Zibo Cuju F.C.

Zibo Cuju Football Club (Chinese: 淄博蹴鞠足球俱乐部) is a defunct professional Chinese football club that participated in the China League One. The team was based in Zibo. The club was dissolved in March 2023.^[1]

Zibo Cuju
淄博蹴鞠

Full name	Zibo Cuju Football Club 淄博蹴鞠足球俱乐部
Founded	June 1982; 42 years ago (June 1982)
Dissolved	29 March 2023; 19 months ago (2023-03-29)

History

Zibo Sunday was founded in June 1982 inspired by the 1982 FIFA World Cup. As the founders of the team mainly played football together on Sunday, they used Sunday as the club's name. They officially registered as an amateur club on 18 July 1996. Zibo Sunday finished the third place in the 2011 AFC Vision China Championship and won qualification for the 2012 Chinese FA Cup, which they lost to China League Two club Dongguan Nancheng 3–0.^[2] On 30 September 2017, Zibo Sunday won promotion to China League Two after they advanced to semi-final of 2017 China Amateur Football League by beating Lhasa Urban Construction Investment 1–0,^[3] and eventually, winning the entire Championship by beating Anhui Hefei Guiguan in the final. After competing in 2018 China League Two and ending up in a mid-table finish, Zibo Sunday F.C. changed their name to Zibo Cuju F.C. in January 2019,^[4] stressing the significance of Zibo being the home of Cuju, a form of proto-football sport in ancient China.

Name history

• 1982–2018 Zibo Sunday S.C. 淄博星期天
• 2019–2022 Zibo Cuju F.C. 淄博蹴鞠

Managerial history

• Liu Mengyang (2015)
• Zhang Chonglai (2016)
• Liu Meng (2017)
• Hou Zhiqiang (2018–2020)
• Park Chul (2021)
• Huang Hongyi (2021–2022)

Results

All-time league rankings

As of the end of 2019 season.^[5]

Year	Div	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Pos.	FA Cup	Super Cup	AFC	Other		Att./G	Stadium
2011	4									DNQ 1	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	VCC 2	3
2012	4									DNQ 1	R1	DNQ	DNQ	VCC 2	3
2013	4									12	R1	DNQ	DNQ
2014	4									DNQ 1	R1	DNQ	DNQ
2015	4									DNQ 1	QR	DNQ	DNQ
2016	4									Group	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
2017	4									W	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ				Zibo Sports Center Stadium
2018	3	28	12	5	11	38	32	6	41	19	R2	DNQ	DNQ			1,485
2019	3	30	22	3	5	60	13	47	693	7	R4	DNQ	DNQ
2020	3	10	7	1	2	14	8	6	22	RU	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
2021	2	34	10	9	15	32	52	-20	39	11	R4	DNQ	DNQ
2022	2	34	11	6	17	37	53	-17	334	15	R3	DNQ	DNQ

• ^1 Did not qualify to the final stage. ^2 AFC Vision China Championship. ^3 In group stage. ^4 Zibo Cuju had 6 points deducted due to unpaid salaries on 23 November 2022.

Key

China top division   China second division   China third division   China fourth 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. "2023职业联赛准入名单：广州城、昆山、陕西未在列" (in Chinese). Dongqiudi. 29 March 2023. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
2. "足协杯-东莞南城3–0淘汰淄博星期天 次轮对阵松江". sina. 26 May 2012. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
3. "新历史!淄博星期天进中丙四强 山东足球新增乙级队". sina. 30 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
4. "关于淄博星期天足球俱乐部有限公司更名的公告". thecfa.cn (in Chinese). 2019-01-30. Archived from the original on 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
5. "淄博星期天" (in Chinese). sodasoccer.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.