Nantong Zhiyun F.C.

Nantong Zhiyun
Full nameNantong Zhiyun Football Club
南通支云足球俱乐部
Founded13 March 2016 (2016-03-13)
GroundRugao Olympic Sports Center, Rugao, Jiangsu
Capacity25,000
ChairmanFan Bing
Head coachYoshiyuki Shinoda
LeagueChina League One
2024Chinese Super League, 16th of 16 (relegated)
Websitewww.nantongzhiyunfc.com

Nantong Zhiyun Football Club (Chinese: 南通支云足球俱乐部; pinyin: Nántōng Zhīyún Zúqiú Jùlèbù) is a Chinese professional football club based in Rugao, Jiangsu, that competes in China League One, the second tier of Chinese football. Nantong Zhiyun plays its home matches at the Rugao Olympic Sports Center, located within Rugao. The club was founded on 13 March 2016 by Fan Bing with the support from the Rugao and Nantong municipal governments, and the Jiangsu provincial government. The club name Zhiyun derives from Zhiyun Tower, a tower of historic significance in Nantong, and is depicted on its club badge.

History

The club was formed when the Nantong Municipal Football Association bought the first team of Guangxi Longguida F.C. as well as their registration and position in the Chinese Football Association China League Two division.[1][2] Nantong Zhiyun F.C. was officially established on March 13, 2016, in a launching ceremony held in Rugao, Nantong in the Jiangsu province where the Chairman Fan Bing, with the support from the Rugao, Nantong and Jiangsu Province Municipal Government, announced that the club was named after the Zhiyun Pagoda situated on the top of the Langshan hill overlooking the city of Nantong. The club's badge would utilise a wolf as reference to Langshan hill's history with wolves while blue was chosen as the team's home colours.[3] Former Chinese referee Li Jun was appointed as the club's general manager and former Chinese international Wei Xin as the club's Head Coach.[4]

In the 2018 China League Two season, they gained promotion to the China League One for the first time in its history after beating Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic 1–0 at Shaanxi Province Stadium in front of 48,869 spectators on October 27, with a last minute goal by Nan Yunqi sealing the game.[5] With that victory the club were able to gain investment after several shareholders left the club while they were in the third tier.[6] In the second tier the club would struggle and Wei Xin was replaced with Gary White as Head Coach on 20 August 2019, who ensured the clubs survival within the division.[7] On 31 March 2020, Xie Hui was brought in as the new Head Coach, however his vocal behaviour and critical options, particularly on the President of the Chinese Football Association, Chen Xuyuan saw him resign.[8] On 26 August 2021, Cao Rui would be brought in to manage the team and he would go on to lead the team to third within the division and promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2022 China League One season.[9]

In 2022, Nantong Zhiyun secured promotion to Chinese Super League for the first time in history from 2023 season after finishing third place in China League One in 2022 season.

Players

Current squad

As of 30 June 2025[10]

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 Li Guanxi
2 DF  CHN Xu Hui
5 DF  CHN Ma Sheng
6 DF  CHN Hu Mingfei
7 DF  CHN Ye Daochi
8 MF  CHN Kamiran Halimurat
9 FW  NGA Prince Lucky Ukachukwu
10 MF  SRB Igor Ivanović
11 MF  CHN Chen Binbin
13 DF  CHN Liao Lei
14 MF  CHN Liu Weicheng
15 DF  CHN Liu Wei
16 GK  CHN Lü Jin
17 MF  CHN Nuali Zimin
18 MF  CHN Jiang Zilei
19 MF  CHN Nan Xiaoheng
20 FW  BUL Aleksandar Kolev
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF  CHN Jiang Jiapeng
22 GK  CHN Wang Jinshuai (on loan from Henan FC)
23 DF  CHN Jiang Kaihua
25 MF  CHN Cao Kang
26 MF  SRB Aleksandar Paločević (on loan from FC Seoul)
27 FW  CHN Hu Shuming
28 DF  CHN Song Haoyu
29 MF  CHN Zhang Yuyue
32 DF  CHN Dai Bowei
33 DF  CHN Li Haoran (on loan from Shanghai Port)
35 FW  CHN Xu Zhenghang
36 DF  CHN Qiu Zhongyi
37 FW  CHN Jia Boyan
39 MF  CHN Liu Ye

Reserve squad

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

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
— MF  CHN Chen Xinagyu (at Guizhou Zhucheng until 31 December 2025)

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Head coach Yoshiyuki Shinoda
Assistant coach Xerman López Figueiras
Goalkeeping coach Li Huayang
Team Manager Li Xiangbin

Last updated: 27 March 2025
Source: 27 March 2025

Managerial history

Results

All-time league rankings

As of the end of 2024 season.[11]

Year Div Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos. FA Cup Super Cup AFC Att./G Stadium
2016 3 20 3 9 8 14 22 −8 18 16 R1 DNQ DNQ 4,825 Rugao Olympic Sports Center
2017 24 11 6 7 24 19 5 39 8 R2 DNQ DNQ 3,371
2018 31 21 5 5 58 22 36 68 RU R16 DNQ DNQ 9,126
2019 2 30 8 9 13 35 38 –3 33 12 R3 DNQ DNQ 11,008
2020 15 5 7 3 16 16 0 22 12 DNQ DNQ DNQ
2021 34 20 5 9 62 30 32 65 5 R4 DNQ DNQ
2022 34 21 7 6 62 22 40 70 3 R1 DNQ DNQ
2023 1 30 4 10 16 26 42 –16 22 14 QF DNQ DNQ 15,432
2024 30 5 7 18 32 66 –34 22 16 R5 DNQ DNQ 14,414
  • ^1 in group stage.

Key

References

  1. ^ 南通迎首支职业球队新赛季出征中乙联赛 Archived 2018-11-11 at the Wayback Machine 163.com 2016-04-07 Retrieved 2016-04-07
  2. ^ 关于广西龙桂达足球俱乐部主要股权转让并更名的公示 Archived 2016-01-29 at the Wayback Machine fa.org.cn 2016-01-13 Retrieved 2016-04-08
  3. ^ 南通支云俱乐部召开新赛季誓师大会 魏新挂帅 (in Chinese). sports.163.com. 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  4. ^ 魏新出任南通中乙队主帅 目标尽早冲甲冲超成功 (in Chinese). sports.sohu.com. 2016-01-15. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  5. ^ "China 2018 > China League Two". RSSSF. 2020-10-08. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  6. ^ 南通支云投资人：曾卖房子和股权给球员发工资 (in Chinese). sports.sina.com.cn. 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  7. ^ 最新！英国籍教练盖瑞·怀特正式出任南通支云主教练！ (in Chinese). sohu.com. 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  8. ^ 谢晖：我决定辞去南通支云主教练一职，偷拍事件我也有反思 (in Chinese). m.dongqiudi.com. 2021-08-22. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  9. ^ 足球报：南通支云冲超计划提前一年实现 (in Chinese). sports.sina.com.cn. 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  10. ^ "南通支云一线队大名单出炉！". Dongqiudi (in Chinese). 27 March 2025. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  11. ^ 南通支云 (in Chinese). sodasoccer.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
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