Back in Blackpool: Hong Kong filmmaker on mission to send Cheung Chi-doy back to his old club in England
Chan Fun-man made a documentary on the player’s old teammates, now he is raising funds for a sequel culminating in a reunion of old colleagues
Hong Kong filmmaker Chan Fun-man nervously placed a picture of Cheung Chi-doy on the banquet table, hoping someone would recognise him. A few seconds later a deep voice called out: “Oi, I played with him! That’s Cheungie!”
The scene was a special dinner in Blackpool to celebrate the 100th birthday of late Tangerines and England legend Sir Stanley Matthews and the voice was that of Barrie Martin, a defender who played alongside Hong Kong stalwart Cheung in the Blackpool side of the early 1960s.
For Chan, it was the breakthrough he was looking for. What started off as a final year university film assignment had turned into a major project to help Cheung return to England after more than 50 years for a reunion with his former teammates from the once-elite northwest English club.
Watch a snapshot of the Cheung Chi-doy documentary
“When I spoke to his old teammates, they remembered him quite well. They called him ‘Cheungie’ or ‘Doyee’ and were keen to meet up with him again,” said Chan, who last year made a documentary, Finding Cheung Chi-doy, featuring those very teammates and is now raising funds for a sequel that would see the ex-Hong Kong international returning to England to meet his former colleagues.