For the remainder of the 2013 China League One season, Guangdong Sunray Cave will move from Guangzhou and play their home matches in neighbouring Foshan City at the Century Lotus Stadium.
When they were formed in 2007 Guangdong Sunray Cave originally played in Foshan before moving to Guangzhou. Since then Guangzhou Evergrande and, more recently, Guangzhou R&F have become the dominant sides in the Cantonese capital and Sunray Cave have been edged out. They struggled to compete with their two CSL neighbours and attendances at the Provincial People’s Stadium in central Guangzhou were usually low.
The Century Lotus Stadium, where Sunray Cave started life, was opened in 2006 and holds 36,686 spectators. In returning to Foshan the team hope that a boost in fan numbers can see them win promotion to the CSL for the first time. Indeed, 5,000 turned out in the rain to see Sunray Cave beat Beijing Baxy 4-0 in their first game back in Foshan.
Last season Sunray Cave finished 10th in the 16 team China League One but have been this year’s surprise package, currently sitting in third place with seven rounds to go. Henan Construction look set for an immediate return to the CSL but the second spot could still go to any one of three teams with Harbin Yiteng and Chongqing Lifan challenging alongside Sunray Cave.
Sunray Cave’s next home game is against Tianjin Songjiang on 15th September with kick-off scheduled to be at 4pm. Foshan is next to Guangzhou and Century Lotus stadium can be reached on the same metro network, it’s 3km south of the final stop on the GuangFo Metro Line (Kuiqi Lu), and buses 110, 118, 206, 210 and 280 all run there from central Foshan.
世纪莲体育中心: 佛山市岭南大道南，新城市（魁奇路和南路交汇口领直2000米）
Century Lotus Stadium, Lingnan Avenue South (2km south of the junction with Kuiqi Lu)
