Guangzhou City Football Club's shareholding reform is progressing in an exciting way, with R&F Group perhaps stepping down from the burden of investment and Guangzhou City preparing to turn over a brand new chapter.
Rational investment, cost-effective reinforcements, the pursuit of aesthetic soccer ...... these key words, and R&F's years of soccer operations are inextricably linked to the success of the 2011 Super League Banquet, R&F boss Zhang Li's famous line "with the price of salted vegetables out of the flavor of the roast goose," is still fresh in people's minds. The words of Zhang Li, the owner of Fuli, are still fresh in people's minds. If we look back at the past, if this kind of rational operation idea can become a trend a few years earlier, the Chinese soccer league may have been a new look.
Some people are curious as to how much R&F has invested in ten years of soccer investment. Although the club has never publicized detailed data, but the annual attraction, player wages and other expenditures have been reported, a rough estimate, the investment will not be less than 3 billion. In the wave of gold dollar soccer, R&F's investment seems particularly calm.
In the 2011 season, R&F's success in the Super League celebration banquet, Zhang Li that "R&F with savory price out of the roast goose flavor" has become a topic of discussion among fans, and many R&F fans even mocked themselves as "I'm salty".
After the derby victory over Evergrande at the Tianhe Stadium, reports of the "Salted Vegetables Army Attacked Tianti" made the club unhappy, believing that the headline was inappropriate and meant to make fun of the game.
"With the price of salted vegetables out of the flavor of roast goose", said the essence of rational operation of soccer, at that time, although not understood, but ten years later, the importance of rational operation is verified, stable development is the key. "Boss Zhang's thinking is correct, but ten years ago, it was treated as a laughing stock. Chinese professional soccer has taken ten years to prove it." A source close to R&F said, "Those who follow the law, even if the road is far away and the time is long, will eventually succeed; on the contrary, doomed to failure. Chinese professional soccer, has just been tested with ten years."
At the 2017 Guangdong Sports Industry Forum, then-Fuli FC chairman Huang Shenghua said, "It is difficult for a soccer club that cannot be self-sustaining to develop sustainably."
At the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, China's soccer reform encountered a bottleneck, and Chen Xuyuan, chairman of Shanghai SIPG Club, and Zhang Li, investor of Fuli, became the two-headed pioneers of the reform. Despite the fact that Zhang Li and Chen Xuyuan had many face-to-face exchanges, and Huang Shenghua had served as the head of the professional league in the capacity of the chairman of the Fortune Club, the reforms that Fortune was involved in were ultimately fruitless. Some people still believe that if Zhang Li had been directly involved in soccer reform four years ago, the result could have been very different.
On June 23, 2011, R&F acquired Shenzhen Phoenix, the coaching team remained unchanged, and Li Shubin led R&F to a successful Super League run.
At the beginning of 2012, R&F brought in Brazilian coach Farias from South Korea's K-League, who had led South Korea's Pohang Steelers to the AFC Championship. Farias brought nine large suitcases filled with professional training equipment brought from Brazil.
Before Farias took over R&F, most of the players had only 70 minutes of fitness and were known as the "Cramp Team", but after the winter training in early 2012, the players' fitness improved significantly. The professional training equipment brought by Farias played a role. Through advanced body testing equipment, the physical trainer collected and organized all the players' data, and based on the data, made the training plan for the next day.
During the Farias era, ice bucket rehabilitation hydrotherapy became the key to recovery for Fulham players, who entered an ice bucket of ice and cold water stirred after training to recover, subverting the traditional training model. The coaching team includes physical trainer Inaha, physical analyst Matthews and rehabilitator Clayton, and ice bucket rehabilitation hydrotherapy is what Clayton brings to the table.
After a year and a half, Farias left and Inaha continued his work with other teams in the Pro League, and also introduced his son Inaha Jr. to the Chinese league as a fitness coach for a number of teams, including Guizhou Renhe and Wuhan. Clayton was the rehabilitator for the Brazilian delegation at the Beijing Olympics. After Farias' departure, Clayton stayed at R&F to assist subsequent coach Eriksson, and worked with Eriksson at Shanghai SIPG and Shenzhen Jiazhaoye.
In the middle of the 2013 season, R&F brought in former England manager Eriksson, and gradually developed a "eat, sleep, play Hengda" style of play against their city rivals. The team's best result since its founding - third place in the Chinese Super League and qualification for the play-offs in the AFC Champions League - was achieved in the 2014 season under Eriksson's leadership. At the end of 2014, Eriksson received an invitation from Shanghai SIPG, doubling his annual salary, Fuli decided to let him go, the 2015 season, Eriksson became head coach of Shanghai SIPG, taking away Fuli foreign aid Davy.
After that, Fu Li introduced the La Liga team Getafe head coach Conteira, Romanian in the technical and tactical unique. 2015 season AFC Champions League and the Chinese Super League double line of battle, Fu Li class shortage problem appeared, Conteira 2015 season halfway down the class, become Fu Li team history of the shortest time of foreign coaches. After the departure of Kong Tera, assistant coach Li Bing as a transition coach, and then ushered in Stojkovic. Stojkovic's four years of coaching at R&F is the process of R&F proposing rational investment in soccer clubs and scaling down soccer investment. During these four years, players such as Jiang Zhipeng and Wang Song left and a number of utility players were introduced.
Stojkovic's four years of coaching Fuli, the pursuit of "beautiful soccer" of the pass-control style of play, the spectacle is very strong. 2017 season, Fuli Super League fifth place, the year ranked in the top four are Evergrande, Hong Kong, Quanjian and Huaxia Happiness, these teams that year, the investment to be more than Fuli a few times. Huang Zhengyu was the best U23 player of the 2017 season and Xavi was the best player in the league. Stojkovic was nominated for best coach, although the best coach in the Chinese Super League that year was Tianjin Quanjian manager Cannavaro, but outsiders believe that Stojkovic is the "uncrowned king".
At the end of the 2019 season, Stojkovic left R&F, and soon after was hired as the head coach of the Serbian national team, and his Japanese assistant coach Katsushige Ki Iron Do during his coaching days at R&F joined the coaching staff of the Serbian team, and in 2021, the "old R&F coaching staff" led the Serbian team to reach the final round of the World Cup in Qatar.
After Stowe's departure, Dutchman Van Bronckhorst and his assistant Van Garst became successively the head coaches of Fuli (later Guangzhou City), with Van Garst taking Guangzhou City into the title contention group in the 2021 season.
Rational investment, after considering all aspects of the conditions, "accurate" selection of candidates to meet their own, R&F in the level of the choice of the manager is quite good work, in the introduction of foreign aid is also the same, the effect is remarkable.
R&F focus on cost-effective foreign aid, the introduction of foreign aid in Davy, Hammad, Renaldinho, Zhang Xianxiu, Zahavi, Guilherme, etc. are in the Chinese Super League, of which Zahavi can be called a representative figure of the introduction of foreign aid in the Chinese Super League. Zahavi scored 91 goals and created 24 assists for Guangzhou R&F in the Chinese Super League, won two Chinese Super League Golden Boots, and won one Chinese Super League MVP, Zahavi's role is very prominent. In the honor room of Guangzhou R&F Football Club, a huge photo of Xavi hangs prominently in the middle, with Xavi's No. 7 jersey hanging next to it.
In the domestic player level, Fuli also attaches considerable importance to their own cultivation of players, if there are players by the giants, can accept the "high transfer", such as Jiang Zhipeng, Jin Yangyang transferred to Huaxia Happiness, Wang Song transferred to Jiangsu Suning, etc., Fuli then gained a considerable amount of income.
or no longer involved in Guangzhou City FC, but Fortune is not completely out of soccer, at least at the youth level, they are still operating.
R&F became the owner of the professional soccer club, soon realized the problem of reserve talents, established the Meixian R&F soccer school, in Guangzhou and Guangdong province to carry out school soccer and soccer youth training work, do youth training, they are serious. In recent years, R&F introduced the Japanese youth training coaching team, Meixian R&F soccer school teaching and training work steadily, the effect of youth training has been apparent, both the Meixian R&F soccer school and the Guangzhou youth training system, there are players selected at all levels of the national youth team and junior team.
Guangzhou City stock reform process, the club in the youth training system and Meixian soccer school management system quietly changed, the club level to send executives specifically responsible for the management of the Meixian R&F soccer school. In the past two years, Meixian has been to Fuli Soccer School players and Guangzhou City 03 age group players as the base to participate in the Championship League, hoping to rush to the Central B League as soon as possible, from the team's performance, the future can be expected.
In the long run, even if it is no longer involved in Guangzhou City FC, the Meixian R&F Football School has left an important soccer spark for Guangzhou R&F's soccer sentiment. Perhaps when the real estate market changes in the future, R&F will likely return to the professional league sequence again.
