Chu Chi Kwong

Alex Chu Chi Kwong (Chinese: 朱志光; Jyutping: zyu¹ zi³ gwong¹; born 29 August 1960) is a Hong Kong football manager and former player. He is currently the director of football at Hong Kong Premier League club Kitchee.

Chu Chi Kwong

Chu in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Alex Chu Chi Kwong
Date of birth	(1960-08-29) 29 August 1960 (age 64)
Place of birth	Hong Kong
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Kitchee (Director of football)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1988	Sea Bee
1988–1999	Sing Tao
Managerial career
2001–2005	Fukien
2006–2016	Kitchee (assistant coach)
2007–2008	Kitchee (caretaker)
2013–2014	Kitchee (caretaker)
2016	Kitchee (caretaker)
2016–2019	Kitchee
2016–2019	Kitchee (director of football)
2019	Hong Kong (assistant coach)
2020–2021	Kitchee
2022–2023	Kitchee
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

In this Chinese name, the family name is Chu.

Chu holds an AFC “Pro” License coaching certification.^[1]

Playing career

Born in Hong Kong, Chu played for Hong Kong First Division clubs Sea Bee and Sing Tao during his playing career. Chu spent his best playing days as a member of Sing Tao, lifting the Viceroy Cup twice, in the 1994–95 and 1996–97 seasons. One of his most notable games for Sing Tao was when Chu had to cameo as the goalkeeper in a league tie against Golden.

Coaching career

Following retirement from playing, Chu took over the managerial position at Fukien in 2001. Despite working with a limited budget, Fukien were able to stave off relegation from First Division during Chu's first three years at the club while occasionally scoring upset victories over table toppers Happy Valley and Sun Hei. During his tenure, he discovered and coached several players who went on to represent Hong Kong at a national level, such as Tong Kin Man, Zhang Chunhui and Wong Chin Hung.

After a disappointing 8th-place finish during the 2004-05 season, Fukien chose to voluntarily relegate themselves to the Second Division and Chu left the club.

In 2006, Chu joined Kitchee as a coach. Players such as Ngan Lok Fung, Li Ngai Hoi, Tsang Kin Fong trained under his tutelage at Kitchee's academy and later became professional footballers. After Dejan Antonić left Kitchee in December 2007, Chu became the caretaker coach for the club. His managerial debut for Kitchee came on 11 January 2008, in a 1–1 draw against Eastern.

On 14 November 2013, in light of head coach Àlex Gómez resigning mid-season, Chu and Cheng Siu Chung were named co-caretakers of the Kitchee until the end of the 2013–14 season. As co-caretakers, Chu and Cheng led Kitchee to an undefeated season and the league title. A similar situation happened in the 2015-16 season where head coach Abraham García resigned in March 2016 as manager of Kitchee; Chu was once again named caretaker for the remainder of the season, and led Kitchee to a spot in the 2017 AFC Champions League qualifying round through a victory in the season play-off.

Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Chu was named the permanent manager as well as Director of Football for the club. Kitchee were rewarded for their decision as Chu managed the first team to a domestic treble, capturing the Premier League, the Hong Kong FA Cup and the Senior Shield. The only blemish on their historic season was a 2017 AFC Champions League qualifying playoff round loss to Ulsan Hyundai. Kitchee had taken the K-League club to penalties but came up just short of qualifying for the Champions League group stage for the first time. For his achievements in the 16-17 season, Chu won the Hong Kong Coach of the Year award in the 2017 Hong Kong Top Footballer Awards.^[2]

In the following season, Kitchee successfully defended their league title with Chu at the helm. He added two more local trophies (including a victory in the newly established Sapling Cup) en route to winning Coach of the Year two years in a row. At the continental level, Chu led Kitchee to a historic 1-0 win over Kashiwa Reysol in the 2018 AFC Champions League group stage, marking the first victory for any Hong Kong outfit in a top-level AFC competition.

On 3 July 2019, Chu stepped down from his head coaching duties at Kitchee.^[3] Chu was subsequently appointed as an assistant to Hong Kong head coach Mixu Paatelainen on 11 August 2019 until the end of the year.^[4]

On 23 March 2020, Chu was named as caretaker of Kitchee until the end of the 2019–20 season following Blaž Slišković's decision to step down as head coach.^[5] In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the HKPL suspended for over 6 months, Chu managed the team in the resumption phase. He eventually led Kitchee to a 4th HKPL title, overtaking rivals Eastern on the Decision Day of 11 October 2020.

On 3 March 2022, Chu was reappointed as the head coach of Kitchee.

Honours

As a player

Sing Tao

• Hong Kong Senior Shield: 1991–92
• Viceroy Cup: 1994–95, 1996–97

As a coach

Kitchee

• Hong Kong First Division / Premier League^{[nb 1]}: 2013–14 (co-caretaker), 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23
• Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2022–23
• Hong Kong FA Cup: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23
• Hong Kong Sapling Cup: 2017–18, 2019–20
• Hong Kong League Cup: 2015–16

Individual

• Hong Kong Coach of the Year (3): 2017, 2018, 2021

Footnotes

1. Upon its formation in 2014, Hong Kong Premier League became the top tier of Hong Kong football; the First and Second Divisions then became the second and third tiers, respectively.