Aerbin celebrates winning the China League
From early on, it always looked like Dalian would be headed to the top flight, the club ran away taking maximum points in their first 8 matches and continuing on cruise control through the season. The team management includes former Dalian Shide and China star Li Ming and on the pitch they feature Johnny Woodly Lambert, who previously put up big numbers in the Chinese Super League with Chongqing and Changchun (and leads in the China League having scored 13 goals). The club currently plays their home matches at the tiny Dalian University Stadium, which only holds 10,000 people and is located on the outskirts of the city. With this in mind and with one team already in Dalian, this correspondent wonders if Aerbin will remain in Dalian when the 2012 season comes around. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the club was bought and relocated elsewhere around China, a quick way to get your city a Chinese Super League club that lacks a history or connection to any city. It is also possible the club will choose a stadium elsewhere in the province, with options in Fushun, Anshan, and Shenyang, all venues used before by Liaoning Whowin. However, the club has done what it can to promote itself locally, and so it could end up being that they enter a ground sharing agreement with Shide and play their home matches at Jinzhou Stadium.
Lacking history isn’t something that Guangzhou Fuli can be accused of, the side that used to be Changsha Jinde was relegated from the Chinese Super League last year and moved to Shenzhen where they were renamed Shenzhen Mazamba. Halfway through the season, Mazamba stopped paying the club’s salaries and it looked like the club was going to split up as players started heading home and the management lacked the money to send them to an away match in Shenyang. Fast forward a few days and R&F Properties, a major real estate company, stepped in and purchased the club, promising massive investment. The new management team moved the club from Dongguan to its home city of Guangzhou, brought in Marlon Harewood, and quickly went from mid-table mediocrity to the middle of the promotion chase. In the end, they just pipped fellow Guangzhou side Guangdong Sunray Cave 47 points to 43 points.
It appears R&F’s interest in football was piqued when watching the footballing success of Evergrande. The two are among the most powerful real estate firms in China (and specifically within Guangdong province) and it looks like R&F want to show that whatever Evergrande can do, they can do better. While we speculated last week about what teams out there had “ambition” in Arie Haan’s eyes, it seems like he’s found one, as speculation is that Haan has already signed on with R&F. The rumor mill has been churning and it appears that Haan is likely to go after a number of the non-Tianjin locals he brought to the club, including bringing Wu Wei’an home to Guangdong and also potentially purchasing Chen Tao, Li Weifeng, and Wang Xinxin among others.
At the very least, it looks like for the first time ever in the Chinese Super League era, there will be two local derbies to enjoy next year. While it’s unlikely Aerbin will be able to siphon Shide fans, if R&F spends the money they are expected to, they’ll be able to attract some of the “Johnny Come Lately” Evergrande fans.
by bcheng
Category: Chinese Super League, Dalian Yifang, Guangzhou R&F
Tags: China League One, Dalian Aerbin, 中超
Wow I’m kinda amazed that Dalian Aerbin won the league considering how young they are, however I just guess it goes to show that with some decent management and a couple of shrewd buys you can go far in Chinese football. I just hope that they’re not a flash in the pan and I hope we’ll see some interesting derbies against Dalian Shide. As for Guangzhou if their new owners are as rich Evergrande then we could possibly see Cantonese teams rule Chinese football for years to come.
Aerbin are a pretty amazing story, while Guangzhou won the China League last year and then went on to win the CSL this year, Aerbin was only formed in 2010, they won Division 3 last year and have gone on to win the China League this year, pretty amazing run!
OK so we have Shenzhen Mazamba (I thought it was also called Shenzhen Phoenix?) now renamed as Guangzhou Fuli being promoted to join Guangzhou Evergrande (and most likely Shenzhen Ruby will be relegated to join Guangdong SunrayCave).
Plus the two Dalians, and the 3-way derby down by Shanghai and the Beijin-Tianjin one.
Hopefully a good season of derby matches ahead in the CSL next year, maybe CCTV5 will be filming more riots as well.
Bring on a “real” Canton derby !! Bl**dy upstarts !!!
Hahaha, I hope you mean that in a completely ironic way….
It’ll be like Wong Fei Hung vs Fong Sai Yuk (allowing for time travel).
Only more massive.
The Guangzhou derbies should be great though let’s hope it won’t be too onesided. Let’s hope things remain peaceful and the crowds will be massive.
Dalian Aerbin played Jiangsu Sainty a few months back in a friendly. The match ended in a 3-3 draw, but Dalian looked very good. Excited to see a second Dalian team, gives me another chance to make an away trip to that coastal city.
Question for any Guangzhou locals or “in the knows”: On the Wikipedia page for Fuli http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou_R%26F_F.C. it mentions that the stadium is Yuexiushan Stadium 越秀山体育场. However the site hasn’t been updated for a while and the page for the stadium says it is used by Evergrande (not Tinahe Stadium).
Can anyone confirm if Yanxiushan is the actual stadium for Fuli?
(A personal connection if that is the case – so will give me sufficent cause to support them, until they move elsewhere)
I love the look and the angle of Yuexiushan Stadium, seems like an awesome place to watch a game and sort of reminds me of the Horseshoe, where the Ohio State University plays their american football games. Anyways, yes, Fuli plays there, but rumors are that there may be some changes next year. Guangzhou also has an Olympic Stadium, which holds 80,000, while Tianhe where Hengda currently play holds around 55,000 (Yuexiushan is under 30,000). One or both of the Guangzhou teams may change venues next year.
Thanks bcheng. It does look like a stadium that could generate some atmosphere. 30k is still a good size and if it was packed full each week, imagine the noise and support it would generate.
However if having two Guangzhou teams in the CSL can generate more crowd numbers then having bigger stadia makes sense (although an olympic stadium with a running track is just plain wrong for football).
Here is a link to a couple of pictures of yuexiushan http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/asia/china/guangzhou_yuexiu.shtml
Looks like the side seating has been extended over the running track, but the end seating is a bit naff (take some binoculars).
I have infact been to Yuexishan to see GZ v Shenhua two years ago. Very cool stadium, we had to climb the “shan” to get into the away end, interesting experience
Awww, when will Yanbian FC be promoted? As a Korean fan I really want to see them play in the CSL. 🙂
Yanbian finished 10th of 14 teams, 18 points away from promotion. I want to see Yanbian do well myself, though we’ll have to hope for a better performance next year.
Nice stuff Dalian
http://youtu.be/8T75I8-S1sg