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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Photo credits

HKFA

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Joga Bonito

Onetwo.hk

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

End of season review

Another HKPL season is over; Kitchee finished trophyless for the first time in over a decade, and will be without continental football for a second consecutive season. Even though there were brief periods of resurgence, Kitchee were miles off the pace for the majority of the season. The team failed to perform in big games (only taking 4 points outof the possible 18 points against Tai Po and Lee Man) and struggled to take apart the weaker teams with the ruthless efficiency seen in previous years.

The inconsistency was infuriating at times; throughout the season, Kitchee dropped ten points from winning positions, including the opening day against North District (2-0 up at 85 minutes becoming a 2-2 draw) and in February against Kowloon City (2-0 up at 71 minutes becoming a 3-2 defeat). There was also the spell around Chinese New Year when Kitchee won four games in a row (three games from behind) in four consecutive weekends.

Fans naturally felt very disappointed at the end of the season and hope for much more from a likely changed squad and coaching staff next year. To wrap up the season, here we look at performances in different competitions and assess player performance.

Hong Kong Premier League

Kitchee finished 4th again, nine points behind third place and thirteen points off the title. The key reasons for this were not turning up in big games (as outlined earlier, performances against Tai Po and Lee Man were generally not up to scratch) and dropping twelve points to bottom half clubs- drawing twice with Southern, losing to Kowloon City, and drawing and losing to North District, with Kitchee struggling to deliver good performances for the whole ninety minutes week in week out.

Maintaining six clean sheets was impressive for young goalkeeper Fynn Talley, especially with a constantly changing backline- seven different centre backs and five different full backs. Kitchee did score a lot of goals, and the team had a fairly solid defensive record (only one of the six defeats was by more than a goal). Two standout attacking performances came with the thrashings of Rangers at home (8-0) and Kowloon City away (5-0) in the first half of the season, and over Chinese New Year when they ground out a 2-1 win in Tai Po before tearing apart a tired Eastern side 3-0, with three first half goals. For next season, consistency is vital- although the league has levelled out a bit in terms of quality, Kitchee cannot afford to drop so many points if they wish to seriously challenge for the league again.

FA Cup

One game, one defeat, very disappointing. After falling apart in the league against Kowloon City (having withdrawn Rey, Fernando and Juninho with an eye on the cup) Kitchee blew a 2-0 lead for the second time that week, this time to Tai Po, and ended the slim chances of continental football. Cardoso's use of subs was poor- Helio was brought on to 'protect the lead' at 2-1 but after Tai Po equalising and taking the tie to extra time, no further subs were made, leaving Kitchee with Helio as an emergency forward on the pitch, and young attacking players on the bench. Considering Fernando's head injury and the game going into extra time, Kitchee could have made another five subs, whether that be another attacking option or providing fresh legs further back, but Cardoso did neither and ultimately Kitchee lost 3-2 after extra time.

Senior Shield

Started off with a good performance to beat Tai Po having lost in the league the week before. A feisty encounter ended with Kitchee winning 3-1. The semi final against Lee Man (for the third season in a row) was not a disastrous performance, but the suspension of Mingazow and Machado's injury meant Temirov and Poon Pui-hin manned the flanks, and were ineffective. Again Cardoso's game management was questioned as he only made one sub and Kitchee were eliminated with a 2-1 loss, ending the chance of winning a third Senior Shield in a row, and it brought to an end a five year unbeaten run in the competition, with the caveat of the competition being suspended for two years due to the pandemic.

Sapling Cup

The much-maligned tournament saw Kitchee handing out debuts for four teenagers, none of whom seemed out of place. Playing the games during international breaks cost the side experience, especially with the final game against Eastern clashing with games for the Hong Kong senior and U22 sides. Kitchee were minutes away from qualifying for the knockout stage; Jay Haddow's goal gave them the lead in the winner takes all game with Eastern, but a late equaliser from Eastern knocked Kitchee out and ended any remaining hope of a trophy for this season. The first three games were a mixed bag; a drab draw with North District, a comfortable win over HKFC and a thrashing at the hands of Tai Po.

Now we rate the performance of players across this disappointing campaign. For simplicity, we have only rated those who have played over 20% of Kitchee's minutes this season. 

Aaron Rey 28 games (28 starts), 2312 minutes, 7 goals, 6 assists, 7 yellows, 5.5/10

A near ever-present,consistently starting and contributing, playing over 80% of Kitchee's minutes. Spent too long holding onto the ball in possession as the season progressed which matched with a reddit comment made by a fan of one of Rey's former clubs when it was announced he had signed for the club. Ultimately left on the expiration of his contract at the end of May.

Sherzod Temirov 30 games (22 starts), 2216 minutes, 15 goals, 5 assists, 4 yellows, 6/10

Top scorer and only missed one game, where he was unable to head a ball due to a cut. Started every Kitchee game from the end of January without much of a break, having been a sub for most games before Christmas. Worked hard, leading to him being shortlisted for HKPL team of the year. Left at the end of May, weeks after reaching fifty games for the club.

Juninho 26 games (23 starts), 2119 minutes, 9 goals, 2 assists, 6 yellows, 5.5/10

He blew hot and cold in his new midfield role- his official goal contributions were down, but he was key to our good performances, helping the transition from defence to attack and spreading the play. Scored a few fantastic goals throughout the season. Key player for Hong Kong under Westwood, he has been linked with moves in the summer but looks set to stay with us.

Fynn Talley 23 games (23 starts), 2100 minutes, 6 clean sheets, 2 yellows, 5.5/10

Shaky start but recovered well, keeping six clean sheets and tying for the golden glove. He kept Kitchee in multiple games where they were dominated. He was probably unfairly made the scapegoat as a foreign goalkeeper for poor recruitment elsewhere. Left at the end of May.

Luis Machado 27 games (24 starts), 2096 minutes, 6 goals, 8 assists, 5 yellows, 4.5/10

A player coming in with a solid reputation, he was sometimes very good, but was inconsistent. Versatile, he filled in on either flank or in attacking midfield, we needed more from him, and he left at the end of May.

Matheus Dantas 24 games (24 starts),  2088 minutes, 1 goal, 9 yellows, 6.5/10

A late arrival, joining in October after the Bardanca experiment failed. The Brazilian started 24 of 26 games after arriving, and he looked assured- it was notable that the Kowloon City collapse came in the game he was suspended for. Fancied himself from free kicks just outside the box, but never looked close to scoring from these.

Jordan Lam 27 games (23 starts), 2087 minutes, 4 assists, 3 yellows, 1 red, 4.5/10

He spent most of his season with North District in 23/24 playing on the wing but a decision was made early doors to solely start him at left back for Kitchee. A silly red card against his former employers meant he was suspended for the Lee Man thrashing. Chipped in with a few assists, but too often the set pieces were too fancy and offered little threat.

Ngan Cheuk-pan 26 games (20 starts), 1957 minutes, 1 goal, 2 assists, 5 yellows, 5/10

Worked hard but was often left abandoned in midfield, and with a lack of backup was playing virtually 90 minutes week in week out with Jay Haddow and Tan Chun-lok's long-term injuries. Filled in at centre back on occasion. Also deputised for Lok at international level, and linked with moves to China in the summer.

Leon Jones 21 games (19 starts), 1684 minutes, 4 yellows, 1 red, 5.5/10

Formed a decent partnership with Dantas, and it was telling that the majority of our poor performances came when one of the pair was absent. Missed a few games through injury, and was sent off as a sub on his return. Captained the Senior Shield defeat to Lee Man, in only his ninth appearance for the club. Key player for Hong Kong, starting all nine games under Ashley Westwood, scoring his first goal against Macau in March. Shortlisted for HKPL team of the year.

Bae Jae-woo 24 games (20 starts), 1665 minutes, 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 yellows, 5/10

Provided energy but often removed early. Seemed to be Cardoso's go-to choice at right back, got a goal and an assist but ultimately did not earn a new contract.

Fernando 26 games (18 starts), 1639 minutes, 5 goals, 6 assists, 3 yellows, 6.5/10

After starting a few games at left back early on, he came into the starting line up further forward in January and never looked back, inspiring Kitchee to 4 wins in a row, and started almost every game in the second half of the season. Rewarded with the player of the month award for February, and earned a spot in the HKPL team of the year. Reached 200 Kitchee appearances earlier in the season, and announced his departure in early June, with Tai Po heavily linked.

Law Tsz-chun 24 games (15 starts), 1336 minutes, 2 goals, 2 assists, 3 yellows, 4.5/10

The full back deputised as captain early on, and chipped in offensively with his first goals for two years. Was clearly second choice to Bae in Cardoso's eyes, despite being dependable and versatile. His international career is probably over, having not been in a squad in a year and last playing in January 2024.

Welthon 19 games (13 starts), 1152 minutes, 9 goals, 2 assists, 2 yellows, 4.5/10

A big disappointment, coming in with big wages and a strong career record. He never hit the heights expected, with all of his nine goals coming against the bottom four sides in the league. Suffered a bad head injury at the end of February which effectively ended his season; he came back for two brief cameos but did not look himself and left the club in early May.

Helio 17 games (11 starts), 1111 minutes, 3 yellows, 1 red, 4/10

Club captain this year, personal reasons delayed his start, so he didn't play until mid-November. Looked his age at times, and most of our defeats came in games he started. A silly sending off against Tai Po ended his legendary Kitchee career after over two hundred games and a host of trophies. It remains to be seen what he will do next.

Ruslan Mingazow 15 games (11 starts), 976 minutes, 4 goals, 9 assists, 3 yellows, 1 red, 5.5/10

His thirteen goal contributions puts him only below Temirov and Machado despite playing less than half our games, as he was injured from January until May. His red card against Kowloon City probably cost us in the Senior Shield semi final that he was banned for. Not on Kitchee's published list of player departures on 1st June, but a cryptic Instagram post means he could still be on the move.

Cheng Chin-lung 21 games (6 starts), 742 minutes, 1 yellow, 4/10

Had a few surprising league starts (including the opening two games), but no goal contributions throughout the whole season was disappointing. Looked bright at times and if other players could finish may have had a couple of assists. Earned his first career yellow card after over a hundred Kitchee games. Was a key part in nurturing the young talents in the U22 side, who won the FA Cup.

Jay Haddow 11 games (7 starts), 634 minutes, 1 goal, 4 yellows, 4.5/10

An injury-ravaged season for his first as a professional, returning to his first club. Scored a surprising header against Eastern in the Sapling Cup. Showed his versatility, playing right back, centre back and holding midfield, and becoming a local player next season will help his playtime massively. After six months out in the middle of the season, he looked good in his few games back, but was not involved after getting injured again at the end of March.

Tan Chun-lok 10 games (9 starts), 626 minutes, 2 yellows, 4.5/10

The metronome of Kitchee's midfield, he was sorely missed during his six month absence, and when he came back for the final stages of the season we saw what we had been missing. We hope his injury woes are behind him and he pushes on next season, potentially as club captain. He will have ambitions of regaining his Hong Kong place, having not featured since September.

Chen Ngo-hin 17 games (6 starts), 621 minutes, 1 goal, 3 assists, 4.5/10

Rounded off the big win against Kowloon City with his first goal. He looked bright in cameos but not given enough opportunities, and when he got the chance he did not always deliver. Appears to be staying and will hope to continue his development, increasing his playtime. A useful player, he played both wings and in central midfield. Key part for U22 side.

The rest of the squad (unrated due to lack of minutes)

Poon Pui-hin 16 games, 411 mins (2 starts), 3 goals, 2 assists. Bit part player and seems certain to leave, with CSL club Changchun Yatai somehow linked. Wang Zhenpeng 4 games, 360 mins (4 starts). Able back up, whose experience in the dressing room will be crucial to a rebuild. Tuscany Shek 4 games, 360 mins (4 starts). The young goalkeeper continued to start in the Sapling Cup, and has been rewarded with caps for Hong Kong U20s. Still not 18 until December. Diego Bardanca 5 games, 308 mins (3 starts). Came with a solid reputation, unfortunately injuries and poor form played a part, although a popular figure in training, taking younger players under his wing.

Matthew Slattery 7 games, 194 mins (2 starts). Made a few more league cameos, but still chasing that elusive first senior goal Key part for Hong Kong’s youth U22 side. Jason Kam Chi-kin 2 games, 142 mins (1 start). Finally made his first league start in April, but very much a bench player. Need to see more next year. Li Siu-hin 1 game 90 mins (1 start). Looked assured and played a key role for the U22s successes. Wesley Chan 3 games (3 subs) 58 mins. Few short cameos in the Sapling Cup, he left to study in Australia and we are unsure of his future plans. Tom Yeung Cheuk-kwan 4 games 54 mins (4 subs). Four brief cameos off the bench, suffered with injuries throughout but hopefully he can kick on. Cheung Yiu-hin 1 game 45 mins (1 start). Only played a half, but looked solid- hopefully he can push on. Lam Pak-yin 1 game 45 mins (1 sub). Played a half off the bench in our final Sapling Cup game, hopefully we see more of him next campaign. Sohgo Ichikawa 1 game 10 mins (0 starts). Late sub in our season opener, soon loaned out to Southern (having a fantastic season), who he will join permanently this summer. Seb Buddle 2 games 9 mins (0 starts). Two short appearances, but a near permanent fixture on the bench, and played a big role for the U22s and the futsal side.

Coaching staff 4/10

Stubbornness in keeping with the same tactics and personnel despite this not being effective, and throughout the season the use of substitutions was poor. Two cup defeats only saw a combined three substitutions made despite a clear lack of cutting edge up front and tired legs further back. Younger fringe players like Chen Ngo-hin and Matthew Slattery only got regular opportunities when the chances of the title reduced to being virtually impossible, despite many players looking fatigued. Recruitment was poor, with a number of signings made towards the back end of the window (and Matheus Dantas in October). Six of the ten incomings have already left the club, and despite long term injuries to Jay Haddow and Tan Chun-lok, and a lack of potency in attack, no recruitment was done midseason. However, we cannot solely blame the coaching staff for this as the expensive contract handed to Kim Shin-wook by the club over two years ago still has over six months left to run and probably hindered further signings. 

Statistics

Most games: Sherzod Temirov 30 

Most minutes: Aaron Rey 2312 

Most goals: Sherzod Temirov 15 

Most assists: Ruslan Mingazow 9

Most yellow cards: Matheus Dantas 9

Most red cards: Leon Jones, Helio, Ruslan Mingazow, Jordan Lam 1

Angry Boundary Street awards (as voted by you the fans)

Player of the season: 1. Fernando 24.4% 2. Sherzod Temirov 22.2% 3. Ngan Cheuk-pan 11.1%

Best young player: 1. Chen Ngo-hin 57.8% 2. Jay Haddow 11.1% 3.= Tuscany Shek, Matthew Slattery, Tom Yeung Cheuk-kwan 8.9%

Best signing of the season: 1. Matheus Dantas 29.5% 2. Aaron Rey 27.3% 3. Fynn Talley 13.6%

Most disappointing signing of the season: 1.= Welthon and Luis Machado 25% 3. Diego Bardanca 20.5%

Goal of the season 1. Juninho vs Kowloon City 22.2% 2. Juninho vs Southern 20% 3. Fernando vs Tai Po 17.8%

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Photo credits this season

Inmediahk

Sportsroad

 On tv 

 HKFA

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Jarly

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill and Samuel C

A penalty a piece splits the points on the final day- Eastern 1 Kitchee 1

Credits to HKFA

A very dull game to finish a disappointing season. Very few clearcut chances from either side, before penalties in the closing stages from Temirov and Baffoe gave each side a point.

Team news

Jay Haddow remained injured, but did train for the first time in two months this week, while Helio was denied a farewell after his red card last week. Bae Jae-woo missed out, with Kitchee bizarrely having three goalkeepers (including two foreigners) on the bench for the final game of the season.

Credits to HKFA

Kitchee started five players involved in the U22 FA Cup win on Wednesday night, and made four changes to the side from last week's defeat. Wang and Mingazow made their first starts in four months, while Leon returned from suspension to start for the first time since late March, having been sent off after coming on in his last appearance. Law Tsz-chun made his first start since Kitchee were humbled 4-0 by Lee Man in mid April. The four came in for Talley, Bae, Helio and Fernando (who had started 15 of Kitchee's last 16 games- only missing the Sapling Cup through international duty). Tom Yeung's second half cameo was his first minutes for the senior side since December, while Poon Pui-hin's was his longest since seemingly becoming a scapegoat for the collapse at home to Kowloon City at the end of February.

Credits to HKFA

Wang; Law (Ngan 46), Leon, Dantas, Jordan; Rey, Lok (c) (Yeung 76), Juninho (Fernando 46); Mingazow (Poon 76), Temirov (Slattery 76), Machado

Unused subs: Lung, Enikar, Hin, Buddle, Tuscany, Talley, Jason

Match highlights

Credits to HKFA

There was a strange atmosphere as most 'neutrals' took up camp at either Tai Po or Tsing Yi as the battle for the league went down to the last day. The 787 spectators at Mong Kok were 'treated' to a fairly dull affair. Machado blazed over after a mazy run, and Mingazow also went close. Bertomeu hit one over the bar for Eastern, and the first half ended 0-0.

Credits to on.cc

Half time saw another Kitchee double change, with Law and Juninho withdrawn for Fernando and Ngan Cheuk-pan. Lee Chun-ting missed a great chance as Wang closed him down. Rey was taken down in the box with 20 minutes left (there was no VAR to double check as the HKFA's resources did not stretch for four stadiums to use it at once). Temirov converted on what is set to be his last game in a Kitchee shirt, with the club paying tribute to departing captain Helio. Some symmetry as Temirov had opened our account for the season with a penalty against North District nearly nine months ago, and his penalty was our final goal of the campaign. Soon afterwards, a triple change saw Temirov, Mingazow and Tan Chun-lok replaced by Poon, Slattery and perhaps surprisingly striker Tom Yeung, who became our third right back of the day, with Ngan moving into midfield. Leon hauled down Baffoe with barely 5 minutes remaining, and Baffoe converted to secure the golden boot. In the end a draw was probably a fair result from two teams hoping for more next season in the league. 

Fan feedback

Credits to on.cc

This season has been tumultuous, with a lot of fan anger in the stands. Kitchee finish the league season with a second consecutive fourth place finish, and a mass exodus of players and staff is expected again. We would be very surprised if many of those starting on Sunday are still here when the 2025/26 season comes around. Same old story with a lack of clearcut chances and a clinical striker- this has surely got to be addressed in the summer, and it was strange to see a bench of twelve named featuring three goalkeepers- Bae Jae-woo was left out and looks to be leaving, but why not give a few of the youngsters a taste of a first team matchday? 

What's next

Credits to on.cc

That's Kitchee's season done until the end of August. Hong Kong play Manchester United, Nepal, and India, all in the next few weeks. Hong Kong's final squad for Manchester United is confirmed with six Kitchee players included- Leon Jones, Helio, Tan Chun-lok, Fernando, Ngan Cheuk-pan and Juninho, who will hope to be included for the more competitive fixtures afterwards. Hong Kong's youth teams also play in June, and we have a number of representatives in the preliminary squads- Jason Kam, Chen Ngo-hin and Matthew Slattery have all been called up for the U22s, while Tuscany Shek, Chan Yin-hei, Lam Pak-yin, Sin Wai-kiu, Li Siu-hin and Yiu Tsz-leong have been called up to the U20s. Chan Shing-chun and Tom Yeung Cheuk-kwan have been called up for both preliminary squads at this stage.

Credits to on.cc

Club captain Helio confirmed his departure, with him being applauded in the 5th minute to celebrate his contribution of eleven years and 225 Kitchee games with the club, with six league titles, five Hong Kong cups, four Senior Shields and one Sapling Cup. We wish him and all our other departures all the best in their next steps- we expect the club to announce departures this week. It has been known for a while that head coach Edgar Cardoso is also departing, and according to SCMP, chairman Ken Ng hopes to confirm and reveal the new manager in early June. We understand Kitchee have more or less confirmed the signing of Kendy from North District; to join Callum Beattie and probably around ten other new signings.

Credits to on.cc

That's the end of our match reports for the season, but stay tuned for our end of season review, transfer information and news of international action, and potentially an interview or two.

As part of our end of season review we want your votes for a few awards. Please use this form to cast your votes. We would also appreciate you sharing it with any other Kitchee supporting friends and relatives, for an increased sample size.

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Match highlights