On November 28, Hainiu fans witnessed history at the training base of Qingdao Hainiu Football Club. On that afternoon, Qingdao Hainiu beat Xinjiang Tianshan Xuebao 7-1 in the 32nd round of the China First Division League, successfully surpassing it two rounds ahead of schedule.
Next season, the Chinese Super League will once again feature the Qilu derby.
For this glorious moment, the Manatees waited nine years and 3,312 days.
splendour
One of the founding teams of the Chinese Super League
Established in 1993, Qingdao Manatee Football Club is the first professional soccer team in Qingdao and one of the founding teams of the CFA Super League.
In 1994, the team won the First B League and was promoted to the First A League, and the following year it finished second from the bottom and was relegated from the First A. In 1996, the team returned to the First A League as runners-up in the First B League.
In 1997, Yizhong Group took over Qingdao Hainiu, renamed Qingdao Yizhong Hainiu Football Club, and won the CFA Cup in 2002.At the end of 2004, China Energy Group took over the team and renamed it Qingdao Zhongneng Football Club.
September 14, 2011, Jinan, 2011 CSL Round 12, Shandong Luneng vs Qingdao Jonoon
In 2011, under the careful training of South Korean coach Zhang Wailong, the team created a storm of youth and eventually finished sixth in the Chinese Super League. This season, Qingdao Jonoon "double-killed" the 20-year-old Chinese energy star Luneng, Song Wenjie, who scored two goals in the Qilu derby. By the end of the season, Song had scored 6 goals in the league, on a par with Tianjin Teda's Yu Dabao. Finally, he was voted as the 2011 Chinese Super League Best Newcomer. Captain Liu Jian was also selected for the national team.
struggles
Almost disbanded during the Gimwon era
In the same season, Guangzhou Evergrande landed in the Chinese Super League and won the championship with high investment. Driven by it, domestic giants followed suit, and the Chinese Super League opened the golden dollar era.
2013 CSL Final Round: Beijing Guoan 1-0 Qingdao Zhongneng Gelong
Qingdao Zhongneng is struggling as the club's operating costs rise.
Jiang Ning joined Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals before the 2013 season and Zheng Long moved to Guangzhou Evergrande in the middle of the season. After that, coach Zhang Wailong parted ways with the team. At the beginning of the season, Zhongneng topped the table in seven rounds of undefeated, and lost seven consecutive games this season and 14 rounds of undefeated. In the last round, he lost on the road to Beijing Guoan "Gongtian nightmare" unfortunately fell into the Central League after the boss Qiao Weiguang cover face crying.
The dark night of Qingdao soccer has not ended after the relegation, as Liu Jian, Zou Zheng, Song Wenjie, Liu Zhenli and a number of other key players have said their goodbyes. After struggling for three years in the Central League, the team was relegated to the Central B in 2016, with several rumors of transfers and even dissolution.
In just a few short years, this team fell out of the sky. the 2017-2020 seasons saw the C.N.C. hibernate in the C.B. for four years.
return
Hold on 312 days.
In the 2021 season, the team changed its name from the previous Qingdao Zhongneng FC to Qingdao Hainiu FC, returning to the club's original name in accordance with the CFA's neutralization name change policy. At the same time, the team underwent an unprecedented bloodletting, officially announcing the addition and return of 13 players at a time, including veterans such as Yao Jiangshan and Mou Pengfei, as well as young talents such as Wu Xingyu and Zhang Yang, and a number of powerful players such as Xiao Zhi, who were introduced during the summer transfer period, to greatly enhance the fighting force.
Under the leadership of veteran coach Yin Tiesheng, Qingdao Hainiu finally returned to China's first division. Tears came to Changsha Yibo's eyes after the crucial battle with Xiamen. He was the only player on the team who had experienced the nightmare of the 2013 Chinese Super League and the relegation of the 2016 Chinese Super League.
Although they are the "promoted horse" this season, Qingdao Hainiu, with many veterans, has always been regarded as the super favorite by outsiders. And they have not failed to live up to the expectations. After a winning streak, they stayed in the top three of the Central League table and eventually overtook it two rounds ahead of schedule. As a result, they became the first team in Chinese soccer to return to the Chinese Super League after being relegated from the Chinese Super League to the Chinese B League.
Qingdao Manatees return to the Chinese Super League after nine years on November 28, 2022, as fans and club celebrate together
"In the Chinese Super League, the Manatees are back! After nine years, the Qingdao Manatees are back in China's top soccer league. Qingdao soccer city has its own Chinese Super League team! We have waited nine years for this moment, nine years of wages and courage, nine years of battles and nine years of difficulties. At that time, Qiao Weiguang, chairman and president of Zhongneng Group, was unwilling to shed tears in industrial sports, finally released today!" Manatee official microblogging after the game published an article saying, all the way, the team experienced the peak of the tsunami, the trough of the long night, unwilling ambition, finally ushered in the dawn of the dawn.
It is understood that Qingdao Hainiu is one of the only two clubs in China that have been invested and operated by private enterprises since the first year of professional soccer. In the opinion of people from all walks of life in the domestic soccer world, Hainiu FC has become a rare clear stream of Chinese professional soccer with its stable investment and club operation mode, solid and rich youth training layout, as well as internal and external groundwork. They have been upgraded to two consecutive levels in two years, which is the inevitable result of accumulation.
Over the past few years, the domestic gold dollar soccer is gradually ebbing. "Nine Farewells and Reunion", the success of Hainiu undoubtedly provides a good reference model for the next exploration of Chinese professional soccer.
