The long awaited return

Article by Adam O'Domhnaill

We are finally back! After a lengthy absence, Angry Boundary Street, Kitchee's only English language fan site has returned, bringing you news of all things Kitchee. Don't worry, despite the absence, we still hate Eastern more than ever (even though they are shite now). The last few years have proved fruitful for Kitchee, with a treble winning 2022-23 season (Premier League, FA Cup and Senior Shield), as well as becoming the first Hong Kong club to reach the last 16 of the Asian Champions League in 2022, in amongst the chaos of empty stadiums and cancelled seasons.. It would take us far too long to summarise everything that went on, and so we start afresh with a quick round up of the climax of last season, before looking ahead to this season with the transfer ins and outs.

Kitchee's 2022-23 season saw them complete a domestic treble, with all three victories achieved in different ways. The Senior Shield final over Chinese New Year saw Kitchee triumph on penalties over Eastern, after a 1-1 draw. The league was secured with a 2-2 draw against Lee Man at Mong Kok Stadium, with both sides reduced to 10 men and Kitchee levelling the game through Andy Russell late on, sparking wild scenes and a pitch invasion. Fresh from the drama of this game, Kitchee then faced Rangers in the FA Cup final, also at Mong Kok Stadium, with Kitchee emerging 7-1 winners, with a hat trick from Cleiton and two long range efforts from Charlie Scott. The latter two triumphs came without Dejan Damjanovic, who following an internal club dispute did not feature in the latter part of the season, but was still the joint Golden Boot winner for the league, alongside Ruslan Mingazow and Lee Man’s Everton Camargo. He later retired from all football at the end of his contract.

Joining Dejan in permanently departing the club this summer were Alex Akande (after winning five league titles across three spells), Tomas Maronesi, Bekzhan Sagynbayev, Clement Benhaddouche, Ellison, Dai Tsz Hin, Ho Chun Ting, Tsang Chun Hin, Yung Ho and Maddox Kong. There were loan departures for Ngan Cheuk Pan and Chang Kwong Hin (Sham Shui Po), Yim Kai Cheuk (HKU23), Jordon Brown (HKFC) and Chen Ngo Hin and Sohgo Ichikawa (Southern).

Now to look at the transfers in. Shinichi Chan returned from a loan spell at Real Union in Spain. Hong Kong international Tan Chun Lok joined after his former club Guangzhou City was dissolved, bringing Chinese Super League experience to our squad. North Macedonian international Aleksandar Damchevski joined from Albanian club FK Bylis, the latest step in a journeyman career. Ibrahim Kurban moved from China League One side Xinjiang. Ogenyi Onazi, twice a part of Nigerian World Cup squads and with over fifty caps worth of experience, joined us from Bahraini side East Riffa, with former clubs including Lazio and Trabzonspor. Brazilian forward Juninho was brought in from HK Rangers, and is believed to be on the verge of qualifying as a local player, having first moved here in 2016. Our last signing of the summer was Jakob Jantscher, an Austrian international forward who played at Euro 2016. He comes from a successful career in Austria, winning a league title, three domestic cups and in the 2021-22 season won the
Player of the Year award.

From L-R Kitchee signings Lok, Damcevski, Onazi, Juninho and Shinichi Chan pose alongside then manager Alex Chu and Team Operation Manager Lester Chiu

Can Kitchee repeat the treble? Only time will tell. Lee Man have recruited well this summer, with strong overseas players and a couple of their foreign players will likely become local players over the course of the season. It is likely to be another two horse race, with many twists and turns, with the Asian Champions League and Hong Kong’s upcoming appearance in the Asian Cup disrupting the league campaign. Let’s see how the season plays out!