Li Ka Chun (; born 10 September 1993), nicknamed Lali, is a former

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who currently plays for

Hong Kong First Division The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia. The league was formerly the highest division in Hong Kong until the formation o ...

club Metro Gallery.

Club career

Born in

during British reign, Li was spotted by

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won championships in Hong Kong 11 times, in ...

as a 13 year old during a youth football development programme he was attending during the summer. He progressed well through the youth ranks, earning places in the Hong Kong national youth setup, and a trial with then-

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in 2010. In July of the same year, along with fellow Kitchee teammate

Ngan Lok Fung Ngan Lok Fung (; born 26 January 1993 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Hong Kong Premier League club Lee Man. Club career Ngan joined the Kitchee's youth team when he was 13 years old. ...

, he traveled to Spain to participate in youth training events organised by

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

side CF Amposta, the former club of his then-manager,

Josep Gombau Josep Gombau Balague (born 5 June 1976) is a Spanish professional football manager who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Odisha. He is a former Barcelona youth team coach and has held multiple positions at the club's youth ...

. In June 2011, he was loaned to

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

(at the time known as TSW Pegasus FC), who were also competing in the First Division, the top level of football in Hong Kong before the introduction of the Premier League in 2014. In October 2011, he scored his first goal in the

Senior Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the Association football, football Single-elimination tournament, knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the List of oldest football competitions, fo ...

, the fifth of a 5–0 win over the Rangers. In July 2012, he returned to Rangers. However, after two seasons without fully breaking into the first team, he left for

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

in June 2014. Only two months later, he was sent out on loan to

Tai Po Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Market") on the north of Lam Tsue ...

. He scored his first goal in the Premier League on 4 October, in a 1–2 defeat by

Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang W ...

. In July 2015, having been demoted to Eastern's reserve team, he joined Metro Gallery on loan. He scored his first goal in the

Sapling Cup Hong Kong Football Association Sapling Cup (), more commonly known as Sapling Cup (), is a Hong Kong domestic football competition contested by all the teams in the Hong Kong Premier League. The objective of the Cup is to provide more playing opp ...

, a consolation in a 1–3 defeat by

South China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

. Li returned to Eastern ahead of the 2016–17 season and was given the number 18 shirt. He made his debut for Eastern in a 7–0 victory over

HKFC Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC; ), established in 1886, is a private members' club in Hong Kong. The name reflects the origin as a club for playing association football and rugby. The club is situated in Happy Valley, with the sports pitche ...

, providing an assist for teammate

Lee Hong Lim Lee Hong Lim (, born 29 September 1983) is a Hong Kong professional footballer who currently plays as a left winger for Hong Kong Premier League club Lee Man. He is the brother of former professional footballer Lee Wai Lim. Early age Lee Hon ...

. On 12 February, he scored his first goal for the club, the sixth of a 7–1 victory over R&F FC in the Sapling Cup. He scored against the same opposition in his second league game on 5 March; the fourth goal in a 4–0 victory. On 11 July 2017, it was revealed that Li's contract with Eastern was not renewed. On 26 July 2017,

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, alth ...

confirmed that they had signed Li. On 13 May 2018, Li captained Dreams on his final match of his career, having previously announced his retirement at the end of the season.

Personal life

As well as football, Li also acts, and played a supporting role in a stage performance of Tin Hong's ''The Love Story on Gentlemen Street'', organised by his club,

References

External links

*
Li Ka Chun
at HKFA {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Ka Chun Living people 1993 births Hong Kong men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Hong Kong Premier League players Kitchee SC players Hong Kong Pegasus FC players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Eastern Sports Club footballers Metro Gallery FC players Tai Po FC players Hong Kong Sapling players