Sichuan Jiuniu
Sìchuān Jiǔniú
四川九牛
logo
Full nameSichuan Jiuniu Football Club
四川九牛足球俱乐部
Founded5 January 2017; 7 years ago (5 January 2017)
OwnerJianteng Fund (53%)
City Football Group (47%)
ChairmanTang Xigang
ManagerJesús Tato (Caretaker)
LeagueChinese Super League
2023China League One, 1st of 16 (promoted)
Clubs owned by CFG
Listed in order of acquisition/foundation.
Bold indicates the club was founded by CFG.
* indicates the club was acquired by CFG.
§ indicates the club is co-owned.
2008Manchester City F.C.*
2009–2012
2013New York City FC§
2014Melbourne City FC*
Yokohama F. Marinos*§
2015–2016
2017Montevideo City Torque*
Girona FC*§
2018
2019Sichuan Jiuniu F.C.*§
Mumbai City FC*§
2020Lommel S.K.*
ES Troyes AC*
2021
2022Palermo F.C.*§
2023Bahia*§

Sichuan Jiuniu Football Club (Chinese: 四川九牛足球俱乐部; lit. 'Sichuan Nine Bulls F.C.') is a Chinese professional football club based in Shenzhen, Guangdong, having relocated to its current location from Chengdu, Sichuan in January 2024. The club competes in the Chinese Super League, the top tier of Chinese football. They are partially owned by the City Football Group.[1]

History

The club was founded on 5 January 2017. They participated in the 2017 China Amateur Football League the same year and managed to advance to the national play-offs, but was eliminated by Zhaoqing Hengtai in the first round. They were ranked 10th and later admitted into China League Two due to the withdrawal of several other teams.

In February 2019, City Football Group, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi United Group, purchased the club.[1][2]

On 23 May 2020, the Chinese Football Association announced that eleven professional clubs across China's top three divisions would have their registration cancelled over a failure to pay player wages.[3] As a result, the CFA announced a reclassification of the teams which would contest their professional divisions. According to this reclassification, Sichuan Jiuniu was promoted to China League One for the 2020 season,[4] which had already been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 18 October 2023, following a 4–0 home win over Wuxi Wugo, Sichuan Jiuniu secured promotion to the Chinese Super League for the first time in the club's history.[5] On the following matchday on 22 October, Sichuan Jiuniu won the league title after second-place Qingdao West Coast drew their match against Shijiazhuang Gongfu.[6]

On 24 January 2024, the Chinese Football Association confirmed the club's relocation to Shenzhen, Guangdong.[7]

Stadiums

In Sichuan Jiuniu's existence, the club have used a multiple of stadiums in their climb up the divisions. Their first ground used between 2017 and 2022 was the Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium, and in the 2023 season, Sichuan Jiuniu played its home matches at the Shuangliu Sports Centre, the Chengdong Sports Park Stadium, and the Suining Sports Center.

Players

Current squad

As of 8 February 2023[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK China CHN Li Zhizhao
4 DF China CHN Qiao Wang
5 DF China CHN Song Yue
6 MF China CHN Chen Yi
7 MF China CHN Xiao Kun
8 MF China CHN Zhou Dadi
10 FW Spain ESP Jorge Ortiz
11 FW Spain ESP Edu García
15 DF China CHN Rui Yu
16 MF China CHN Li Zhi
17 DF China CHN Wang Qi
18 MF China CHN Muhta Muzapar
19 FW China CHN Liu Xinyu
20 GK China CHN Zhao Shi
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF China CHN Nan Song
22 MF China CHN Shang Jin
23 FW China CHN Xia Dalong
25 DF China CHN Omer Abdukerim
28 MF China CHN Zhang Yudong
29 FW China CHN Zhao Ziye
31 DF China CHN Nizamdin Ependi
32 DF China CHN Song Chen
33 MF China CHN Zhu Baojie
35 DF China CHN Chen Fangzhou
36 GK China CHN Lu Yanming
39 DF China CHN Li Bowen
40 MF China CHN Ma Canjie

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Coaching staff

Source:[9]

Role Name
Head coach Vacant
Assistant coach Spain Jesús Tato
Fitness coach Spain Manuel Sayabera
Goalkeeper coach Spain Juan Maria Cruz Arias

Managerial history

Honours

League

Results

All-time League Rankings

As of the end of 2023 season.[10]

Year League Stage Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos. FA Cup Super Cup AFC Stadium
2017 China Amateur Football League Second round 3 2 1 0 11 1 10 6 Qualified DNE DNQ DNQ
Knockout stages 2 0 1 1 3 4 −3 n/a k/o (R16)
2018 China League Two Regular season 28 6 10 12 24 27 −3 28 24th (of 28) QF Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium
2019 30 17 5 8 47 27 20 56 8th (of 32) R2
2020 China League One Regular season 10 1 6 3 8 12 −4 9 5th (of 6) R2
Relegation stage 5 2 2 1 6 5 1 8 3rd (of 6)
2021 Regular season 34 13 13 8 34 27 7 52 8th (of 18) R2
2022 34 18 3 13 40 30 10 51 6th (of 18) R2
2023 30 22 3 5 51 19 32 69 1st (of 16) R3 Shuangliu Sports Centre
Chengdong Sports Park Stadium
Suining Sports Center
2024 Chinese Super League Regular season 30 TBD (of 16)

Key

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Manchester City hail purchase of Chinese club as 'exciting new chapter'". The Guardian. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Man City buy stake in third-tier Chinese club Sichuan Jiuniu FC". 20 February 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. ^ "关于取消相关职业足球俱乐部注册资格的通知" [Notice on disqualification of relevant professional football club registration]. CFA (in Chinese). 23 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  4. ^ "关于公布2020赛季中国足球协会三级职业联赛俱乐部参赛名单的通知" [Notice regarding the announcement of the entry list of the third-level professional league clubs of the Chinese Football Association in the 2020 season]. CFA (in Chinese). 23 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  5. ^ "九牛4-0大胜无锡提前3轮冲超，明年与成都上演中超四川德比" [Jiuniu 4–0 Wuxi winning promotion with 3 rounds to spare, and will enjoy a Sichuan derby with Chengdu in the Chinese Super League] (in Chinese). dongqiudi.com. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  6. ^ "青岛西海岸被读秒绝平，四川九牛提前两轮夺得中甲冠军" [Qingdao West Coast suffer a last-minute equaliser, meaning Sichuan Jiuniu win the China League One title with two rounds to spare] (in Chinese). dongqiudi.com. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  7. ^ "中国足球协会关于四川九牛足球俱乐部变更注册会员协会的公示" [The Chinese Football Association's announcement on Sichuan Jiuniu Football Club's change in the registration of its member association] (in Chinese). thecfa.cn. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  8. ^ "四川九牛新赛季大名单：3外援领衔，赵旭日、邹正、王楚在列". Sohu (in Chinese). 6 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  9. ^ "关于聘任塞尔吉奥·洛贝拉先生担任四川九牛队主教练的公告". Dongqiudi (in Chinese). 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  10. ^ "四川九牛" [Sichuan Jiuniu] (in Chinese). sodasoccer.com. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
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