"Fighting valiantly, vowing to preserve the glory of the mountain city, two years of lost pay, youth fading away."
"The heart of the mountain town, the heart of the fans, the guilt of failing your family."
In front of the Two Rivers Athletic Football Club in the mountain city, conspicuous banners and slogans come into view. These slogans are not only the shouts of players and staff for wages, but also the prelude to the decline of soccer in the mountain city.
Despite the efforts of many, the mountain city soccer in this hot summer, or helplessly blew the "death" horn.
On May 24, at 10:00 a.m., the Mountain City Two Rivers Athletic Football Club made a public announcement, "After careful discussion at the shareholders' meeting, we announce with deep regret that we will withdraw from the Chinese Professional Football League and officially close the club."
The end of the mountain city soccer mirrors the plight of Chinese soccer. In just three years, three top league teams have announced their withdrawal.
Looking back to May 2020, Tianjin Tianhai Football Club has sadly come to an end. Tianjin Quanjian, which had purchased international superstars such as Modeste, Pato, and Witsel, and introduced domestic players such as Wang Yongper and Zhao Xuri, had been in the limelight for a while. However, in the face of a series of challenges, this "landlord" team is ultimately difficult to escape the fate of the closure.
On February 28, 2021, defending champion Jiangsu Football Club announced its suspension. In the last season, Jiangsu Suning won the Chinese Super League title for the first time under the leadership of Wu Xi and other powerful players, creating a glorious team history. However, under the impact of policy adjustments and epidemics, Suning eventually chose to close down.
Under the influence of the "neutral name" policy promoted by the Football Association, coupled with the commercial crisis caused by the epidemic, Suning had to choose to end. Up to now, Suning still owes a large amount of salary to the players.
May 24, 2022, the stormy mountain city soccer, also failed to escape the fate of the closing.
The club has made it clear that it will try its best to gradually repay the outstanding wages of the players through various means such as litigation recovery, asset realization and group loans. However, all this seems to be too optimistic.
It is sad to see the team, which has fought for 25 years in our professional soccer scene since 1997, when Vanguard Huan Dao moved to the mountain city, exit the stage of history in such a way.
"Due to changes in the external environment, the reform process has not been carried out as scheduled, the club's debts have accumulated, its accounts have been frozen, and the staff's lives have been put in a difficult situation." The difficulties mentioned in the official announcement of Hill City Football are also prevalent among other clubs.
According to statistics, during the three years, China's three-tier soccer league has 34 teams announced the withdrawal, there are still many clubs struggling to support, once they can not survive the difficult times, will also step in the dust of the mountain city soccer.
Neutral names, reforms, unpaid wages, and closure, Chinese soccer is struggling to survive in a desperate situation. However, with the bubble of "gold dollar soccer" gradually bursting, the Chinese Super League teams are generally in financial difficulties, the future of the Chinese Super League is worrying.
First of all, the "neutral name" policy promoted by the HKFA is well-intentioned, but under the current circumstances, it has led to the withdrawal of many investors and sponsors. If the interests of investors and sponsors are not protected, who will be willing to support the teams?
In addition, the issue of share reform has also become the focus of the game between the club and all parties. In addition to Shandong Taishan, Shanghai Harbor and a few other clubs successfully completed the reform, most of the clubs in the share reform issue has reached an impasse.
At present, the debt problem is a common problem faced by our clubs, the club itself lacks blood production and profitability, when investors choose to leave the field, the club can only face the fate of closing or exit.
Bidding farewell to the mountain city, the cold winter of Chinese soccer continues ......
