Guangzhou City F.C.

Guangzhou City Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and their home stadium is the Yuexiushan Stadium which has a seating capacity of 18,000. They are owned by the Chinese property developers R&F Properties who took charge in June 2011. The club's English name over 2011 until 2020 was R&F which was short for "Rich" (富) and "Force" (力). The club became Guangzhou City in December 2020.

Guangzhou City
Guǎngzhōu City
广州城
Full nameGuangzhou City Football Club
广州城足球俱乐部
Nickname(s)The Blue Lions[1]
Founded2011 (2011) (as Guangzhou R&F FC)
GroundYuexiushan Stadium
Capacity18,000[2]
OwnerR&F Properties
ChairmanZhang Li
ManagerJean-Paul van Gastel
LeagueChinese Super League
2021CSL, 11th of 16
WebsiteClub website
Guangzhou City F.C.
Simplified Chinese广州富力
Traditional Chinese廣州富力

The club was founded in 1986 in Shenyang, Liaoning as Shenyang Football Team. They played at the 55,000-seat Wulihe Stadium (五里河体育场), until they moved to Changsha, Hunan in 2007 to reside in the Helong Stadium. American sportswear and sports equipment company MAZAMBA took over the club in 2010, and relocated the club to Shenzhen, Guangdong in February 2011. Their ownership was brief, and by June 2011 Chinese property developers Guangzhou R&F gained ownership of the club and moved them to Guangzhou. The club had their most successful season in 2014 as they finished third in the league and qualified for the 2015 AFC Champions League.[3]

History

History before moving to Guangzhou

The club was founded in 1986 by the local Shenyang government sports body to take part in the Chinese football league system. The club was named "Shenyang" (沈阳). The team started at the bottom of the league system by playing in the second division. They were promoted to the 1988 Chinese Jia-A League quickly after the league expanded and Liaoning FC was ineligible to field their reserve team in the same division. The club was relegated after only one season.[4] With the following campaigns the club mostly remained within the second tier, except for a short foray in the 1992 Chinese Jia-A League campaign; however, again they were relegated after only one season.

By the 1994 league season the entire Chinese football league system had become professional. The team were allowed to gather sponsorship and rename themselves Shenyang Liuyao (沈阳东北六药), and were allowed to join the top tier due to their 1992 membership.[5] When the team were relegated again at the end of the season they rename themselves Shenyang Huayang (沈阳华阳) and then Shenyang Sealion (沈阳海狮) in 1996. Again the club won promotion to the top tier; however, unlike before they were able to avoid relegation. This was to be the beginning of the club's establishment within the league, though the team benefitted from several seasons where there was no relegation while the league expanded. In 2001 the club was taken over by Ginde Plastic Pipe Industry Group, a subsidiary of the Hongyuan Group and changed its name to Shenyang Ginde (沈阳金德). In 2007 the club's homeground Wulihe Stadium (五里河体育场) was demolished. While it was expected that the club move to another stadium within Shenyang, especially the Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium, a deal did not go through and the club moved to Changsha in Hunan and changed their name to Changsha Ginde (长沙金德).

After Changsha Ginde were relegated to League One at the end of the 2010 league season, the club was purchased by MAZAMBA and moved into the Shenzhen Stadium in the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong in February 2011. To represent this change the owners changed the club's name to Shenzhen Phoenix and changed the home kit from sky blue to green.[6] By May 2011 the club was exposed as having serious financial problems and were struggling to pay their players and their hotel accommodation.[7]

History in Guangzhou

In serious doubt of completing the 2011 season, Shenzhen Phoenix was put up for sale. The club was bought by Chinese property developers Guangzhou R&F who moved the club to the Yuexiushan Stadium in Guangzhou and changed the club's colours back to blue.[8] Under the new ownership results significantly improved and the club gained promotion back into the top tier at the end of the 2011 China League One season. The team finished the league in seventh, and the club's owners decided to commit their long-term future to the club by establishing a football school in Meizhou.[9] The start of the 2013 Chinese Super League season, however, the club struggled in the league and the manager Sérgio Farias was fired. Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson was appointed to replace him on June 4, 2013, and given a 19-month contract.[10] Eriksson's first full season would see the club finish third, its highest league finish, and qualify for the Asian Champions League for the first time. Moroccan striker Abderazzak Hamdallah was a key player for the team, scoring 22 times in 22 appearances. However, manager Eriksson left at the end of his contract and moved to Shanghai SIPG who had finished fifth that year.[3]

On January 2, 2015, the club announced that Cosmin Contra would be their new manager.[11] Contra coached the club in their maiden appearance in the Asian Champions League, coming through the preliminary stages against Warriors FC and Central Coast Mariners to earn a place in the group stage.[12] However, despite an away victory over Gamba Osaka, Guangzhou R&F were eliminated at the group stage.[13] The club's league form was also poor and Contra was sacked on July 22. Li Bing was installed as caretaker manager.[14] There were more changes as Korean defensive midfielder Park Jong-woo and the injured and unsettled Hamdallah also left the club mid-season. Hamdallah only scored three goals in 2015, making him the club's all-time leading foreign scorer at the time with 25, one ahead of Yakubu. The disruption continued as R&F were forced to play some of their home matches at Guangzhou's University City Stadium whilst Yuexiushan was being refurbished, just as in 2012.[15]

The Dragan Stojkovic era

Guangzhou R&F announced Dragan Stojković as their new manager on 24 August and handed the former Yugoslav international a contract to the end of the 2017 season.[16] Stojkovic preserved R&F's top flight status as they finished 14th out of 16 teams in 2015.

In July 2016, R&F signed Israeli international Eran Zahavi from Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. Whilst home stadium Yuexiushan was being refurbished, R&F played their opening home games in 2017 at the Guangdong Provincial People's Stadium.[17] Stojkovic's attacking style of play and Zahavi's goals led R&F to finish fifth in the CSL in 2017. There was double disappointment on the final day of the season however as the club fell just short of qualifying for the ACL and Zahavi missed out on breaking the single season CSL scoring record by just one goal. However, his 27 goals earned him the 2017 golden boot.[18] Guangzhou R&F reached the semi-finals of the CFA Cup in 2018 but had a disappointing CSL campaign as they finished 10th.[19]

Guangzhou R&F finished 12th in the CSL in 2019. In attack, Zahavi's 29 goals set a new single season scoring record[20] but the team had the worst defensive record in the league, conceding 72 goals in 30 games.[21] After spending over four seasons at the club - making him Guangzhou R&F's longest ever serving manager - Stojkovic left the club in January 2020.[22]

Giovanni van Bronckhorst was announced as Guangzhou R&F's new manager on 4 January 2020.[23] The CSL's format was disrupted because of COVID-19 but van Bronckhorst led the team to an 11th-place finish.[24] After a CFA Cup quarter final loss on penalties, the club announced on 3 December 2020 that van Bronckhorst had resigned as manager for personal reasons.[25]

In accordance with new national rules on the removal of sponsors from club names, on 18 December 2020 the club changed its name to Guangzhou City (广州城足球俱乐部).[26]

Name history

  • 1986–1993: Shenyang (沈阳)
  • 1994: Shenyang Liuyao (沈阳东北六药)[5]
  • 1995: Shenyang Huayang (沈阳华阳)
  • 1996–2001: Shenyang Sealion (沈阳海狮)
  • 2001–2006: Shenyang Ginde (沈阳金德)
  • 2007–2010: Changsha Ginde (长沙金德)
  • 2011:Shenzhen Phoenix (深圳凤凰)[6]
  • 2011–2020:Guangzhou R&F (广州富力)[8]
  • 2020–:Guangzhou City (广州城)

Rivalries

The club took part in the Liaoning Derby, which was a regional fixture contested against Dalian Football Club and Liaoning FC while the club was located in Shenyang.[27] The tie against Liaoning FC was the more intimate affair because the clubs shared the Shenyang People's Stadium in the 1994 league season compared to the Dalian fixture, which historically saw few meaningful clashes. At the end of the 2006 league season the club left this derby when they moved out of Shenyang.

When the club moved to Guangzhou they soon formed a rivalry with Guangzhou Evergrande, which is often referred to as the Canton derby.[28] The first derby was played at Yuexiushan Stadium in a league match on March 16, 2012 and Guangzhou R&F won 2–0 at home against the reigning league champions.[29] The venue was significant because it had been Guangzhou Evergrande's home ground. However, the two club owners, Zhang Li and Xu Jiayin, did not view the derby with hostility and on the return fixture, which R&F won 1–0. They were seen enjoying a meal together instead of watching the game.[30][31]

Current squad

First team

As of 26 December 2020[32]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  CHN Cheng Yuelei
4 MF  CHN Zhang Gong
8 MF  BEL Mousa Dembélé
13 FW  CHN Ye Chugui
14 FW  CHN Zeng Chao
15 MF  CHN Li Tixiang
16 MF  HKG Tan Chun Lok
17 DF  CHN Fu Yuncheng
18 DF  CHN Yi Teng
19 DF  CHN Jiang Jihong
20 DF  CHN Tang Miao
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 FW  CHN Chang Feiya
22 GK  CHN Han Jiaqi
23 MF  CHN Lu Lin (Captain)
26 GK  CHN Long Wenhao
28 MF  CHN Wu Chengru
29 FW  CHN Song Wenjie
30 MF  CHN Wang Peng
32 MF  CHN Chen Zhizhao
36 DF  CHN Huang Zhengyu
37 MF  CHN Wen Yongjun
40 GK  CHN Chen Siwei

Reserve team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
33 FW  CHN Jin Bo
41 DF  CHN Zhang Jinliang
42 MF  CHN Li Ming
43 DF  CHN Wang Huapeng
44 MF  CHN Zhang Chaoqun
45 DF  CHN Liu Jiale
47 DF  CHN Hu Diji
48 FW  CHN Mai Jiajian
50 MF  CHN Xu Zhengwei
No. Pos. Nation Player
51 MF  CHN Chen Yajun
52 DF  CHN Wang Xin
54 FW  CHN Fang Jinzhao
55 DF  CHN Zhang Fushun
58 FW  CHN Huang Zihao
59 MF  CHN He Zilin
61 MF  CHN Chen Fuhai
63 MF  CHN Zhang Jiajie
65 GK  CHN Liang Hua

Unregistered Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF  CHN Liang Yongfeng
DF  CHN Fu Yunlong
MF  CHN Hou Junjie
MF  CHN Deng Yanlin
FW  CHN Huang Jingbin
DF  CHN Chen Weiming
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF  CHN Cai Haojian
FW  CHN Ma Junliang
MF  CHN Li Yuyang
MF  CHN Zhao Keda
GK  CHN Yin Tianlong
DF  CHN Deng Zhiyao

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK  CHN Ji Xiangzheng (at Rangers until 30 June 2020)
GK  CHN Chen Zirong (at R&F until 30 June 2020)
- DF  CHN Zheng Zhiming (at Taizhou Yuanda until 31 December 2020)
No. Pos. Nation Player
- DF  CHN Zou Zheng (at Qingdao Huanghai until 31 December 2020)
- MF  CHN Fan Yunlong (at Guizhou Hengfeng until 31 December 2020)
- FW  CHN Gui Hong (at Guizhou Hengfeng until 31 December 2020)

Club officials

Senior staff

Position Staff
Chairman Zhang Li (张力)
Vice chairman Huang Shenghua (黄盛华)
general manager Zhang Bin (章彬)
Vice general manager Guo Nengpei (郭能培)

Source:

First team

Position Staff
Head coach Jean-Paul van Gastel
Assistant coaches
Fitness coaches Katsuhito Kinoshi
Eran Shado
Goalkeeper coach Huang Hongtao
Team leader Huang Jun
Team physicians Marco van der Steen
Mai Zhiyuan
Fan Bihua
Technical analyst Chen Jiachao
Interpreters Hong Wenjie
Weng Zhanhong

Source: Guangzhou R&F F.C.

Reserve team

Position Staff
Head coach Darko Buser
Assistant coaches Slobodan Marović
Marko Perović
Goalkeeping coaches Andy McNeil
Jing Yongjian
Fitness coach Luís Inarra Bruno
Team leader Zhong Weibo
Team physician Raldy van Haastert
Deng Yanming

Source: Guangzhou R&F F.C.

Academy

Position Staff
Academy director Shiro Kikuhara
Academy coach Mitsunori Yabuta
Tsuyoshi Yoshitake
Yuki Fujimoto
Ryu Hirose
Daichi Suzuki
Hiroshi Yoshida

Source: Guangzhou R&F F.C.

Managerial history

As of 7 December 2020.[33][34]

Honours

League

Runners-up (2): 1991, 2011

Professional club records

For Guangzhou R&F in league football as of the end of the 2018 season

Team records

  • Record home victory: 6–2 v Hangzhou Greentown (2014), 6–2 v Yanbian Funde (2017)[36]
  • Record away victory: 5–1 v Liaoning Whowin FC (2014)
  • Record home defeat: 2–6 v Tianjin Quanjian (2018)
  • Record away defeat: 0–6 v Beijing Guoan (2013)
  • Most cleansheets: 9 (2014)
  • Fewest cleansheets: 5 (2012, 2017, 2018)

Player records

Results

All-time League rankings

As of the end of 2018 season.[41][42]

Year Div Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos. FA Cup Super Cup League Cup AFC Att./G Stadium
1986274 1DNQ  
1987373 1 2NH  
1988120479171701917NH  
1989222512520181279NH  
1990222610619163287DNQ  
19912188732318519 1RUQF  
19921141112836−2838 3R1  
19932510/1359−425 1NH  
199412219121639−231111NH  5,591Shenyang People's Stadium
19952226882228−6268R1DNQ Shenyang People's Stadium
199622268824231267R1DNQ Shenyang People's Stadium
199722298537289353R1DNQ Shenyang People's Stadium
199812671091928−93110R2DNQ 15,077Shenyang People's Stadium
199912651382832−42811R1DNQ 11,923Shenyang People's Stadium
2000126810835323347QFDNQ 35,615Wulihe Stadium
200112621232369−46714 4R2DNQ 12,000Wulihe Stadium
200212881010343403411R1DNQ 14,500Wulihe Stadium
20031281110735314435SFDNQ 18,857Wulihe Stadium
200412275102329−6268R4NHR15,000Wulihe Stadium
200512647151943−241913 4R1NHR12,077Wulihe Stadium
200612868142243−212613R2NHNH2,750Wulihe Stadium
2007128810101724−73410NHNHNH10,571Helong Stadium
2008130713102836−83411NHNHNH6,645Helong Stadium
200913061592331−83314NHNHNH8,498Helong Stadium
2010130612122442−183016NHNHNH10,152Helong Stadium
201122613853627947RUR2NHNHDongguan Nancheng Stadium
Yuexiushan Stadium
2012130133144749−2427R4DNQNH8,460Yuexiushan Stadium
Guangzhou HEMC Central Stadium
2013130117124547−2406R4DNQNH10,384Yuexiushan Stadium
20141301767673928573R4DNQNH11,487Yuexiushan Stadium
201513087153541−63114R4DNQNHGroup7,989Yuexiushan Stadium
Guangzhou HEMC Central Stadium
2016130117124750−3406SFDNQNH9,831Yuexiushan Stadium
20171301578594613525QFDNQNH9,904Yuexiushan Stadium
Guangdong Provincial People's Stadium
2018130106144961−123610SFDNQNH10,321Yuexiushan Stadium
20191309 5 16 54 72 -18 32 12 R4DNQNHYuexiushan Stadium
  • ^1 in group stage
  • ^2 Liaoning B team promoted to 1 level, but according to CFA rules a club could only enter 1 team in top level so that Senyang replaced Liaoning B's place in 1 level
  • ^3 Joins 1994 Jia-A League as 1992 member
  • ^4 no relegation

Key

International results

Guangzhou R&F played in the Asian Champions League in 2015. They beat Singaporean side Warriors FC and Australian team Central Coast Mariners in the qualifying rounds but were knocked-out in the group stage.

R&F (Hong Kong)

In August 2016 it was announced that R&F had entered a satellite team into the Hong Kong Premier League. Players registered for the Chinese Super League are ineligible to play in the Hong Kong Premier League, and vice versa.[43] R&F (Hong Kong) played their home matches at the Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground during the first season. The following year, they were permitted to play their home matches at Yanzigang Stadium in Guangzhou under the condition that all away teams' travelling expenses would be covered by R&F.[44]

Past and present internationals

This list contains the present and former international football players playing for Guangzhou R&F.[45]

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