Peter Kitchen

Michael Peter Kitchen (born 16 February 1952) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League in the 1970s and 80s as a forward.

Career

Born in Mexborough, Kitchen began his career at Doncaster Rovers, after being spotted by manager Lawrie McMenemy, and he went on to spend seven years there as a first team player. He made his debut at the age of 18 and scored after just two minutes during a 3–0 win over Shrewsbury Town and scored again in his second game, a 2–1 defeat to Swansea Town. Despite Doncaster struggling in Division Four for several years, Kitchen made a name for himself at Rovers, forming striking partnerships with Brendan O'Callaghan and Mike Elwiss. He played alongside Elwiss in one of the biggest games for the club at the time when they drew 2–2 with Liverpool at Anfield on 5 January 1974, with Kitchen scoring one of the goals, before losing 2–0 in the replay. Kitchen went on to attract attention from higher divisions for several years, including spending time on trial at Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town, before signing for Leyton Orient in the summer of 1977 for £40,000.

Ever present in his first year at Orient he finished as the club's top scorer with 21 goals, as well as scoring seven times in the FA Cup as the club reached the semi-finals beating Chelsea and Middlesbrough along the way. The following year he moved across London to join Fulham for a fee of £150,000. The move did not work out for him as he struggled to find form and a series of injuries in his second year at Fulham saw him miss most of the season as the club were relegated and he moved to Cardiff City for £100,000.

After leaving Cardiff he had a short spell with Hong Kong side Happy Valley, before returning to play for Leyton Orient in 1982–83. He made another 49 league appearances in his second spell with the London club, and then went to play Major Indoor Soccer League football with Las Vegas Americans. retiring by 2010 to spend time travelling.