Guangzhou Municipal Football Association unsuccessful review, then announced that the 1994 season AA group Shenyang Sea Lions at all levels of the ladder team will suspend operations, another prestigious team will also bid farewell to the historical stage in the 2022 season. Guangzhou R&F has succeeded to its name, but left behind only endless memories of Evergrande.
Dating back to the 1994 A-League, Guangzhou City's predecessor was none other than the Shenyang Sea Lions, whose deep historical heritage has left an indelible mark in the hearts of fans.
However, due to economic pressures, the Shenyang Sea Lions were renamed Shenyang Jinde and struggled to survive in the northeast. The club then moved south to Hunan as a whole, changing its name to Changsha Jinde. However, Changsha Jinde did not have a long history and soon after moved south to Guangdong, settling in Shenzhen and changing its name to Shenzhen Phoenix.
Shenzhen Phoenix had a much shorter time and were subsequently acquired by R&F. Since the 2012 season, Guangzhou R&F and Guangzhou Evergrande have been engaged in a Guangzhou derby that has lasted for ten years.R&F is not as financially powerful as Evergrande, but has stuck to its tradition of practicality and cheapness, and has hired well-known coaches such as Eriksson and Stojkovic to build a soccer legend for the team.
In the era of Guangzhou R&F, "Eat, Sleep, Play Evergrande" became the team's loudest slogan. Facing the strength of Guangzhou Evergrande, R&F once had the upper hand by virtue of its rich experience, and even realized a double kill against Evergrande, whose intensity was comparable to that of the Shanghai Derby.
However, since the 2020 season, R&F gradually lost its strength as the situation shifted. The one-time Guangqi state-owned consortium wanted to intervene, but ultimately chose to give up, bringing the team, which had been rooted in Guangdong for a decade, to an end.
