WHO ARE YA?! WHO ARE YA?! Fans special - Part 5 - Tony and Edmund

In the last of our "getting to know the fans" specials, we meet two absolute Kitchee Legends: Tony and Edmund. Both are long term Kitchee fans, who can be found watching Kitchee come rain, wind or shine.  Edmund takes dedication further than most fans and even works for the club! Let's see what they have to say about the upcoming season...

Tony 

1. Why do you support Kitchee? I started to get interested in local football in about 2009. At that point in time, Kitchee was the first team in Hong Kong playing possession football - rather than just hoofing and hoping. So I was attracted to watching them more than any other team. 2. When was your first Kitchee game? My first game was the Hong Kong Community Shield Match between Kitchee and South China. South China had won the league the season before and so were favourites but Kitchee scored two early goals and went on to win 2-0! Foreign players Albert Virgil and Baruc Nsue scored for Kitchee. Lam Ka Wai and Lo Kwan Yee both played that day! 3. Who is your favourite Kitchee player (ever)? I love every player! All of them are very nice! However, it is great to see loyal local players like Ka Wai, Kwan Yee, Wang etc. They have been playing for Kitchee for so many years! 4. What is your most memorable moment/day as a Kitchee fan? - Losing 0–2 to Arema Indonesia in the AFC Cup 2012 was painful - especially as they were managed by former head coach Dejean Antonic.

- Beating Eastern 6-1 in the League Cup last season was so unexpected - Rufino scored 4 goals! - Being part of the first ever pitch invasion in Hong Kong last season was amazing! Was so good to be part of it. 5. What Was your worst day as a Kitchee fan? Worst day? Southern away always seems to be awful - we never do well there. However, I remember in the 2012-2013 season we played Pegasus away on a Friday night at the Yuen Long stadium. I travelled there on my own.  Kitchee needed to win to keep their title challenge alive but, despite going ahead, we just couldn't do it and the match ended in a draw. Meaning that South China were champions.  6. Who do you hate more - SCAA or Eastern? Why? SCAA ! Because of the history between the two teams! They will always be our biggest rival. It is a pity that they will play in first division in the coming season, will miss them. 7. What Is your favourite Kitchee song? Oh le oh le oh le, le o le o le o la….every day I love you more 

8. Prediction for this season? Due to the extra pressure of competing in the Asian Champions League, we may not be as dominant domestically as we have been in previous seasons. But let’s keep our faith and I believe the boys will do well. The priority has to be for the boys will perform well in ACL and put Kitchee on the map!

Edmund Fung

1. Why do you support Kitchee? Serendipity. 2. When was your first Kitchee game? 2004-05-31 Kitchee vs AC Milan at the Hong Kong Stadium. AC had Paolo Maldini and a number of other stars playing but Kitchee won 2-1! We went one down but then Rochi Putiray scored twice to give us the win!  3. Who is your favourite Kitchee player (ever)? Its really difficult to pick a favourite player. I would have to say the whole team of the current team - the team spirit between those guys is tremendous! 4. What is your most memorable moment/day as a Kitchee fan? It has to be the 2010-01-30 Senior Shield final against SCAA. Kitchee had a new head coach, Josep Gombau, and were using a lot of new young players, whereas SCAA were the dominant force in Hong Kong football back then. Kitchee were winning 2-0 with only 30 minutes left to go and we all thought that the long wait for a trophy would be over [Kitchee hand't won a trophy since 2006] but then SCAA came back and won 4-2. Heart breaking. However, it made winning the title in 2010/2011 even better!! (Particularly as they had Micky Butt and Mateja Kezman at the time). [Highlights of the South China game can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlzK2LQwGKg]
5. What Was your worst day as a Kitchee fan? See above. Losing that day was both most memorable and most painful!! 6. Who do you hate more - SCAA or Eastern? Why? South China - they are our traditional rivals and that is the proper Hong Kong Derby. 7. What is your favourite Kitchee song? salalalalalalala We are the Kitchee boys 8. Prediction for this season?
I think the most important thing this year is learning something from our first ever appearance in the ACL. It will be good to see how we perform against some of Asia's big clubs. But, of course, I would also like to see us win another league title!