Kadin Chung is returning to the Canadian Premier League, as the New Westminster, B.C. native has signed with expansion club Vancouver FC.

“I am proud to sign with my hometown club,” said Chung. “It means a lot to me to be back playing professionally where I grew up and where my love of the game began. The staff here at Vancouver FC is bringing fresh new ideas and experience to the League, and I am excited to play my part not only in launching this club but in making it successful on the field in its first season.”

Chung, 24, most recently represented Toronto FC, where he signed ahead of the 2022 Major League Soccer season after a successful preseason trial. The fullback made eight MLS appearances for the Reds, starting five matches and logging 451 minutes. Chung was also part of the Toronto squad that won the postponed 2020 Canadian Championship final last year.

Prior to joining Toronto, Chung spent three seasons at Pacific FC, where he was the first player to be signed by the club in late 2018 as a 20-year-old and went on to become the third player to sign in MLS out of the CPL, following Toronto’s Lukas MacNaughton and Joel Waterman of CF Montréal. At the time of his move to Toronto, Chung had logged more minutes than any other Pacific player in the club’s short history.

Chung made 63 total appearances for the Tridents between 2019 and 2021, playing a key role in the club’s run to the Canadian Championship semi-finals and its first CPL title in 2021. He consistently rated among the League’s elite defenders in defensive actions and duels won, while contributing to Pacific’s attack with his overlapping runs and crisp passing.

Chung will now look to bring his skills as a two-way fullback, who predominantly plays on the right but can also slot in on the left, to the other side of the League’s new west coast rivalry.

“It is important to build a competitive team right from the start,” said Chung. “There are a lot of young guys on the squad who are hungry, and others who have experience that will be key to immediate success. Being a new team is not an excuse. Winning the League in 2021 has only made me hungrier to do it again, and I want to bring Vancouver to the playoffs and win it all. I think we have a group that can push for that.”

Internationally, Chung has represented his country at several youth levels, including at the 2017 Concacaf U-20 Championship. In 2015, he was named Canada Soccer’s U-17 Male Player of the Year, an award won the following two years by Chung’s then-Whitecaps teammate Alphonso Davies. Most recently, Chung was named to the provisional roster for the 2020 Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in February 2020 and on the revised list in February 2021, following the postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am personally thrilled to bring Kadin, a fan favourite in the Canadian Premier League, back to his hometown with Vancouver,” said Afshin Ghotbi, Head Coach, Vancouver FC. “His ability to get forward, combine and provide service into danger areas will add an exciting dimension to our attack. We will also count on Kadin to provide leadership both on and off the field to our young squad.”

Chung joins strikers Mamadou Kane, Nathaniel St. Louis and Shaan Hundal, midfielders Gael Sandoval, Elliot Simmons, Gabriel Bitar, Maël Henry, Cristian Mares, and Nima Moazeni Zadeh, defenders Ibrahim Bakare, Pele Martinez, Rocco Romeo, Marcus Simmons, Kahlil John-Wentworth and Tyler Crawford and goalkeepers Callum Irving and Jeremy Zielinski on Vancouver’s roster.