Guangzhou R&F F.C.

Guangzhou R&F
Guǎngzhōu Fùlì
广州富力
Full name Guangzhou R&F Football Club
广州富力足球俱乐部
Nickname(s) Blue Lions[1]
Founded June 25, 2011
(1986 (1986), as Shenyang Football Team)
Ground Yuexiushan Stadium,
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Ground Capacity 18,000[2][3]
Chairman Huang Shenghua (黄盛华)
Manager Dragan Stojković
League Chinese Super League
2016 Super League, 6th
Website Club website

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 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 R&F is short for "Rich" (富) and "Force" (力).

The club was founded in 1986 in Shenyang as Shenyang Ginde FC (simplified Chinese: 沈阳金德; traditional Chinese: 瀋陽金德; pinyin: Shěnyáng Jīndé). They played in the 55,000-seat Shenyang Wuilihe Stadium (五里河体育场), until they moved to Changsha 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 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.[4]

History

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.[5] 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.[6] When the team were relegated again at the end of the season they rename themselves Shenyang Huayang (沈阳华阳) and then Shenyang Haishi (沈阳海狮, literally Shenyang Sealions) 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 Shenyang Wuilihe 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.[7] By May 2011 the club was exposed as having serious financial problems and were struggling to pay their players and their hotel accommodation.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[4]

On January 2, 2015, the club announced that Cosmin Contra would be their new manager.[12] 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.[13] However, despite an away victory over Gamba Osaka, Guangzhou R&F were eliminated at the group stage.[14] The club’s league form was also poor and Contra was sacked on July 22. Li Bing was installed as caretaker manager.[15] 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 but this makes him the club's all-time leading foreign scorer with 25, one ahead of Yakubu Aiyegbeni. 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.[16] 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.[17] 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. .

Name history

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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] The venue was significant because it had been Guangzhou Evergrande's home ground. However, the two club owners, Zhang Li and Xu Jiayin, don't view the derby with hostility and on the return fixture were seen enjoying a meal together instead of watching the game, which Guangzhou R&F won thanks to a late goal from Yakubu.[21][22]

Current squad

As of 14 July 2017 [23]

First team

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

No. Position Player
1 China GK Cheng Yuelei
3 China FW Xiang Baixu
4 China MF Zhang Gong
5 Iceland DF Sölvi Ottesen
6 China MF Yang Wanshun
7 Israel MF Eran Zahavi
8 Brazil MF Júnior Urso
9 Australia FW Apostolos Giannou
10 Brazil MF Renatinho
11 China DF Jiang Zhipeng (Captain)
13 China MF Ye Chugui
14 China FW Zeng Chao
15 China MF Ning An
17 China DF Zhang Chenlong
18 China DF Yi Teng
19 China DF Jiang Jihong
No. Position Player
20 China DF Tang Miao
21 China DF Zhu Di
23 China MF Lu Lin
24 China FW Mai Jiajian
25 China GK Han Feng
26 China FW Ma Junliang
28 China MF Wang Jia'nan
29 China FW Xiao Zhi
32 China MF Chen Zhizhao
35 China MF Li Tixiang
36 China DF Huang Zhengyu
37 China MF Li Yuyang
39 China MF Zhao Keda
40 China DF Chen Weiming
45 China GK Long Wenhao
50 China FW Zhang Jianjun

Reserve team

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

No. Position Player
30 China DF Fu Yunlong
41 China DF Li Lei
42 China DF Ma Weichao
44 China MF Wei Zongren
46 China DF Deng Zhiyao
47 China FW Tong Hui
No. Position Player
49 China GK Ji Xiangzheng
51 China MF Bu Wenhao
52 China FW Huang Jingbin
53 China DF Bi Guanghuan
54 China GK Xing Yu

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
China DF Yang Ting (at Guizhou Zhicheng)
China FW Chang Feiya (at Guizhou Zhicheng)
China FW Min Junlin (at Guizhou Zhicheng)

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Head Coach Serbia Dragan Stojković
Assistant Coach Serbia Žarko Đurović
Assistant Coach
Reserve team Head Coach
Serbia Dejan Govedarica
Assistant Coach
Academy Director
Japan Katsuhito Kinoshi
Goalkeeping Coach China Huang Hongtao
Team physician China Fan Bihua
Netherlands Marco van der Steen
Physiotherapist Netherlands Raldy van Haastert
Performance manager & Scouting conductor United States Bito Wu

Managerial history

As of 24 Auguest 2016.[24][25]

Honours

League

Runners-up (2): 1991, 2011

Results

All-time League rankings

As of the end of 2016 season.[27][28]

Year Div Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos. FA Cup Super Cup League Cup AFC Att./G Stadium
1986 2 7 4 1 DNQ   
1987 3 7 3 1 2 NH   
1988 1 20 4 7 9 17 17 0 19 17 NH   
1989 2 22 5 12 5 20 18 1 27 9 NH   
1990 2 22 6 10 6 19 16 3 28 7 DNQ   
1991 2 18 8 7 3 23 18 5 19 1 RU QF   
1992 1 14 1 1 12 8 36 −28 3 8 3 R1   
1993 2 5 1 0/1 3 5 9 −4 2 5 1 NH   
1994 1 22 1 9 12 16 39 −23 11 11 NH    5,591 Shenyang People's Stadium
1995 2 22 6 8 8 22 28 −6 26 8 R1 DNQ   Shenyang People's Stadium
1996 2 22 6 8 8 24 23 1 26 7 R1 DNQ   Shenyang People's Stadium
1997 2 22 9 8 5 37 28 9 35 3 R1 DNQ   Shenyang People's Stadium
1998 1 26 7 10 9 19 28 −9 31 10 R2 DNQ   15,077 Shenyang People's Stadium
1999 1 26 5 13 8 28 32 −4 28 11 R1 DNQ   11,923 Shenyang People's Stadium
2000 1 26 8 10 8 35 32 3 34 7 QF DNQ   35,615 Wulihe Stadium
2001 1 26 2 1 23 23 69 −46 7 14 4 R2 DNQ   12,000 Wulihe Stadium
2002 1 28 8 10 10 34 34 0 34 11 R1 DNQ   14,500 Wulihe Stadium
2003 1 28 11 10 7 35 31 4 43 5 SF DNQ   18,857 Wulihe Stadium
2004 1 22 7 5 10 23 29 −6 26 8 R4 NH R1 5,000 Wulihe Stadium
2005 1 26 4 7 15 19 43 −24 18 13 4 R1 NH R1 2,077 Wulihe Stadium
2006 1 28 6 8 14 22 43 −21 26 13 R2 NH NH 2,750 Wulihe Stadium
2007 1 28 8 10 10 17 24 −7 34 10 NH NH NH 10,571 Helong Stadium
2008 1 30 7 13 10 28 36 −8 34 11 NH NH NH 6,645 Helong Stadium
2009 1 30 6 15 9 23 31 −8 33 14 NH NH NH 8,498 Helong Stadium
2010 1 30 6 12 12 24 42 −18 30 16 NH NH NH 10,152 Helong Stadium
2011 2 26 13 8 5 36 27 9 47 RU R2 NH NH Dongguan Nancheng Stadium
Yuexiushan Stadium
2012 1 30 13 3 14 47 49 −2 42 7 R4 DNQ NH 8,460 Yuexiushan Stadium
Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center Central Stadium
2013 1 30 11 7 12 45 47 −2 40 6 R4 DNQ NH 10,384 Yuexiushan Stadium
2014 1 30 17 6 7 67 39 28 57 3 R4 DNQ NH 11,487 Yuexiushan Stadium
2015 1 30 8 7 15 35 41 −6 31 14 R4 DNQ NH Group 7,989 Yuexiushan Stadium
2016 1 30 11 7 12 47 50 −3 40 6 SF DNQ NH 9,831 Yuexiushan Stadium
2017 1 30 QF DNQ NH Yuexiushan Stadium

Key

International results

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.[29] 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.[30]

References

  1. Murphy, Ronan. "Is this the weirdest Chinese Super League transfer yet?". goal.com. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  2. http://www.thefootballstadiums.com/yuexiushan-stadium
  3. http://www.worldofstadiums.com/asia/china/guangdong/yuexiushan-stadium/
  4. 1 2 "Summary – CSL – China PR – Results, fixtures, tables and news – Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  5. China League History Archived 2014-06-07 at the Wayback Machine. at rsssf.com. 22 Oct 2009. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  6. 1 2 China League 1994 Archived 2014-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. at rsssf.com. 19 Jun 2003. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  7. 1 2 长沙金德将更名落户深圳 将加紧确定主帅内外援 at sports.sohu.com. 2011-02-27. Retrieved 2013-06-04. (in Chinese)
  8. 中甲深圳队穷困请球员家属结房费 难以维持或退赛 at sports.sina.com.cn. 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2013-06-04. (in Chinese)
  9. 1 2 富力地产低调接手深圳凤凰 望学恒大模式入主足球 at sports.sina.com.cn. 2011-06-25. Retrieved 2013-06-04. (in Chinese)
  10. Guangzhou R&F and Chelsea FC open football school at wildeastfootball.net. May 16, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  11. Sven Goran Eriksson takes charge of Guangzhou R&F at thesackrace.com. 4th-june-2013. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  12. "富力宣布孔特拉下周一正式接手 刘殿座确定加盟". 广州日报. 网易新闻. 4 January 2015.
  13. Press, Australian Associated (2015-02-17). "Central Coast fail to qualify for Asian Champions League after playoff defeat". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  14. "Guangzhou R&F stun Gamba Osaka in Asian Champions League opener". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  15. "通 告-公告". www.gzrffc.com.cn. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  16. "Guangzhou R&F 2013 Season Review: Work in progress : Wild East Football". wildeastfootball.net. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  17. "关于聘请德拉甘·斯托伊科维奇担任广州富力足球俱乐部主教练的公告-公告". www.gzrffc.com.cn. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  18. "A Guide to Football in Shenyang". wildeastfootball.net. 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  19. "Yuexiushan News: Canton Derby". wildeastfootball.net. 2014-09-26. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  20. "张烁张远联袂发威 富力再爆冷2–0恒大". sports.sohu.com. 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  21. "Drunken Club Owners Miss Guangzhou Derby". wildeastfootball.net. 2012-07-21. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  22. "Yak Attack Nicks Guangzhou Derby for R&F : Wild East Football". wildeastfootball.net. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  23. "2017中超联赛广州富力队完全名单". sohu.com. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  24. "Guangzhou R&F » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  25. "Guangzhou R&F Football Club". footballzz.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  26. "CHINA LEAGUE ONE – 2011". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  27. "China League History". rsssf.com. 22 Oct 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  28. "广州富力". sodasoccer.com. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  29. "港超我们来啦!教师节将迎首秀-赛事新闻". www.gzrffc.com.cn. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  30. "R&F富力擬主場賽事內地上演 港超球會提出答允條件". Upower. Retrieved 16 June 2017. (in traditional Chinese (HK))
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