Since 2016, the salons that slipped from the first division of Chinese soccer to the second division, such as Yunnan Flying Tigers, Dalian Beyond, Shanghai Shenxin, Liaoning Hongyun and Beijing Renhe, have completely withdrawn from the stage of Chinese professional soccer. Among them, Shenxin, Liao Football and Renhe are particularly regrettable, they were once the top of the top league, Liao Football is the ten champion, once dominant in the Asian football world, Shenxin has also played the role of the dark horse in the Chinese Super League and the Football Association Cup for many times. Beijing Renhe has won the AFC Cup twice and participated in the AFC Champions League several times. Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard was lucky enough to return to the Central League as a replacement after being relegated, while Hunan Xiangtao is still struggling in the Second Division.
In contrast, Qingdao Hainiu is like Parma, Fiorentina and other century-old giants in the European league, who have gone through ups and downs, but have always maintained their love for soccer. Once the right moment comes, they can quickly ignite their passion and return to the center stage. As Chinese fans are familiar with, Parma returned to Serie A in just a few years after bankruptcy, while the "Purple Lily" Fiorentina went bankrupt in 2002, two months after the local people set up a new Fiorentina club, and one year later bought back the original club's right to use the name and the copyright of the design of the jerseys, and the Purple and Gold Legion was reborn with a fire.
Qingdao Hainiu's performance in the professional league in recent years has fluctuated, but Hainiu people's passion for soccer has never waned, and you can feel this passion when you walk into the training base of Hainiu Club. You can feel this passion when you walk into the training base of Hainiu Club. November is winter in Qingdao, but the grass of the training ground is still as green as spring, as a team in the second division, Hainiu's training conditions and facilities are not inferior to those of the Chinese Super League giants.
Not only that, but the Sea Bulls club has invested more in youth training in recent years than even some of the Chinese Super League giants who are pursuing short-term gains. In this season's National Football Association Youth Super League, the Sea Bulls were featured in both the U21 and U19 age groups, and they were the only Chinese B team to participate in these two levels of the Youth Super League. In the U21 league, a total of 21 teams competed, including 12 Chinese Super League teams, eight Chinese First Division teams, one U18 national team and one Chinese Second Division team. In the U19 league, there are 20 teams competing, with one China B team. In addition, in the national leagues for the U17, U15 and U13 age groups, the Manatees competed in all of them.
Interestingly, when the Manatees signed up for the tournament, there were also high-ranking clubs asking the FA why they let the S.B. team compete. The FA's response was, "They've been competing for over a decade, aren't they good?"
Qiao Weiguang's Persistence and Legacy
Qingdao Manatee has been able to hold on for 28 years without becoming one of the front waves in the long river of China's professional soccer development without the contribution of Qiao Weiguang, the club's investor and chairman of Zhongneng Group. It is his special sentiment for soccer that has brought the club to this day. At the same time, it is also because of Qiao Weiguang's insistence that the club, no matter what level of the league, will take youth training as the center of competitive business to grasp.
Even though they have been out of the top league for 8 years, Qingdao Sea Cow still builds their team and develops youth training according to the standard of Chinese Super League. Starting from 2011, Hainiu youth training relies on campus layout, once with more than 120 schools in Qingdao city to form a partnership, more than 40 youth training coaches to build a solid youth training foundation, including Jiao Chunben, Cai Jun, Xu Xiang and many others are the work of the league matches on the field of the best.
Not only that, the club also has five foreign coaches, including foreign youth training director Dragan, a Serbian who has coached in Iceland for seven years, as well as in Asian countries such as Singapore and Kuwait.
On May 10th, 2021, Qingdao Manatee held a grand ceremony for the new season, which was defined as "Inheritance, Greeting, Wish", reviewing the 28 years' journey of Qingdao Manatee in three chapters, witnessing the passing of the flame from Shandong Economic and Trade Commission to Yizhong Tobacco and then to Zhongneng Group. Qiao Weiguang said emotionally at the scene: "We get together because of the manatee complex, soccer can best reflect our city, our business, our Qingdao people a persistent perseverance, the spirit of upward mobility, adhere to the 17 years I have no regrets."
At the moment of the success of the first division on November 14, Qiao Weiguang himself opened the champagne and the wine smelled so good that Qiao Weiguang filled his glass and drank it all. "Surfing for the first division is not our goal," he said, "Returning to the top league is our ultimate goal."
Carrying the flag for 17 years, Qiao Weiguang will continue to carry it. This is the cold winter of gold dollar soccer, but for the soccer people rooted in youth training, spring may not be far away.
