Guangzhou R&F Football Club (simplified Chinese: 广州富力; traditional Chinese: 廣州富力; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Fùlì) is a professional football club based in Guangzhou, Guangdong who play in the Chinese Super League. Most of the players have origin from Northern China, the club was originally founded in 1986, in Shenyang and was once named Shenyang Ginde FC (simplified Chinese: 沈阳金德; traditional Chinese: 瀋陽金德; pinyin: Shěnyáng Jīndé) where they played in the 55,000-seater Shenyang Wuilihe Stadium (五里河体育场), until they moved to Changsha in 2007 to move to the Helong Stadium. After being relegated in 2010, the club would be taken over by MAZAMBA, an American sportswear and sports equipment company and move to Shenzhen in February 2011. By June 2011 the club would change ownership to Chinese property developers Guangzhou R&F who moved the club to the Yuexiushan Stadium in Guangzhou. The club's name R&F is short for "Rich" (富) and "Force" (力).
History
The club was founded in 1986 by the local Shenyang government sports body to take part in the Chinese football league system and they simply named the club Shenyang (沈阳). The team would start at the bottom of the league system by playing in the second division, however they would not have to wait long for promotion when they finished high enough to compete in the 1988 Chinese Jia-A League. Their time in the top tier would not last very long and they would immediately get relegated.[1] The following seasons would see the club mostly remain within the second tier, with short forays in the top tier that always saw them immediately relegated after only one season.
By the 1994 league season the entire Chinese football league system had become professional, the team would gather sponsorship and rename themselves Shenyang Liuyao (沈阳东北六药).[2] When the team were relegated once more at the end of the season they would rename themselves Shenyang Huayang (沈阳华阳) and then Shenyang Haishi (沈阳海狮, literally Shenyang Sealions) in 1996. Once again the club would win 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 would be taken over by Ginde Plastic Pipe Industry Group, a subsidiary of the Hongyuan Group and the club would change its name to Shenyang Ginde (沈阳金德). In 2007 the club's homeground Shenyang Wuilihe Stadium (五里河体育场) was demolished and 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 would move 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 would be purchased by MAZAMBA and moved into the Shenzhen Stadium in the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong in February 2011. To represent this change the owners would change the club's name to Shenzhen Phoenix as well as changing the home kit from sky blue to green.[3] By May 2011 the club was exposed as having serious financial problems and were struggling to pay their players as well as their hotel accommodation.[4] In serious doubt of completing the season the club was put up for sale and were 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.[5] Under the new ownership results would significantly improve and the club gained promotion back into the top tier at the end of the 2011 China League One season. Back in the top division the team would have a respectable campaign where they finished the league in seventh, which would then see the club's owners decide to commit their long term future to the club by establishing a football school in Meizhou.[6] The start of the 2013 Chinese Super League season, however would see the club struggle within the league and the manager Sérgio Farias was fired, which then saw on June 4, 2013 that the former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson being appointed the manager on an 19-month contract.[7]
Name history
- 1986-93: Shenyang (沈阳)
- 1994: Shenyang Liuyao (沈阳东北六药)
- 1995: Shenyang Huayang (沈阳华阳)
- 1996-01: Shenyang Haishi (沈阳海狮)
- 2001-06: Shenyang Ginde (沈阳金德)
- 2007-2010: Changsha Ginde (长沙金德)
- 2011：Shenzhen Phoenix (深圳凤凰)
- 2011-：Guangzhou R&F (广州富力)
Results
As of the end of 2013 season.[8][9]
All-time League rankings
| Season |
1986 |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
|---|
| Division |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
| Position |
4 1 |
3 1 2 |
17 |
9 |
7 |
2 |
8 3 |
6 1 |
| Season |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|---|
| Division |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Position |
11 |
8 |
7 |
3 |
10 |
11 |
7 |
14 4 |
11 |
5 |
8 |
13 4 |
12 |
10 |
11 |
14 |
16 |
2 |
7 |
6 |
|
- ^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
|
|
- R1 = Round 1
- R2 = Round 2
- R3 = Round 3
- R4 = Round 4
|
- F = Final
- SF = Semi-finals
- QF = Quarter-finals
- R16 = Round of 16
- Group = Group stage
- GS2 = Second Group stage
- QR1 = First Qualifying Round
- QR2 = Second Qualifying Round
- QR3 = Third Qualifying Round
|
Current squad
As of 15 July 2013[10]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. |
|
Position |
Player
|
| 43 |
 |
GK |
Pei Chensong
|
| 44 |
|
DF |
Xiang Jiachi
|
| 45 |
|
DF |
Zhang Chenlong
|
| 47 |
|
GK |
Sun Ce
|
| 49 |
|
MF |
Chen Tang
|
| 50 |
|
DF |
Luo Hao
|
| 51 |
|
MF |
Gao Jiarun |
|
|
| No. |
|
Position |
Player
|
| 55 |
|
MF |
Ma Jun
|
| 56 |
|
MF |
Li Zhiheng
|
| 57 |
|
MF |
Lin Liangming
|
| 58 |
|
MF |
Huang Jingbin
|
| 59 |
|
DF |
Chen Fuhai
|
| 60 |
|
FW |
Ma Junliang |
|
Honours
U19 team:
- U19 League Champions: 2003
Coaching staff
Managers
Serhiy Morozov (1994)
Ademar Braga (1999)
Valery Nepomnyashchy (2000)
Henryk Kasperczak (2000–01)
Alain Laurier (2001)
Toni (July 1, 2002–Dec 31, 2002)
Dragoslav Stepanović (June 26, 2003–Dec 31, 2003)
Bob Houghton (Nov 25, 2005–June 9, 2006)
Martin Koopman (2006)- Milan Živadinović (2007)
- Slobodan Santrač (Jan 1, 2008–June 30, 2008)
- Zhu Bo (July 21, 2008–Oct 12, 2009)
- Hao Wei (Nov 2009–May 10)
- Miodrag Ješić (June 16, 2010 – May 30, 2011)
- Li Shubin (Jan 1, 2011–Dec 31, 2011)
- Sérgio Farias (Jan 1, 2012–May 18, 2013)
- Li Bing (Caretaker) (May 19, 2013 – June 3, 2013)
Sven-Göran Eriksson (June 4, 2013–)
References
External links
Current season
Divan Augustyn