Sui Donglu's journey to Yunnan Hongta coincided with the arrival of Wang Baoshan, the general manager of the Salon, and since then, a mentor-pupil relationship has followed him. 2003 saw Sui Donglu play with Hongta in the last generation of the First Division A. The following year saw the end of his career, with Chongqing Lifan qualifying for the Chinese Super League. The following year, Yunnan Hongta suddenly ended up in the Chinese Super League, which was won by Chongqing Lifan, and Sui Donglu became involved with Chongqing in the 2004 season.
Sui Donglu began to drift around due to the fierce competition for the competition roster. He briefly joined Jiangsu Suntian, and after showing great performance, he was signed by Shenzhen Jinwei for a high price of 1.2 million dollars. The then Shenzhen manager was Wang Baoshan. After three years in Shenzhen, Sui Donglu moved to Chengdu Tiancheng of the Central League due to unpaid wages. One season later, he helped Guangzhou R&F to succeed in the Super League. At the start of his career in the Chinese Super League, R&F invested more, and Sui Donglu was relegated from a defensive stalwart to the fringes of the team, before returning to his hometown of Chongqing at the end of the 2012 season for his second stint in Chongqing Lifan's uniform.
During Chongqing Lifan's 2014 season, Sui Donglu led a backline that conceded the fewest goals in the Central League. When the team's offense was blocked, Sui Donglu was also sent to the front line by the coach, and he scored a total of 4 goals in the whole season, and his reputation as a "defender with a knife" spread among the fans in the mountain city.
However, after the team's return to the Chinese Super League, Sui Donglu's position was once again marginalized. Under foreign coaches such as Zhang Wailong and Bento, he did not have many chances to play, and most of the time he could only serve as a substitute.
The 2017 season saw a turnaround for Sui Donglu. He replaced Milovic as the starter due to the three-foreign-guard restriction and maintained a steady performance.
On July 22, 2017, Chongqing Lifan defeated Tianjin TEDA 2:1 at home and won four consecutive matches. Less than 10 minutes into the game, Sui Donglu was injured in a fight with Cao Yang, but after a simple bandage, he determined to return to the game. At the end of the game, Sui Donglu received 16 stitches and became a "tough guy" in the eyes of the fans in the mountain city.
Courage is the label of Sui Donglu's career. In Shenzhen Red Diamond, he had 18 stitches in his eyebrow and nearly lost his sight in his left eye; in Chengdu, he was hit in the chest by international goalkeeper Yan Junling, resulting in a serious "hemopneumothorax", which was later drained by the hospital.
Sui Donglu said in an interview: "play defender, must have a kind of temperament, to let the other side of the striker afraid of you, he is afraid of you, defense is much better; on the contrary, let the other side of the striker to play at will, then you this defender also failed."
At the end of the 2018 season, Sui Donglu said goodbye to Chongqing Lifan, where he had played for six years, making a total of 109 appearances for the team and contributing eight goals.He joined Henan Jianye for the 2019 season.At the age of 36, he celebrated his 100-game milestone in the top flight.
In 2020, Sui Donglu was unable to connect with a suitable team due to the epidemic and had no choice but to retire. A year later, he made a comeback and joined Hebei Kungfu, a China B team where his friends Wang Song and Shi Jun played.
At the end of November 2021, Hebei Kung Fu beat Shanghai Jiading Huilong 4-1 and were promoted to the Central League as the runner-up in the Central League Two. Sui Donglu, who joined in the middle of the season, became the core of the team's defense, contributing 1 goal and 1 assist in 12 appearances.
Sui Donglu returned to his hometown of Dalian after signing a short-term contract with Hebei Kungfu to help the team reach the first division. His playing career continued as he joined the newly formed Dalian Jinshiwan Football Club this year to play in the Champions League. In a career spanning two decades, Sui Donglu has moved through nine teams before returning to the colors of his hometown team.
Dalian Jinshiwan is a young team formed at the beginning of 2022, based on players from Dalian People Professional Football Club's U21 ladder and reserve team, supplemented by a number of experienced veterans. The team's head coach is former Dalian Shide player Liu Yujian, and 43-year-old celebrity footballer Zhou Ting is making a comeback this season as Dalian Jinshiwan's assistant coach and player.
Dalian Jinshiwan was placed in Group K of the Dalian Tournament, along with Anshan Feiyang, Yanbian Sports School and Qingdao Superstar. In the group stage, Dalian Jinshiwan won 7-0 and 3-0 against Anshan Feiyang and Yanbian Gymnasium, and 3-0 against Qingdao Superstar, scoring 17 goals without conceding a goal in the three matches, and successfully got out of the group.
Dalian Jinshiwan met Dalian Zimao Huayi, who finished second in their group, in the regional cross-elimination round. The first leg was a 0-0 draw, with Sui Donglu and Zhou Ting coming on as substitutes in the 58th minute of the second half, with Sui Donglu hitting the post with a header.
In the second round, the two sides were still fighting hard. In the second half, Sui Donglu and Zhou Ting came on as substitutes again, and in the 56th minute, the two veterans linked up, Zhou Ting made a long pass from the backfield, and Sui Donglu scored the only goal of the match with a one-two punch from an offside position. The two veterans, both 82 years old, helped Dalian Jinshiwan win the Dalian Derby and reach the finals of the Chinese Championship.
Due to the downturn in the general environment, many players with experience in the Chinese Super League and Chinese First Division have joined the Chinese Champions League this year, making this season's Chinese Champions League one of the most competitive in its history. Will the experienced Sui Donglu be able to help add another task force to his hometown this time around?
