complete mess with no chances of note. Adrian Revilla became the third Kitchee player to open their account when he scored after Kitchee's corner was not cleared. Former Kitchee man Poon Pui-hin went close, before Lee Man grabbed two consolation goals. After good work by Everton, William Gaucho's shot was deflected in, and then Poon's cross was inadvertently diverted in by Law for an own goal, and Kitchee fans were tense for the closing stages. Two counter attacks almost saw Mingazow secure the win, but he was denied by Chan Ka-ho twice, and Kitchee held on for a memorable victory.

Fan feedback

HK01

Kitchee rode out the first half storm as Lee Man's attack sought to cause chaos, and began to looked imperious as the first half came to an end. There were some slipups at the end but Kitchee held on, with Calderon's substitutes freshening up the lineup. Kitchee were able to adapt better to the weather conditions, not being afraid to go a bit more direct. Keeping Mingazow and Juninho back until the second half is a welcome change from previous managers who seemed intent (although hamstrung by a lack of options) of burning these players into the ground. Mingazow turns 34 in November, and Juninho 35 in December, and both players are critical to Kitchee's success, so being able to rotate them and reduce their risk of injury and burnout will hopefully pay off long term. A couple of cup games await before a title crunch game with Tai Po in mid-October, which we hope Illarramendi is fit to start for.

What's next and other news

Scmp/Edmond So

North District in the Senior Shield. 6.30pm Sunday 28th September at Tsing Yi. No league games until after the October international break. Teenage centre back Yu Ching-wai has become the latest Kitchee youngster to move temporarily on loan to the lower leagues in Spain, following in the footsteps of Shinichi Chan and Jason Yuen Chun-him. Following this we take on Rangers in the League Cup during the international break (unlimited foreigners allowed) before the crunch league game against Tai Po in October.

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Match highlights

Scrappy win secures another narrow Kitchee win with big name signing watching on- Eastern District 0 Kitchee 1

Credits to Scoop

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill

Kitchee secured a second consecutive 1-0 away win through Leandro Martinez's late penalty. In a game where Kitchee played over an hour with ten men after Tan Chun-lok's early red card. It wasn't pretty but it got the job done.

Credits to Kitchee

Kitchee confirmed the signing of Asier Illarramendi on Wednesday night. The thirty-five year old Spanish midfielder arrives in Hong Kong having been a free agent since the start of 2025. He played almost a hundred times for Real Madrid (winning the Champions League in 2014) and played over two hundred and fifty times for Real Sociedad. He last played for FC Dallas, and has three caps for the Spanish national team, while he also won the under 21 Euros. Unfortunately we did not see him in action on Sunday, as the player was awaiting confirmation on his work permit and getting into good condition after so long out of the game. Chen Ngo-hin moved on loan to Southern, following previous loan spells in 22-23 and 23-24. We wish him the best, whatever the future holds.

Team news

Photo by Scoop

Calderon made three changes to the starting lineup, with Haddow, Lung and Jordan dropping out and Law, Martinez and Juninho coming in. Pong Cheuk-hei (Bear) remains out with a shoulder injury, and unlikely to be back before November, and the aforementioned work permit issues (and conditioning) meant Illarramendi watched on from the stands.

Wang; Law (Jason 45), Riera, Dantas, Beattie (Jordan 65), Lok (c), Mingazow, Martinez (Haddow 88), Juninho (Kanda 65), Kendy (Lung 30), Adrian

Unused subs: Buddle, Tuscany, Slattery, Chan Shing-chun, Li Siu-hin, Lam Pak-yin, Cheung Yiu-hin

Match highlights

Photo by Scoop

Martinez went wide early on, as Kitchee dominated the opening exchanges. But this changed in the26th minute, when Wang's poor pass went straight to Sri Lankan international Wazeem Razeek, and Tan Chun-lok fouled him as he neared the box. The referee showed a straight red card, presumably believing Lok to be the last man (despite Riera looking as if he could cover). There was no VAR at this game as HKFA does not possess the infrastructure or personnel to man multiple games at once, meaning Lok was not reprieved. Kendy was sacrificed for Cheng Chin-lung on the half hour mark to give Kitchee another body in midfield. Eastern District went close from the resulting free kick, and grew into the game, with Kitchee fans frustrated at half time.

Photo by Yin

Jason Kam came on for Law Tsz-chun as Kitchee seemed to switch to a lopsided three at the back formation, and a goalmouth scramble at a corner saw Riera go closest to poking Kitchee in front. Adrian missed a sitter where any goalbound touch would've surely found the net. As the game wore on fans got more irate, before Jordan Lam was taken out inside the box while attempting to reach Mingazow's cross in the dying moments. On his first start Leandro Martinez fired the penalty home, and Kitchee had the lead. But more lax defensive passing saw Haddow under pressure, and he passed it straight to former Chinese Super League forward Cesar Lobi Manzoki, who skied a simple chance, and Kitchee got out of jail. Scrappy and tense, but three points is three points.

Debut watch

Yumemi Kanda- decent cameo off the bench trying to get Kitchee going. Probably the most likely foreign player to drop out of the squad in the coming weeks with the recent arrival of Asier Illarramendi.

Fan feedback

Photo by Ultras Bluewave

Lots to work on moving forward, but two wins from two is a good start, especially with two clean sheets. Hopefully the nature of the wins means Kitchee won't get too complacent and recognise the shortcomings. It was a resilient display with ten men where they still had a lot of the ball, but some really careless errors in possession (one leading to the red card, and one should have lead to an equaliser). Calderon was not afraid to make changes, sacrificing Kendy early to balance the midfield (despite much of Kitchee's play coming down the left) and bringing on Jason Kam to switch to a back three. It did seem strange that after a couple of years of seeing Helio get pressed by opposition forwards, Kitchee did not look to exploit this during the game. The red card was harsh and HKFA rules mean while it can be appealed (with VAR not in action at this game), the relevant committee does not meet until after our game with Lee Man next week, so it seems he must serve the ban regardless.

Photo by Scoop

Fans are not the biggest fans of Siu Sai Wan, being a cavernous stadium- having nearly twelve thousand seats). But they were impressed by the efforts of the Eastern District staff to make the environment family friendly and increase the attendance, with additional transport links, carnival games and better refreshments than LCSD grounds normally deliver. It clearly worked with over two and a half thousand people through the doors on a hot Sunday afternoon with another HKPL game at HKFC (a much easier ground to travel to for the neutral fan), which had less than 700 fans. It should be noted that there have already been three Hong Kong Premier League games this season with over two thousand fans, suggesting a bounce from previous levels. Both of Kitchee's games so far (albeit 'away' games for us) and Lee Man vs Tai Po had bigger attendances than any game in the league since May 2023. Can the HKPL maintain this high fan engagement moving forward, building on from forty thousand plus who saw Hong Kong beat India at Kai Tak Stadium in June

Other news

Photo by HKFA

Hong Kong played two friendlies in Thailand last week, participating in the King's Cup. In the first game against Iraq, former Kitchee striker Matt Orr gave Hong Kong a shock lead from the penalty spot, after Juninho was fouled, before two late goals from an Iraqi substitute sealed the win for the team ranked 89 places higher than Hong Kong. Juninho and Tan Chun-lok played 75 and 86 minutes respectively. Hong Kong then played Fiji in the third place playoff, where Fiji's two early red cards made it something of a walkover. Juninho got two goals and an assist in the first half before being withdrawn at half time, while Tan Chun-lok was an unused substitute. 

Photo by HKFA

Hong Kong U23 took on Iran, the UAE and Guam in qualifying for the U23 Asian Cup, Haddow and Slattery started as Hong Kong held out for 70 minutes against Iran, before capitulating 4-0. In the second game against the UAE Hong Kong lost 2-0, with Haddow and Slattery starting again, and Chen Ngo-hin on as a late substitute. The third game saw Hong Kong beat Guam 1-0. Jay Haddow was sent off early in the second half, with Slattery playing half an hour off the bench as Hong Kong held on to win, but were eliminated.

What's next

Lee Man 'away' at Mong Kok on the 20th, 4pm kickoff. We will also face North District in the Senior Shield quarterfinal on Sunday 28th September at Tsing Yi. We will be without Bear in goal again, and Tan Chun-lok through suspension, but it is possible we will see Asier Illarramendi make his debut, subject to sorting his work permit and being in good condition, after so long out.

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Match highlights

Kitchee emerge victorious from derby day season opener- Eastern 0 Kitchee 1

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill

Kitchee won their season opener in the first game under Inigo Calderon as Cheng Chin-lung's first half header proved the difference between the sides. The 2700 fans were not deterred by the heavy rain shower just before kickoff, and this was the highest HKPL attendance since May 2023.

Team news

Kitchee handed debuts to four of the new signings, with Beattie and Riera in defence, Kendy in midfield and Adrian up front. The second half saw debuts for Leandro Martinez and Chan Shing-chun, along with a league debut for Cheung Yiu-hin, as Calderon put his trust in young players to get the job done. 

Wang; Haddow (Law 74), Riera, Dantas, Beattie; Lok (c) (Adrian Chan 74), Lung (Martinez 59); Mingazow (Cheung 61), Kendy, Jordan (Juninho 59), Adrian

Unused subs: Kanda, Hin, Buddle, Tuscany, Jason, Li Siu-hin, Ari Lam

Match events

An early long ball from Wang found Adrian, whose shot was blocked. Jay Haddow missed a header from a crossfield ball which allowed Gil Martins to run through on goal, but Roger Riera got the block in. Mingazow's cross from the right was met by Adrian, but his flick goalwards was saved by Yapp. But just after the half hour mark Kitchee got the breakthrough; Jay Haddow made an underlapping run inside Mingazow, who played him in. Haddow's cross was headed in by Cheng Chin-lung of all people, for his first goal in over three years. Just before half time Adrian and Mingazow teed up Kendy, but he was denied by Yapp, who single-handedly kept the score at 1-0 through a number of sharp first half saves.

Early in the second half Eastern's veteran captain Leung Chun-pong hit the crossbar after Kitchee didn't deal with a corner. Then Kitchee's subs got involved; Juninho's left footed curler got tipped over, before seventeen year old Cheung Yiu-hin drove through the Eastern defence and forced a stop from Yapp. At only 1-0 Kitchee fans were counting down the minutes to full time; while Kitchee had been the better team, they had not hammered home the advantage. Eastern's last chance for an equaliser came when Gondra's freekick was palmed away by Wang, and Kitchee scrambled the rebound away. Three points and a clean sheet to begin the Calderon era.

Fans feedback

A lot of fans were happy for Cheng Chin-lung, after he scored his first league goal for three years. By no means was it a perfect performance but there were a lot of positive signs from the side. Fans very happy with Calderon's trust in the youth- Chan Shing-chun and Cheung Yiu-hin  helped see out the win and did not look overawed, and it has been too long for a Kitchee coach to trust young players in big games, and not just for short cameos. The two youngsters were brave and battled hard and hopefully we see more in the coming weeks. Over the past three seasons teenagers have only played 136 minutes in the league for Kitchee, so hopefully this increased trust continues. Wang's distribution was very good (and in a welcome change, a Kitchee goalkeeper was allowed to go route one on occasion) and Tan Chun-lok dominated midfield, although a few other players probably need some time to bed in properly, whether they are new signings or playing new roles.

Debut watch

Roger Riera. Assured at the back with some good blocks and covered for slips from the rest of the defence

Adrian Revilla. Good work rate, and his physical presence allowed Kitchee to go direct. Got stuck in and drifted wide to allow others to lead the press. Dropped deep to receive the ball and went close to scoring.

Kendy. Possibly not fully fit, but looked bright. Got into good positions and linked well with other attackers.

Leandro Martinez. Recent signing on as a sub, probably needs time to adapt. The chemistry with other teammates will come over the coming weeks.

Callum Beattie. Solid at left back, dealt with threats down the Eastern right and passed well. Arguably a contender for man of the match

Chan Shing-chun. Surprising sub for captain Tan Chun-lok with 15 minutes still to play. Did not look like an eighteen year old making his pro debut.

What's next

International duty, with the Hong Kong team going to Thailand to participate in the King's Cup, a four-way competition with two semi finals, a third place play off and a final. They play Iraq on Thursday, and then either Thailand or Fiji on Sunday, depending on the result against Iraq, with Tan Chun-lok and Juninho named in the squad. The under 23s travel to Abu Dhabi for the Asian Cup qualifiers, where they will take on Iran, the UAE and Guam. Jay Haddow and Matthew Slattery have been called up, and there was a late callup for Chen Ngo-hin.

For Kitchee we next play on Sunday 14th, away at newcomers Eastern District at Siu Sai Wan. This week they announced the signing of Leon Jones, who joins a huge former Kitchee contingent both on and off the pitch.

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Match highlights

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Thailand Preseason roundup

24 of the 28 man first team squad travelled to Thailand, with Pong Cheuk-hei (injured until October), Kim Shin-wook, Jason Yuen Chun-him and Yu Ching-wai all missing out. The club played T1 side Chiangrai United and T2 side Kasetstart FC, drawing against the former and conceding a last minute winner to the latter.

Law Tsz-chun and Ruslan Mingazow missed the first game against Chiangrai United, with Wang Zhenpeng captaining and a first Kitchee appearance from the start for Kanda. Slattery went close early, before a quick free kick caught Kitchee's defence off guard. Wang brought down the forward in the box, and Chiangrai took the lead from the spot. Kanda went close, but Chiangrai came close to extending their lead on a couple of occasions before half time, where a number of changes were made, including first games for Riera, Adrian, Beattie and Kendy. New signing Adrián Revilla went close from range early doors, before good work down the left from Li Siu-hin and Adrián played in Juninho to equalise. Little happened after this, and the 1-1 draw was probably a fair result, with a much-improved Kitchee second half.

The second game against Kasetstart FC saw Calde make six changes to the starting lineup, with Anikar, Beattie, Tan Chun-lok, Juninho, Cheung Yiu-hin and Adrian Revilla starting. An early defensive mix-up almost allowed an early goal for our opponents, before Cheung Yiu-hin thought he might have had a penalty after being pulled down. Both sides had chances to take the lead, with Kasetstart probably the stronger of the two as the first half ended. Early in the second half Juninho cut in from the right to score a lovely goal, his second in preseason. But soon after Buddle was caught out on halfway, and the resulting counter saw Kitchee concede an equaliser. Slattery went close twice; first a tight offside ruled out his goal, before he blazed over with the goal at his mercy. As the game drew to a close Kasetstart carved Kitchee open to score a last minute winner.

It is always hard to know how much to read into preseason fixtures. Kitchee's travelling twenty four man squad included five of the six new signings, plus four youngsters promoted from the academy. You also had a number of players with very limited experience with the Kitchee first team squad. Mingazow did not feature in the first matchday squad, while Law Tsz-chun missed both games- we assume this is due to injury. Combined with a new coach with limited time to work with the players, you can therefore see positives even if Kitchee were winless. Lots of different combinations were used, with the flexibility allowing previously subbed players to come back on meaning Calde got to see how players worked together, which will go a long way towards working out the best starting line up to play his style of football. The club also played a behind closed doors game which further allowed opportunities for players to impress. From the two televised games, fans noted that the younger players look sharper and more ready for senior football than in previous years, and with a smaller squad they are likely to get opportunities, especially if no more signings come in.

Chiangrai highlights

Kasetstart highlights

25/26 season

Still nothing official yet, but other media such as SportsRoad and SCMP have hinted that the new season will start at the end of August (presumably the last weekend, just before Hong Kong travel to Thailand for the Kings Cup). It seems the format will be changed slightly with a ten team league- a double round robin as before, and then the top and bottom halves will split for an additional single round robin within the group (as the HKPL has done previously), meaning each side plays twenty two league games. Teams will also have the Senior Shield and FA Cup, alongside a new competition, highly likely to have no limitations on foreign players, meaning teams will play a minimum of 25 games in all competitions. These structures, as well as our home ground can expect to be officially confirmed in the coming couple of weeks. 

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EAFF campaign over, more transfers and other news- preseason so far

By Adam O'Domhnaill

The EAFF Championships have finished. Hong Kong end their campaign with zero points and one goal, against tough opponents. Opening up with a 6-1 defeat to Japan, they looked much more solid in 2-0 and 1-0 defeats to South Korea and China respectively. Tan Chun-lok and Juninho both started all three games, former striker Matt Orr scored our only goal of the tournament against Japan, while former defender Clement Benhaddouche made his debut against China. Hong Kong will next be in action in early September, playing in the Kings Cup in Thailand, alongside the hosts, Iraq and Fiji.

Transfers

Kitchee confirmed the arrivals of two players from the Spanish lower leagues last week, filling key holes at centre back and centre forward. That brings our total incomings so far to six. Speaking with manager Iñigo Calderón at Kitchee's media day he is happy with the squad as it stands, eager to see how the young players get on first. The lack of incomings means there probably is room for new players should they be required.

Adrian Revilla

The versatile striker joins us from Barakaldo CF in the Spanish third tier, where he had seven goal contributions in thirty two games. Predominantly a striker, he has featured across the front line, and will likely play through the middle, with a combination of Mingazow, Juninho, Kendy and Yumemi Kanda playing alongside or behind him.

Roger Riera

The Spanish centre back came through Barcelona's famous La Masia academy, captaining at multiple youth levels, including when they won the UEFA Youth League in 2014. He has over two hundred and fifty games at the professional level, featuring predominantly in the Spanish third and fourth tiers (for the 'B' sides of established Spanish clubs), and in the Dutch second tier for NAC Breda, while also having two years in Nottingham Forest's academy. He helped FC Andorra get promoted to the second tier in 2022. His attributes and experience mean we expect him to start almost every week alongside Dantas.

The club also confirmed that Cheung Yiu-hin, Yu Ching-wai, Li Siu-hin, Lam Pak-yin and Chan Shing-chun have been promoted to the first team squad for the season. Pong Cheuk-hei's recovery from his shoulder injury will see him out of action until October. Thanks to offside.hk for helping us to get access to Kitchee's media day, where we were able to chat with players and gauge the mood of the squad. The squad are excited for the upcoming campaign, and hope the high standards of Iñigo Calderón (or Calde) prove to be beneficial for Kitchee moving forward. After a few years of limited opportunities for young players, it was great to see so many being used in the first team training, and of the twenty eight members of the first team squad, half are twenty three or under.

In terms of outgoings, we have seen Fernando and Ngan Cheuk-pan join Tai Po, with Poon Pui-hin moving to Lee Man, who also signed former Kitchee players Ellison Tsang Yi-hang, Barak Braunshtain and Mikael. Helio will join newly promoted Eastern District in a player coach role.

Other news

Kitchee will travel to Thailand next week to play two friendly games, against T1 Chiangrai United and T2 Kasetsart, alongside a closed doors practice match. Poon Man-chun, Fernando Recio and Guo Jianquo retained their places in the backroom staff, with Kobe Kou joining as strength and conditioning coach, and club legend Dani Cancela taking on a remote role from Spain as a technical analyst. Defenders Jay Haddow and Callum Beattie are still waiting on their passports, and both have to have this resolved by the time the new season starts. News of a start date for the season and a home ground are yet to be confirmed, but we will update you when we know more. We are also awaiting news of the structure of the league and cup competitions

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Please also follow offside.hk who give a broader look into Hong Kong football. Thanks to working with them, we were able to get access to the media day and give a more in-depth look at how the club is getting on, watching training and speaking to players and staff.

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Confirmed ins and outs so far and Hong Kong in EAFF action.

Kitchee officially announced their first four signings of the summer at the start of the week, with three joining from Hong Kong clubs and the fourth having spent eighteen months here in recent years. We also saw fourteen players leave the club, a number of which we had previously mentioned here. Here we run down the confirmed ins and outs, as Iñigo Calderón's squad starts to take shape for the 2025/26 season. The club also confirmed another foreign striker and defender will be joining soon, and five under 18s are being promoted to the senior side for preseason, and perhaps moving forward.

We have two representatives in Hong Kong's 26 man squad for the EAFF Championships (Tan Chun-lok and Juninho), along with four of our fourteen departures. Hong Kong's games are on RTHK32, details below. We will be watching the Japan game in Barcode 23 in To Kwa Wan- let us know if you'd like to join us.

Hong Kong's games are as follows 

8th July 6.24pm Japan

11th July 7pm South Korea

15th July 3pm China

Incomings

Beattie (credits Scoop)

Callum Beattie- 23 years old, left back, English. Most recently at HKFC.

The young defender has shown he can do it against the big teams. scoring against Kitchee, Tai Po and Eastern this season. Find his goal against us here. He is tough tackling and has played LWB and LCB at HKFC this year. We expect him to play left back for us next season, and probably start. Prior to this season, he spent three years in the North American college system, having come through the ranks at HKFC. His time spent in Hong Kong as a youth means he is eligible for a Hong Kong passport, which we understand is very close to being finalised, and may well be completed already.

Kendy (credits Joga Bonito)

Kendy- 26 years old, attacking midfielder, Brazilian. Most recently at North District.

The versatile attacker has been the talisman for North District since his 2023 arrival, and now Kitchee fans do not have to fear him, given his tendency to score against us every game. Primarily suited to playing central midfield, or in the number 10 role, he has also been used as a false nine, and could play on the wings. He has thirty four goal involvements (18 goals, 16 assists) in just under sixty games for a constantly struggling North District side.

Bear (credits HKFA)

Pong Cheuk-hei (Bear)- 21 years old, goalkeeper, Hong Kong. Most recently at North District.

The young goalkeeper has spent most of his career with Hong Kong's worst teams (HKU23, RCFC and North District) but has had admirers around the league, and he is on the fringes of the representative team, making the bench for the World Cup qualifiers with Uzbekistan last year. Definitely seen as a long-term prospect in goal, we assume he will start the majority of games, being backed up by veteran Wang Zhenpeng.

Yumemi Kanda- 30 years old, attacking midfielder, Japan. Most recently at Besa Dobri Dol (North 
Macedonia).

Kanda (credits onetwo.hk)

The Japanese attacker returns to Hong Kong having previously spent 18 months at Rangers, where he had 42 goal involvements in 48 games. Predominantly used as a number 10, he has featured on the wings and at centre forward in a career that has seen him play over a hundred games in the Japanese leagues, and most recently he was in North Macedonia, before leaving at the end of June. We hope he can contribute at a level similar to that as his time at Rangers.

Departures

Helio 225 games 8 goals 

A true club legend- his eleven years at the club brought six league titles, five FA cups, four senior shields and a Sapling Cup. Captained the club on over fifty occasions, and a key part of multiple trophy runs, being a bridge between different eras as he won six league titles and thirteen other trophies. Made the HKPL team of the year on three occasions. Heavily rumoured to be joining ambitious newly promoted Eastern District in a player-coach role.

Fernando 212 games 53 goals 

Over two hundred appearances across two spells, and leaves Kitchee near the top of the record goalscorers list. Player of the year in 2017, he made the HKPL team of the year on five occasions, including this season, and won fourteen trophies, including three league titles. He will likely be joining champions Tai Po.

Poon Pui-hin 76 games 12 goals 

Four years at the club, playing across the frontline. Saw his playtime massively reduced in 24/25, but chipped in with goals and assists when he did get on. He was just announced as a Lee Man player.

Ngan Cheuk-pan 68 games 5 goals

Ngan came through the academy and returned to Kitchee fulltime after graduating college. He stepped up into a regular starter with Tan Chun-lok's injury last season, and became a key part of the Hong Kong setup. Seems likely to be joining Fernando at Tai Po.

Sherzod Temirov 52 games 23 goals

Has worked hard in his eighteen months at the club. Is not the big goalscoring number nine Kitchee have needed, but poor recruitment of Kim Shin-wook and Welthon has massively increased his role. Always had time for the fans, but no news of a new club yet.

Aaron Rey 28 games 7 goals

He played almost every game, and over 80% of possible minutes. Contributed offensively and followed Kitchee tradition of accumulating petty yellow cards.He was quite popular with the fanbase, even if he didn't hit the heights expected. No new club yet.

Sohgo Ichikawa 28 games 3 goals

Moving permanently to Southern after two seasons on loan. Played a small role in our treble winning campaign. Recently earned his second Hong Kong cap against Nepal off the back of an impressive season.

Luis Machado 27 games 6 goals

He came in with high expectations, but could not deliver. Needed to show more consistently high performance levels. His fourteen goal contributions was only bettered by Temirov, but that number needed to be closer to twenty to fire Kitchee to glory. No new club yet.

Bae Jae-woo 24 games 1 goal

Dependable and started a lot of games. Needed more to earn a new contract. Always showed energy, even if he didn't always do a full 90. No new club yet.

Fynn Talley 23 games

Recovered from a shaky start to be one of our stand out performers in a disappointing season. Probably can feel harshly treated having kept six clean sheets. No new club yet.

Leon Jones 21 games

The most surprising of the four departures announced at the end of June. A regular for us and Hong Kong at the heart of defence, he has been linked with a move north, although owing to growing up in the UK he would not class as a local player in the same way that many Hong Kong players do. Unsure where he ends up next, he is currently playing in the EAFF Championships without a contract.

Welthon 19 games 9 goals 

Came in with big expectations, but was a disappointment. All of his goals came against bottom four sides and we finished the season trophyless. Hopefully he makes a full recovery from his head injury sustained in February to play somewhere. Left the club at the start of May. No new club yet.

Tom Yeung Cheuk-kwan 11 games 1 goal

Our club's youngest ever goalscorer (back in December 2023), he couldn't push on this year owing to injury, but did make a couple of league appearances. No new club yet.

Diego Bardanca 5 games 0 goals 

Disappointment on the pitch, but a mentor to young players off the pitch. Did not play after December, and seemed to leave the club in March, although this was not confirmed by the club until May. No new club yet.

Continue to stay in touch with us on social media to stay up to date with any Kitchee news. In the coming weeks we'll see a couple of new signings (maybe more), and confirmation of how next season will look- we know Eastern District will be promoted to make it a ten team league again, but whether the triple round robin will continue will be confirmed in due course. 

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Joga Bonito

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Kitchee appoint Iñigo Calderón as new manager- who is he and what can we expect?

Credits to Kitchee

Iñigo Calderón was announced as Kitchee's new manager today, and is the fifth Spanish manager in the clubs history, following in the footsteps of Josep Gombau, Alex Gomez, Jose Francisco Molina and Abraham Garcia, all of whom had varying degrees of success. But who is Iñigo Calderón? Here we delve into his career as a player and a coach, to give you a bit of background into him. So far it is unclear if any new coaches will join him, but we expect Fernando Recio and Poon Man-chun to still be involved.

Iñigo Calderón is forty three years old, and made over three hundred and fifty appearances as a professional, mostly at right back. His most notable spell was spent at Brighton, spending six years and making over two hundred appearances for them, but he also played in his native Spain, and finished his career with spells in Cyprus and India. As a player he helped Brighton win promotion into the second tier (making the team of the season), and won the Indian Super League in his penultimate season as a professional, and he retired as a player in early 2019. Although his time at Brighton ended before they reached the Premier League (although he did feature in three play off semi-final defeats), he is extremely popular amongst their fanbase for setting an example as a leader and role model, setting the high standards of professionalism which eventually saw the side promoted.

Calderón technically took his first backroom position at Brighton while still playing abroad, acting as a scout for his former club between 2016 and 2019- one player he is credited with scouting in this time is Pascal Gross, who played over 250 times for Brighton before moving to Borussia Dortmund. Following his retirement from playing he moved back to his native Spain to another former club, Alaves, where in over four years he managed the U19s side and assisted the B team. In July 2023 he moved back to Brighton officially, and was the U18s manager for a year and a half. He then took on the job at League One (English 3rd tier) Bristol Rovers in December 2024, with many Brighton fans sad to see him go, after an impressive recent spell of free-flowing attacking football with young players. Despite an upturn in fortunes at the start of 2025, a disastrous run across March and April saw them only win eight points from their final sixteen games and they were relegated. 

During his playing career Calderón played alongside England internationals Wayne Bridge, Ben White and Lewis Dunk, as well as former Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak. He has been managed by a number of well-known names- at Brighton he was managed by Gus Poyet and Chris Hughton, while in India he played under John Gregory, who managed Aston Villa in the Premier League. At Brighton he served on the coaching staff of Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi, so he has been around a lot of football knowledge which he can hopefully demonstrate with us.

There had been reports of HKFA technical director John Morling being involved in helping Kitchee find a new coach, and the two worked together at Brighton for a number of years. A win rate of 23% in his only senior job is worrying, but he did come into a bad situation for a first managerial role. Some fans of Bristol Rovers felt he was almost doomed from the beginning with a number of off-field issues. He came in with the club in 20th, and had his on-loan first choice goalkeeper recalled from a loan spell within a few weeks of taking over, and had a number of senior strikers getting injured in January, without the opportunity to bring in experienced cover. Fans of Bristol Rovers describe him as a likeable character who was grateful for the opportunity of his first job in senior management, and he spent a lot of time rebuilding the connection between the supporters and the team. While ultimately results towards the end were not good enough, a number of fans still believed he should have been given the chance to stay on and rebuild, although it is clear this was a divisive issue. 

Calderón was interviewed by the Athletic in July 2023 (linked below) where he talked about his love of coaching, being involved in youth coaching while still playing, and a lot of coaches earmarked him as a future coach from a young age. He has a love of the game that extended far beyond playing- he completed a Sports Science degree and a masters degree in Sports Psychology in his mid-twenties, before completing his UEFA Pro License aged 36, and he also has a teaching qualification from the Spanish national coaching academy. He tends to operate using a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation, with a focus on possession-based football, which at youth level brought about a lot of goals.

We hope Calderón can blend the existing Kitchee players with the new signings and any academy players and help inspire Kitchee to some long-awaited silverware. While his senior managerial record may not be the greatest, he is clearly an ambitious manager with a philosophy on the pitch, and an ability to build connections with supporters, and work well with young talent. We wait to see how he sets the team up and whether his connections in England or Spain see us bring in new signings from either nation.

Sources and links

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cx27kzry494o

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/mar/21/bristol-rovers-inigo-calderon-i-needed-more-real-football-the-adrenaline

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/exclusive-lee-hendrie-reacts-to-inevitable-bristol-rovers-inigo-calderon-call/

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4678963/2023/07/13/inigo-calderon-brighton/ (subscription required)

https://archive.ph/XJ9EN (above article but no need for subscription)

https://x.com/brfcjacob/status/1871297678107349323?t=SbDnOJDF_EIOJIF8J5O2Vg&s=08

https://x.com/TheNextWave/status/1840370093852684373

https://x.com/seagulleaglepod

https://www.instagram.com/seagulleaglepodcast/

Continue to stay in touch with us on social media to stay up to date with any Kitchee news. We believe some new signings will be announced early next week, and we will post once this is confirmed. We'll also be posting as Tan Chun-lok and Juninho represent Hong Kong in the EAFF Championships over the next ten days.

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Kitchee updates and international duty, but no manager update yet

Photo by Santiago/offside

By Adam O'Domhnaill

The club season may be over, but over the last week we've seen a historic win for the senior Hong Kong team, wins at youth level for our younger players, and strong rumours of a change of home ground for the 2025-26 season.

The big Kitchee news

We are likely to be evicted from Mong Kok Stadium for next season, although we are awaiting official confirmation. Tseung Kwan O Stadium is undergoing season-long maintenance works, and as a result Lee Man will have the option to choose their new venue (almost definitely choosing Mong Kok), due to finishing above us in the league, as did Eastern, who will stay at MK too. Until recently, this was HKPL policy, resulting in regular changes of home grounds season after season, before it was decided teams should stay in one place to try and build a local fanbase. AFC regulations state more than two teams cannot share a home ground for access to continental competition, and so we would be the first tenants of Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground. We'll keep our page name the same despite the brief exodus.

Hong Kong news

Photo by Santiago/offside

Juninho scored against Manchester United for Hong Kong, in a game where Leon Jones and Ngan Cheuk-pan also started, alongside Fernando who captained the side. Tan Chun-lok and Helio came off the bench. Sixteen year old goalkeeper Lucas Cheung was called up late to the side as cover but did not get on, as three second half goals for Manchester United handed them a 3-1 win.

Hong Kong 0 Nepal 0- Juninho, Ngan Cheuk-pan, Leon Jones (and the recently departed Fernando) all started, with Tan Chun-lok coming off the bench in a pretty drab affair that saw a lot of fans questioning manager Ashley Westwood's tactical selections.

Photo by Santiago/offside

Hong Kong 1 India 0- Juninho, Tan Chun-lok and Leon Jones started, with Ngan Cheuk-pan coming off the bench. In front of forty two thousand fans (the second highest Hong Kong home attendance of all time), former Kitchee academy striker Michael Udebuluzor was taken out in stoppage time, and Southern striker Stefan Pereira scored to send the crowd wild. Safe to say the 'Westwood Out' brigade are pretty quiet now.

The total attendance of the Hong Kong Premier League last season was just over seventy thousand, so we'd encourage all our readers to send this article to any friends or family that attended last night (or have a passing interest in football), as we'd love to see HKPL games hitting a thousand fans with much more regularity. Out of 108 games, attendances only broke 1000 on twenty one occasions, with four of these being Kitchee home games, and a further three being away games. 

Tuscany (credit HKFA)

Chen Ngo-hin, Matthew Slattery and Chan Shing-chun and Tom Yeung Cheuk-kwan travelled with HKU23 to Thailand to play friendlies with Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. Slattery and Yeung started the Thailand game, with both scoring in the first half to help Hong Kong into a 3-0 lead which was pegged back to 3-2 by full time. Chan Shing-chun and Chen Ngo-hin both came off the bench in the second half. The friendly against the UAE was behind closed doors with limited information available, other than Hong Kong lost 5-0.

Tuscany Shek was an unused substitute as HK U20s lost on penalties to a Hubei U18 side in the semi finals of a charity competition held at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground, but he started the third placed playoff against Malaga U19, saving two penalties in the shoot out as Hong Kong won after a 2-2 draw.

Manager news

Photo by Scoop

Nothing major to report in this regard, but a host of names have popped up on social media. Edgar Cardoso and assistant Stefano Sousa left the club, but other assistant Fernando Recio was retained. It is purely fan speculation who comes next. Names mentioned include Jordi Tarres (current technical director) and Gary White (former Hong Kong manager), although both of these seem very unlikely given previous comments by chairman Ken Ng. Current Aston Villa under 21s and former Kitchee boss Josep Gombau has been linked, along with Carles Anton, a former Hong Kong youth coach. Both have experience working in Hong Kong football, which was a criticism levelled at Edgar Cardoso at times. More left-field names thrown into the mix (again, purely by fans) are former Kitchee players Diego Forlan and Matt Smith, but neither have great managerial track records and so appointing either seems unlikely. We expect more concrete rumours and an eventual appointment after the international break, with preseason starting at the start of July.

Transfer speculation and confirmation

Ins

Photo by Scoop

As has been discussed in previous months, Kendy and Callum Beattie are set to join Kitchee from North District and Hong Kong Football Club respectively, with the latter waiting on his Hong Kong passport (similar to current player Jay Haddow) in order to class as a local player next campaign. Pong Cheuk-hei, also known as Bear, the goalkeeper for North District has been linked again- the club attempted to sign him last summer, before opting for Fynn Talley. The most surprising transfer link saw rumours of Leung Nok-hang (Sailo) potentially joining us from Meizhou Hakka in the Chinese Super League. While this signing would be a big statement of intent from the club, it has been debunked on Weibo, and makes little logistical sense- taking a massive pay cut to play for a club not in continental competition, unless other factors are in play. It is likely that any incoming foreign players from abroad will not be signed until a new coaching team is in place, with the new manager likely to bring some of his own backroom team too.

Outs

Photo by Scoop

At the start of June, Kitchee announced the departures of Welthon, Luis Machado, Bae Jae-woo, Aaron Rey, Diego Bardanca, Fynn Talley and Sherzod Temirov, on the expiration of their contracts. None of these really came as a shock based on recent events. Club captain Helio and vice captain Fernando have also both left after making over 400 Kitchee appearances between them, with the latter almost certainly going to Tai Po. After an underwhelming campaign, where he played less than fifteen percent of possible minutes, forward Poon Pui-hin continues to have admirers in the Chinese football leagues, with Changchun Yatai of the Chinese Super League the latest link. 

And finally congratulations to Kitchee Women who completed a domestic double with victory in the FA Cup on Sunday. Former Kitchee manager Alex Chu was in the dugout, as was Wang Zhenpeng as goalkeeping coach, as Kitchee won 2-0.

Continue to stay in touch with us on social media to stay up to date with any Kitchee news.

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Santiago's photos can be found on the pages for Offside.hk, an English language website for Hong Kong football news. Go and follow them if you don't already Instagram Facebook Twitter