Kitchee

Formation of the club (1931–1938)

In the late 1920s, a group of Hong Kongers formed a football team in order to compete in the Hong Kong Third Division. It was not until 1931, however, that the team was established as Kitchee Sports Club.

Kitchee was founded as a grassroots organization, as such, they lacked the funding to pay the administrative and facilities costs necessary to become a multi sports club.

It was not until 1934 when the club were able to raise the money to rent an office at 130 Johnston Road in Wan Chai, that they were admitted as members of the Hong Kong Football Association.

World War II era (1939–1946)

In 1939, Japanese bombs hit Hong Kong during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The club's records during this time were destroyed during the bombing.

As the Pacific War began, Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on 25 December 1941, therefore the club's operations were suspended during the three-year, eight-month Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

After the Japanese surrender of Hong Kong in August 1945, former members of Kitchee returned to the club. They resolved to help revitalize the Chinese Amateur Athletic Federation of Hong Kong and establish the Chinese Football Association of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Chinese Football Referees’ Association and the Hong Kong Chinese Footballer's Fraternity.

Rise to prominence and first dynasty (1947–1964)

Following the war, Kitchee were admitted into the 1947–48 Hong Kong First Division League where they won the league title, the club's first major trophy. Between 1947 and 1964, the club won three Hong Kong First Division titles, one Second Division title, four Hong Kong Senior Shield's and one Hong Kong Junior Shield.

During this period, Kitchee discovered Hong Kong football legends Yiu Cheuk Yin and Lam Sheung Yee. Yiu led the club to its first two First Division titles and later became known as the "Treasure of Hong Kong Football." Lam spent a total 14 years at Kitchee, split between two spells, and was a part of every Kitchee squad which won a trophy between 1948 and 1964.

Yo-yo years (1965–2000)

In 1965–66, Kitchee won only one game while drawing four others in the season, finishing second bottom of the table. The club were relegated after a 17-year spell in the top flight. In the subsequent season, Kitchee slid into the Third Division for the first time in three decades.

In the late 1980s, Law Ding Chun was hired as the new chairman of Kitchee. Law moved quickly to modernize the operations of Kitchee, buying insurance for all of his players in order to provide them with peace of mind in the event of an injury. His changes worked as Kitchee were soon promoted back to the Second Division.

In 1991–92, Kitchee won the Second Division title, returning to the top flight for the first time in 26 years. The squad during this period featured many future Hong Kong internationals including Yau Kin Wai, Chung Ho Yin, Yeung Hei Chi, Yeung Ching Kwong, Dale Tempest, as well as former England international Mark Barham. Kitchee spent three seasons in the top flight before they were relegated along with Kui Tan at the end of the 1994–95 season.

During the 1998–99 season, Kitchee won promotion back to the First Division as well as the Hong Kong Junior Shield. The following year, the squad were led by a backbone of young local players such as Lee Wai Lun, Man Pei Tak and Ng Wai Chiu.

However, these were soon poached by bigger clubs and due to inadequate replacements, the performance of the team suffered and Kitchee were once again relegated at the conclusion of the 2000–01 season.

Ahead of the 2002–03 season, former Hong Kong national team manager Chan Hung Ping was hired as Kitchee's manager. He led the team to the Second Division title in his one and only season as manager.

Back to the top flight (2003–2009)

Following their return to the First Division in 2003, Kitchee became one of the most prominent teams in Hong Kong, winning three trophies in two seasons under coach Dejan Antonic: two in 2005–06 and one in 2006–07 season.

The club secured 2nd place in the league, along with league champions South China who had already qualified for the AFC Cup as the Hong Kong Senior Shield winners. As a result, Kitchee became one of two Hong Kong representatives in the 2008 AFC Cup. In the 2008 AFC Cup, Kitchee was drawn in Group E where they were drawn alongside Malaysian club Perak, Singaporean club Singapore Armed Forces and Maldivian club New Radiant. Kitchee recorded their win first in a 2–0 win over New Radiant on 18 March 2008 where Wilfred Bamnjo and Goran Stankovski scored the goal. However, Kitchee was bowed out from the tournament after finishing third in the group stage.

Josep Gombau era (2009–2013)

In the 2010–11 season, under coach Josep Gombau, Kitchee won its first league title in 47 years by one point over arch rival South China, allowing the club to compete in both the 2011 Premier League Asia Trophy, where they lost 0–4 to Chelsea and 0–3 to Blackburn Rovers, and in the 2012 AFC Cup.

Kitchee were invited to take part in the 2010 Singapore Cup, becoming the first Hong Kong team to take part in the tournament. The club lost to Étoile 4–6 over two legs in the quarter-final.

Domestic treble

In the 2011–12 season, Kitchee won the domestic treble after successfully defending their league title and also winning both the 2011–12 Hong Kong FA Cup after defeating TSW Pegasus 5–3 on penalties and the 2011–12 Hong Kong League Cup defeating the same opponent 2–1 in the league cup final. In the 2012 AFC Cup, Kitchee was drawn in Group F alongside Malaysian club Terengganu, Singaporean club Tampines Rovers and Vietnamese club Sông Lam Nghệ An. Kitchee manage to topped the group and advance to the round of 16 where the club faced off against Indonesian club Arema, however, Kitchee lost 2–0 thus crashing out from the tournament.

Kitchee won the 2013–14 First Division league title after both co-caretakers, Chu Chi Kwong and Cheng Siu Chung guided the team to their first top flight title after 3 years.

José Francisco Molina era (2014–2015)

On 23 May 2014, Kitchee appointed former Atlético Madrid goalkeeper José Francisco Molina as the club manager ahead of the inaugural revamp Hong Kong Premier League season. Molina helms the club to win the 2014–15 league title, the 2014–15 HKFA Cup and the 2014–15 League Cup, completing the domestic treble for the second time in the club history.