Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C.

Cangzhou Mighty Lions Football Club (Chinese: 沧州雄狮足球俱乐部; pinyin: Cāngzhōu Xióngshī Zúqiú Jùlèbù) is a Chinese professional football club based in Cangzhou, Hebei, that competes in the Chinese Super League, the top tier of Chinese football. Cangzhou Mighty Lions plays its home matches at the Cangzhou Stadium, located within Yunhe District. Their majority shareholder is the Yongchang Real Estate, who own 70% of the shares of the club.

Cangzhou Mighty Lions
沧州雄狮

Full name	Cangzhou Mighty Lions Football Club
Founded	25 February 2011; 13 years ago (2011-02-25)
Ground	Cangzhou Stadium
Capacity	31,836
Owner	Yongchang Real Estate
Chairman	Li Qiang
Head coach	Li Xiaopeng
League	Chinese Super League
2024	Chinese Super League, 13th of 16
Website	http://www.sjzycfc.com/
Home colours Away colours

History

On February 25, 2011, the club was founded by Smart Hero International Trading Limited (骏豪投资有限公司), Xiamen Dongyuhang Import & Export Co., Ltd. (厦门东屿行进出口有限公司), Xiamen City HS Sheng Industrial Co., Ltd. (厦门协晟工贸有限公司), and Xiamen City Shengxin Metal Products Co., Ltd. (厦门金盛鑫金属制),^[1][2] on the basis of local amateur club Xiamen Dongyuhang, which just won the runners-up spot of the China Amateur Football League last year, as Fujian Smart Hero F.C. (Chinese: 福建骏豪足球俱乐部). Within their debut season, they played in the China League Two division within the 2011 league season, where their home uniforms were yellow tops and black shorts. Fujian, in their first season, would win promotion to the 2012 China League One division via the League One relegation play-off in which Fujian beat Guizhou Zhicheng 6–5 in a penalty shootout.^[3]

In the 2012 China League One campaign, Xu Hui was appointed as manager and he would lead the club to a third-place finish. This saw Yongchang Real Estate (Chinese: 永昌地产集团) becoming interested in the team and they bought 70% shares of the club, which officially went through on January 18, 2013.^[4] The club moved to Hebei Province's capital city Shijiazhuang into the Yutong International Sports Center. They changed the club's colors to blue and the team's name into Shijiazhuang Yongchang Junhao F.C. (Chinese: 石家庄永昌骏豪足球俱乐部). On December 27, 2013, Yongchang Real Estate bought the remaining 30% shares of the club and on February 24, 2014, Shijiazhuang Yongchang Junhao F.C. changed their name to Shijiazhuang Yongchang F.C.(Chinese: 石家庄永昌足球俱乐部).^[5][6] In the 2014 league season, Shijiazhuang Yongchang won promotion to the top tier for the first time in their history when they came runners-up within their division. The club's first act within the top flight was to change their English name to Shijiazhuang Ever Bright F.C. (while their Chinese name still remained as 石家庄永昌) in January 2015.

The club's debut season within the top tier saw the club's manager Yasen Petrov guiding the team to seventh in the league and safely away from relegation at the end of the 2015 league season.^[7] The following campaign would prove to be considerably more difficult and Yasen Petrov was relieved of his position on 14 July 2016, and replaced by Li Jinyu on a caretaker basis, after a run of bad form saw the club in a relegation battle.^[8] The club was relegated at the end of the 2016 Chinese Super League season and on 7 November 2016, brought in Afshin Ghotbi as their new coach for the following season.^[9] Fortunately, they remained contenders for promotion in the next few seasons, but despite earning third place in 2017, they failed to win promotion for the next two years.

They were promoted again in 2019 but finished last in the 2020 relegation tournament. They escaped relegation when Super League team Jiangsu F.C. dissolved in 2021. They were renamed as Cangzhou Mighty Lions ahead of the 2021 season when the Chinese FA sought to remove corporation names from team names.

Name history

• 2011–12: Fujian Smart Hero (福建骏豪)
• 2013: Shijiazhuang Yongchang Junhao (石家庄永昌骏豪)
• 2014: Shijiazhuang Yongchang (石家庄永昌)
• 2015–2020: Shijiazhuang Ever Bright (石家庄永昌)
• 2021–: Cangzhou Mighty Lions (沧州雄狮)

Crest history

• 
  Fujian Smart Hero logo in 2011 and 2012
• 
  Shijiazhuang Yongchang Junhao logo in 2013
• 
  Shijiazhuang Yongchang logo in 2014
• 
  Shijiazhuang Ever Bright logo between 2015 and 2020
• 
  Cangzhou Mighty Lions logo since 2021

Current squad

First team squad

As of 11 July 2024^[10]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 5 DF  CHN Yan Zihao 6 DF  ENG Ayo Obileye 7 FW  CHN Zheng Dalun 8 MF  CHN Zhao Yingjie 9 FW  BRA Héber 10 FW  COD Oscar Maritu 12 DF  CHN Zhu Yue (on loan from Shanghai Shenhua) 13 DF  CHN Sun Qinhan 14 GK  CHN Shao Puliang 15 MF  CHN Wang Peng 16 DF  CHN Zheng Kaimu 17 FW  CHN Wen Da 18 MF  CHN Yao Xuchen 19 MF  KAZ Georgy Zhukov 20 FW  CHN Liu Xinyu

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  CHN Li Xiaopeng 22 DF  CHN Wu Wei 23 DF  CHN Li Hong 24 MF  CHN Wu Guanjun 25 MF  CHN Hou Jiahao 26 MF  CHN Guo Yunqi 28 GK  CHN Han Rongze (on loan from Shandong Taishan) 29 GK  CHN Han Feng 30 MF  CHN Hou Jiarui 31 FW  ENG Viv Solomon-Otabor 32 FW  HKG Sun Ming Him 33 MF  CHN Hu Jiali 35 MF  CHN Zhou Jianyi 36 DF  CHN Yang Yun 37 GK  CHN Dong Hang

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 1 GK  CHN Sun Jianxiang (at Wuxi Wugo until 31 December 2024)

Reserve squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  CHN Liu Xiaoqi

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Li Xiaopeng
Assistant coach	Bai He
Goalkeeper coach	Georgi Sheytanov
Conditioning coach	Christos Sotiriou
Technical analyst	Lü Hongchen
Technical director	Zhao Junzhe

Source: sina.com

Managerial history

Managers who have coached the club since they became a completely professional unit on February 25, 2011.^[11][12]

• Zhao Tuqiang (2011)
• Xu Hui (2012 – May 14, 2013)
• Xu Tao (interim) (May 14, 2013 – June 30, 2013)
• Li Shubin (Jun 30, 2013 – Dec 12, 2013)
• Yasen Petrov (Dec 12, 2013 – 14 Jul 2016)
• Li Jinyu (caretaker) (14 Jul 2016 – 7 Nov 2016)
• Afshin Ghotbi (7 Nov 2016 – 3 Sep 2018)
• Yasen Petrov (8 Sep 2018 – 19 Jul 2019 )
• Afshin Ghotbi (20 Jul 2019 – 6 Sep 2021)
• Liu Yan (caretaker) (6 Sep 2021 – 3 Nov 2021)
• Svetozar Šapurić (4 Nov 2021 – 20 February 2023)
• Zhao Junzhe (21 February 2023 – 15 July 2024 )
• Li Xiaopeng (16 July 2024 – )

Honours

• China League One^[13]
  • Runners-up: 2014

Results

All-time League Rankings

As of the end of the 2023 season.^[14][15]

Year	Div	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Pos.	FA Cup	Super Cup	AFC	Att./G	Stadium
2011	3	26	13	9	4	32	16	16	39 1	3	DNE	DNQ	DNQ		Longyan Sports Center
2012	2	30	12	10	8	41	32	9	46	3	R2	DNQ	DNQ	4,142	Fuzhou Stadium / Jinjiang Sports Center Stadium
2013	2	30	10	10	10	26	25	1	40	8	R3	DNQ	DNQ	10,053	Yutong International Sports Center
2014	2	30	17	6	7	42	25	17	57	RU	R2	DNQ	DNQ	11,208
2015	1	30	8	15	7	34	31	3	39	7	R3	DNQ	DNQ	25,070
2016	1	30	7	9	14	28	53	-25	30	16	R4	DNQ	DNQ	22,523
2017	2	30	14	12	4	48	34	14	54	3	R3	DNQ	DNQ	16,219
2018	2	30	12	9	9	43	38	5	45	6	R3	DNQ	DNQ	12,405
2019	2	30	18	2	10	59	42	17	56	RU	R4	DNQ	DNQ	17,488
2020	1	20	5	7	8	23	29	-6	22	16 2	R1	DNQ	DNQ	N/A
2021	1	22	6	6	10	25	32	-7	24	11	R5	DNQ	DNQ	N/A	Cangzhou Stadium
2022	1	34	11	11	12	47	51	-4	44	12	QF	DNQ	DNQ	N/A
2023	1	30	8	7	15	29	60	-31	31	12	R3	DNQ	DNQ	8,692

• ^1 In group stage.
• ^2 Avoided relegation due to the dissolution of Jiangsu Suning.

Key

China top division   China second division   China third division W   Winners RU   Runners-up 3   Third place   Relegated

Pld = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position

DNQ = Did not qualify DNE = Did Not Enter NH = Not Held  – = Does Not Exist R1 = Round 1 R2 = Round 2 R3 = Round 3 R4 = Round 4

F = Final SF = Semi-finals QF = Quarter-finals R16 = Round of 16 Group = Group stage GS2 = Second Group stage QR1 = First Qualifying Round QR2 = Second Qualifying Round QR3 = Third Qualifying Round

References

1. "厦门足球再战职业联赛 福建骏豪队今日出征武汉". news.xmnn.cn. 2011-05-13. Archived from the original on 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
2. "厦门骏豪看中福建体育品牌资源 投资试水中国足球". fjsen.com. 2011-05-11. Archived from the original on 2021-11-04. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
3. "China 2011". RSSSF. 2014-11-05. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
4. "厦门骏豪向河北永昌房地产开发有限公司转让的公示". fa.org.cn. 2013-01-18. Archived from the original on 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
5. "骏豪撤资石家庄永昌用新名 保加利亚国脚前腰加盟". sports.sina.com.cn. 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
6. "关于石家庄永昌骏豪俱乐部更名并更换法定代表人的公示". fa.org.cn. 2014-02-24. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
7. "China 2015". RSSSF. 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
8. "永昌宣布主帅亚森下课 李金羽暂担任代理主教练". sports.sohu.com. 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
9. "Afshin Ghotbi, nuevo técnico de Shijiazhuang Ever Bright". es.superligachina.com. 2016-07-14. Archived from the original on 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
10. "沧州雄狮2023赛季大名单、全家福出炉". Sina (in Chinese). 13 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
11. "Shijiazhuang Ever Bright » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
12. "Shijiazhuang Yongchang". footballzz.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
13. "CHINA LEAGUE ONE – 2014". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
14. "China – List of Champions". RSSSF. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
15. "石家庄永昌". sodasoccer.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

External links

• Official Site Archived 2015-03-12 at the Wayback Machine