On January 12, 2022, Qingdao and Zhejiang were relegated to the Chinese Super League (CSL) with a 0-0 draw in the second round of the CSL Central League (CCL) play-offs, with a total score of 0-1 to relegate Qingdao to the CCL. Qingdao ended their two-year career in the Chinese Super League and returned to the Central League. Regrettably, they did not host a match in their hometown during the two years.
It may seem like everything is back to square one, but it is very different.
Once upon a time, Qingdao was a strong team in the Central League. However, after two consecutive years of playing in the Chinese Super League, the team was saddled with a huge amount of debt. 2020 season, despite performing moderately well with strong support, the 2021 season saw sponsors defaulting on their contracts, leaving the team in financial difficulties. Now, Qingdao, returning to the Central League, faces unprecedented challenges.
Recently, Qingdao Football Club moved out of Guoxin Stadium and relocated to Baishawan Football Base in Chengyang District, Qingdao.
The move to Guoxin Stadium was inexcusable due to a debt dispute, but the plight of Qingdao Football Club was exposed. It is worth mentioning that Baishawan soccer base has better facilities, with 17 soccer pitches and high-quality natural turf, but it is farther away from the old city center.
In fact, before the office relocation, Qingdao Football Club registered place has been moved to Chengyang District Liuting Street Baisawan Area.
Meanwhile, some of Qingdao's ladder teams have been ordered to leave the Tiantai Stadium's outfield, Field 5, for training, leaving the club feeling quite helpless. It is reported that the venue is under the management of Guoxin, but Qingdao Football Club did not default on the fees and has renovated the stadium.
It's hard to tell what's right and what's wrong in these two cases, but it's enough to highlight Qingdao's plight.
In early December 2021, before the start of the second phase of the 2021 Chinese Super League season, Qingdao was caught in a crisis of unpaid wages, and the players refused to enter the zone. Eventually, the team was admitted to the tournament, but only won 1, drew 1, and lost 6 of their 8 matches in the second stage, and entered the play-offs at the bottom of the Chinese Super League. Facing the third-ranked team in the Chinese Super League, Zhejiang, the team failed to score a single goal, and were ultimately relegated.
In the 2021 season, Qingdao was demoralized after going 11 consecutive rounds without a win from round 6 to round 16.
The root cause of Qingdao Football Club's economic woes lies in funding.In 2015, Qingdao Yellow Sea Pharmaceuticals took ownership of the club, helping the team to become a strong team in the Central League. However, the club does not have the strength to run a Chinese Super League team, so it has never made up its mind to make it to the Super League.
In the middle of the 2019 season, under the coordination of the Qingdao Municipal Government, seven sponsors were signed and the team succeeded in reaching the Super League.In the 2020 season, Qingdao's first-ever Chinese Super League campaign went well in general, with a high rate of sponsorship funding. However, in the 2021 season, only one of the seven sponsors, Tsingtao Brewery, performed as planned, while the other sponsors either gave only a portion or not a single penny.
In addition, Qingdao Football Club is also burdened with historical debts. the club was already burdened with debts when it took ownership of the club at the beginning of 2015, and the debtors started to collect the debts and resorted to the court after 2018, and the club's account was blocked and it became a defaulter.
Overall, Qingdao Football Club carries a heavy historical burden and has encountered major practical difficulties.
In the second half of 2021, Qingdao's sports authorities attempted to diversify the club's investment body through equity reform, laying the foundation for the club's long-term development, but unfortunately, the program did not receive full support.
In fact, Qingdao is not the only club facing the troubles of equity reform. Clubs such as Hebei, Guangzhou and Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic are also facing similar problems.
Although Qingdao played some good games with professional instincts and hometown soccer sentiments, overall morale was low and they ultimately failed to secure relegation.
After the relegation failure, Qingdao Football Club lost the basis for share reform. While in the Chinese Super League, as the only Chinese Super League club in Qingdao, it made sense to push for a share reform, but after being relegated to the Chinese First Division, Qingdao has three Chinese First Division teams, and it is naturally difficult for Qingdao to receive focused support.
The relocation of Qingdao Football Club, which has not received clear support in the last two months, seems to be expected.
So, what will happen to Qingdao Football Club? Despite the rumors, the club has not released any definite news. In view of the current predicament, Qingdao FC's future survival and development strategy is likely to face major adjustments.
Qingdao may need to introduce a soccer support package to promote professional soccer in Qingdao.
On January 25th, the State General Administration of Sports issued an announcement, identifying Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Changchun, Chongqing, Dalian and Qingdao as the first batch of key cities for the development of national soccer during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. As one of the key cities for national soccer development, Qingdao's soccer development is of great significance to the national soccer development.
In fact, Qingdao has not only the Qingdao Football Club, but also three soccer clubs, Qingdao Hainiu, Qingdao Youth Island and Qingdao Red Lion, totaling four professional clubs. In addition, Qingdao has many youth training organizations, including the youth training system of professional clubs and youth training organizations such as Qingdao Kunpeng and Qingdao Wind Chasing Boys. School soccer in Qingdao is also developing very well.
In this context, the development of professional clubs is crucial because many soccer youths need the outlet of professional clubs. This is no longer just a consideration at the professional soccer level, but also involves needs at the employment and soccer industry level. In the case of Qingdao Hainiu Football Club, for example, the number of people on the payroll of the club's first team, U21 team, staff, coaches and staff, and school soccer coaches and staff is no less than 150, and that's before counting the younger age group ladder players.
Therefore, Qingdao City needs to introduce a package of soccer support programs, for example, no less than 2 million per year to support the clubs in Form B, 10 million per year to support the clubs in Form A, 100 million per year to support the clubs in the Chinese Super League, and other support policies for other youth training organizations and so on.
With such a clear and unambiguous support program, Qingdao's professional clubs can be targeted, and Qingdao's soccer can naturally embark on an orderly path of development. For cities with only one professional club, they can focus on support through equity reform to create a leading club. For cities like Qingdao that have several professional clubs and good development of youth and school soccer, it may be more reasonable for the government to introduce a fair support program, supplemented by market regulation.
