On November 28th, a historic moment for Qingdao soccer came to pass. At the club's training base, Hainiu fans witnessed a 7-1 victory, as Qingdao Hainiu Football Club achieved a historic overtake in the 32nd round of the China First Division League with an overwhelming victory over Xinjiang Tianshan Snow Leopard, two rounds ahead of schedule. Next season, the Qilu derby will be played again in the Chinese Super League. The Sea Bulls have been waiting for this moment for nine years, totaling 3,312 days. Behind the splendor is the resilience of Qingdao Hainiu Football Club since its establishment in 1993. As one of the founding teams of the Chinese Super League, Qingdao Hainiu was the city's first professional soccer team. 1994, the team won the champion of the First B League, and the following year, although it was downgraded to the First A League, it managed to return to the First B League as the runner-up. In 1997, the Yizhong Group took over the team, renamed it Qingdao Yizhong Hainiu, and in 2002, the team won the CFA Cup, and in late 2004, the China Energy Group took over the team, renaming it Qingdao Zhongneng Football Club.
In 2011, under South Korean coach Zhang Wailong, the team's youthful storm swept through the Chinese Super League, culminating in a sixth-place finish. Captain Liu Jian was selected for the national team, while 20-year-old Song Wenjie scored twice in the Qilu derby and ended the season tied for the league's best newcomer with six goals. However, Qingdao Jonoon fell on hard times with the advent of the golden dollar era, and in 2013, the team lost seven consecutive matches and were eventually relegated to the Central League. After a dark period, the team struggled in the Central B for three years until hibernating in the 2017-2020 season. In the 2021 season, the team was renamed Qingdao Hainiu and underwent a major blood change that brought together veterans and rising stars. Under the leadership of Yin Tiesheng, Hainiu finally returned to China's First Division and managed to overtake it two rounds early this season, becoming the first team in Chinese soccer history to return to the Chinese Super League after being relegated from the Chinese Super League to the Chinese B League. On November 28th, the fans and the club celebrated the return of Manatee to the Chinese Super League. Nine years of waiting, nine years of struggle, nine years of tears and sweat, finally bloomed at this moment. Qingdao Hainiu once again shines on the stage of Chinese Super League.
Qingdao Hainiu, as one of only two clubs in China that have been invested and operated by private enterprises since the first year of professional soccer, has become a clear stream of Chinese professional soccer with its stable investment and club operation model, as well as its solid youth training layout. Their success has provided a new direction for the exploration of Chinese professional soccer.
