On the 22nd of 2024, Shenzhen Football Club's announcement was like a hammer blow that sounded the final chapter of the team's professional league career. The club had no choice but to announce its withdrawal from the Chinese professional soccer league due to its failure to meet the entry requirements for the 2024 season. In this announcement, the figures of players and the cheers of fans who had sent talents to the country still seemed to be in the ear, however, the heavy debt burden made it difficult for the club to support, and the glorious journey of the league came to an abrupt end. This news also announced the dissolution of the Shenzhen team, the winner of the first Chinese Super League in 2004.
In the announcement, the Shenzhen team recalled with deep emotion: "In the face of the list of debts announced by the CFA, our Shenzhen Football Club failed to pass the access review and bid farewell to the stage of the professional league. Since the establishment of the club, we have received the care of leaders at all levels in Shenzhen, the love of the public, the help of partners and the support of media friends. Here, we express our heartfelt thanks."
Looking back, the Shenzhen soccer team has written a brilliant chapter in the field of soccer. 1994, the team was founded by Zeng Xuelin, Rong Zhixing and other soccer elites, and in the same year it won the championship of the second division and entered the first division. 1995, the team was promoted to the second division as a double champion. Although the team was relegated for the first time in 1996, it returned to the First Division the following year. In the last few years of the first division, the Shenzhen team was at its peak, with two consecutive years of excellent results in 2001 and 2002.
In 2004, the era of Chinese Super League (CSL) started, and Shenzhen won the first CSL title and entered the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League in the following season. However, the team's performance declined in the following years, and in 2011 it was relegated to the Chinese First Division, where it received a boost in 2016 with the addition of the Caesar Group, and in 2018 the team was runner-up in the Chinese First Division, but fell back to the First Division last season. Despite qualifying for the Chinese Super League in the 2020 season, the team's management and financial problems were never effectively resolved, and the team was eventually relegated again last year after finishing at the bottom of the league.
In fact, since the end of last year, the news about the possible dissolution of the Shenzhen team has been clamoring. The release of the official announcement confirmed the speculation. According to reports, the team owes players serious salary arrears, with many players receiving only one-third of their wages, even going back 20 months. With the dissolution of Shenzhen, two teams that were relegated from the Chinese Super League to the Central League last year will no longer participate in the professional league. on the evening of January 17th, Dalian Football Club announced its dissolution, followed by Shenzhen. According to the regulations, Wuxi Wuhu and Jiangxi Lushan will be recruited into the Central League.
