After failing to pass the access review of the CFA and CFL for the 2023 season, Guangzhou City immediately announced that the club's ladder teams at all levels would suspend operations from the Shenyang Sea Lions in the 1994 AA season, and another traditional team would disappear in the 2022 season. After the name change to Guangzhou R&F, only the memory of eating and sleeping to beat Evergrande remains.
As one of the founding teams of the 1994 A-League, Guangzhou City's earliest predecessor can be traced back to the Shenyang Sea Lions, who also left a deep impression on fans.
However, due to economic conditions, the Shenyang Sea Lions were subsequently renamed Shenyang Jinde and could not last in the northeast. The club as a whole moved south to Hunan, renamed Changsha Jinde. But Changsha Jinde did not have a long history and soon traveled to Guangdong again, settling in Shenzhen and changing its name to Shenzhen Phoenix.
This phase was even shorter before it was acquired by R&F. Starting with the 2012 season, Guangzhou R&F and Guangzhou Evergrande began a 10-year long Guangzhou derby. Compared to the wealthy Evergrande, R&F have stuck to a tradition of practicality and cheapness during their time running the club, but many of the cheap and good-value deals, including Hammad and Xavi, have seen the hiring of renowned coaches Eriksson and Stojkovic, which has created a beautiful soccer for Guangzhou R&F.
During the period of Guangzhou R&F, the most famous slogan was "Eat, Sleep, Play Evergrande". R&F had a lot of experience in facing Guangzhou Evergrande, which had nothing to do with the Chinese Super League teams, and once had the upper hand, realizing a double kill against Evergrande. He also beat up Evergrande, R&F and Evergrande, comparable to Shanghai Derby, Shanghai Port and Shenhua.
However, from the 2020 season onwards, with the changing circumstances, R&F could not inherit. A consortium of state-owned enterprises, led by Guangzhou Automobile, wanted to intervene, but ultimately chose to "pull the plug" on the team that settled in Guangdong 10 years ago.
