[2] 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.
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.
[6] His post-football career included coaching on the youth development programme at Wimbledon F.C., and as of September 2006 he was working at a leisure management company in Sevenoaks,[7] retiring by 2010 to spend time travelling.