Chengdu Rongcheng F.C.

Chengdu Rongcheng
成都蓉城
Full nameChengdu Rongcheng Football Club
成都蓉城足球俱乐部
Founded20 March 2018 (2018-03-20)
GroundPhoenix Hill Football Stadium, Chengdu, Sichuan
Capacity50,695
OwnerChengdu Better City Investment Group Co., Ltd.
ChairmanLi Mingqin
Head coachSeo Jung-won
LeagueChinese Super League
2024Chinese Super League, 3rd of 16

Chengdu Rongcheng Football Club (Chinese: 成都蓉城足球俱乐部; pinyin: Chéngdū Róngchéng Zúqiú Jùlèbù; lit. 'Chengdu Hibiscus City F.C.') is a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, Sichuan, that competes in the Chinese Super League, the top tier of Chinese football. Chengdu Rongcheng plays its home matches at the Phoenix Hill Football Stadium, located within Jinniu District. The club's founder and their majority shareholder is Chengdu Better City Investment Group Co., Ltd. The name Rongcheng derives from the Chinese expression literally translated as 'Hibiscus City', one of the nicknames for the city of Chengdu.

History

The club was founded as Chengdu Better City Football Club on 20 March 2018, by Chengdu Better City Investment Group Co., Ltd. on the ashes of the dissolved Chengdu Qbao.[1] With the support of the Chengdu Football Association and the appointment of José Carlos Granero as their head coach, the club would start their journey playing within the Chengdu FA Champions League.[2] After winning the division, the club would participate within the 2018 Chinese Champions League, where they came runners-up to Taizhou Yuanda and achieved promotion to the third tier of the Chinese football pyramid. Consecutive promotions would follow after finishing as runners-up to Shenyang Urban, followed by a promotion to the second-tier (China League One) at the end of the 2019 China League Two season.[3]

In the 2020 China League One campaign, the club came fourth in their debut season in the second tier and head coach José Carlos Granero decided not to renew his contract with the club, despite his achievements with the team.[4] South Korean coach Seo Jung-won would be appointed as their new head coach for the start of the 2021 China League One campaign.[5] On 15 January 2021, the club changed their name to Chengdu Rongcheng Football Club to comply with the Chinese Football Association's request of teams having neutral names.[6] On 12 January 2022, Chengdu was promoted to the Chinese Super League after beating Dalian Pro 2–1 on aggregate in the promotion/relegation play-offs.[7]

Preparation for Chengdu Rongcheng's 2022 debut Chinese Super League season under Seo Jung-won began as the club signed the likes of Austrian centre-back Richard Windbichler,[8] Chinese Taipei midfielder Tim Chow,[9] both on free contracts, South Korean midfielder Kim Min-woo,[10] among several other pre-season winter signings. Chengdu Rongcheng were winless for their opening 8 games, including a 6-game drawing streak. Chengdu grabbed their first ever CSL win on 8 July at a centralised neutral venue in Meizhou, Guangdong, beating Tianjin Jinmen Tiger 2–1.[11] Chengdu would go on to win their next four games on the bounce as they propelled themselves to 6th place, 13 games in, until their third loss of the season came against a competitive Shandong Taishan side, who beat them 2–1 on 21 August 2022.[12] It then went on to be a continuous period of highs as Chengdu were only beaten 2 times in the next 22 games, until the end of the 2022 Chinese Super League season. That period included a 14-game unbeaten league run that further extended into the following season, new incomings as skilled Brazilian Matheus Saldanha had joined on loan for the rest of the season,[13] and two matches in the Chinese FA Cup. Two 3–0 wins over Hebei and fellow newly-promoted Meizhou Hakka advanced them to a two-legged quarter-final tie where they were eliminated by two 0–4 defeats to Shanghai Port in January of the following calendar year, 2023.[14] Chengdu Rongcheng finished 5th in the 2022 season on 65 points, narrowly missing out on AFC Champions League football on head-to-head points. The stand-outs and surprise packages of the season were Hu Hetao and Mutellip Iminqari who broke onto the scene under manager Seo Jung-won, and played 25 games and 24 games in all competitions respectively. On 23 December 2022, Chengdu Rongcheng moved to their new and current home, the Phoenix Hill Football Stadium, and were victorious for their first three games of playing at home there that season.

Players

First-team squad

As of 21 February 2025[15]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  CHN Jian Tao
2 DF  CHN Hu Hetao
3 DF  CHN Tang Xin
4 MF  POR Pedro Delgado (on loan from Shandong Taishan)
5 DF  NED Timo Letschert
6 MF  CHN Feng Zhuoyi
7 FW  CHN Wei Shihao
8 MF  TPE Tim Chow
9 FW  BRA Felipe
10 MF  BRA Rômulo
11 DF  ISR Yahav Gurfinkel
14 GK  CHN Ran Weifeng
15 MF  CHN Yan Dinghao
16 MF  SUI Yang Mingyang
17 DF  CHN Wang Dongsheng
18 DF  CHN Han Pengfei
19 DF  CHN Dong Yanfeng
20 DF  CHN Tang Miao
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 DF  CHN Li Yang
23 MF  CHN Liao Lisheng
24 FW  CHN Tang Chuang
25 MF  CHN Mirahmetjan Muzepper
26 DF  CHN Yuan Mincheng
28 DF  CHN Yang Shuai
29 MF  CHN Mutellip Iminqari
32 GK  CHN Liu Dianzuo
39 MF  CHN Gan Chao
41 FW  CHN Hebibilla Nurhaji
45 FW  CHN Ezimet Qeyser
47 FW  SLE Issa Kallon
48 MF  CHN Li Moyu
49 MF  CHN Xu Hong
58 MF  CHN Liao Rongxiang
59 DF  CHN Wang Ziteng
60 GK  CHN Tang Zicheng

B-team squad

As of 20 March 2025[16]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF  CHN Ren Jian
4 DF  CHN Dai Wenhao
5 DF  CHN Li Xiaoyi
6 DF  CHN Zhou Yuzhuo
7 MF  CHN Cao Pinpai
8 MF  CHN Zhou Yunyi
9 FW  CHN Gu Jiayi
11 FW  CHN Cao Jinlong
17 MF  CHN Luo Yuxi
22 FW  CHN Meng Junjie
23 DF  CHN Wang Yuyang
24 FW  CHN Bi Qilin
28 FW  CHN Yu Yanfeng
29 FW  CHN Liu Guangwu
33 GK  CHN Zhang Yan
37 DF  CHN Wang Junqiang
41 FW  CHN Habibullah Nurhaji
No. Pos. Nation Player
43 MF  CHN Li Zhijun
44 FW  CHN Liu Zhetao
45 FW  CHN Ezimet Qeyser
46 GK  CHN Wang Zijie
47 MF  CHN Zhang Ziwei
48 MF  CHN Li Moyu
49 MF  CHN Xu Hong
50 MF  CHN Chen Diya
51 MF  CHN Li Ke
52 FW  CHN Shuai Weihao
53 DF  CHN Chen Siliang
55 GK  CHN Peng Haochen
56 MF  CHN Wang Yueheng
57 MF  CHN Chen Hao
58 MF  CHN Liao Rongxiang
59 DF  CHN Wang Ziteng
60 GK  CHN Tang Zicheng

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Seo Jung-won
Assistant head coach Kwak Tae-hwi
Ha Dae-sung
Jung In-whan
Liu Yu
Goalkeeper coach Lee Jung-rae
Fitness coach Shin Seung-min
Video Analyst Kim Tae-ho
Performance manager Rodrigo De Melo
Doctor Kim Gi-baek
Physiotherapists Baek Ji-min
Interpreter Rui Gan
Team manager Qun Wei

Managerial history

Results

All-time league rankings

As of the end of 2023 season.[17]

Year Div Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos. FA Cup Super Cup AFC Att./G Stadium
2018 4 3 3 0 0 26 2 24 9 RU DNQ DNQ DNQ Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium
2019 3 30 20 7 3 53 12 41 67 RU R2 DNQ DNQ
2020 2 15 10 2 3 20 14 6 32 4 R2 DNQ DNQ
2021 2 34 21 8 5 81 28 53 71 41 R16 DNQ DNQ
2022 1 34 18 11 5 49 28 21 65 5 QF DNQ DNQ Phoenix Hill Sports Park Football Stadium
2023 1 30 15 8 7 51 32 19 53 4 R3 DNQ DNQ 34,993
  • ^1 Promoted by beating Dalian Pro in the promotion play-offs.

Key

References

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