Hangzhou_Greentown_F.C.

Zhejiang Professional F.C.

Zhejiang Professional F.C.

Association football club in China


Zhejiang Professional Football Club (Chinese: 浙江职业足球俱乐部; pinyin: Zhèjiāng Zhíyè Zúqiú Jùlèbù), commonly referred to as Zhejiang FC or simply Zhejiang, is a Chinese professional football club based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, that competes in the Chinese Super League, the top tier of Chinese football. Zhejiang plays its home matches at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center, located within Xihu District. The club's main investors are the Zhejiang-based Greentown China Holdings Limited company and the Zhejiang Energy Group.

Quick Facts Full name, Nickname(s) ...

The club was founded on January 14, 1998 as Zhejiang Green Town F.C., making their debut in the third tier of China's football league pyramid in the 1999 league season. On November 23, 2000, the club bought the playing right for Chinese Football Association Jia League as well as 32 players from first team of Jilin Aodong for 25 million Yuan. They have subsequently won promotion to the top tier after finishing runners-up in the 2006 league season and the highest position they have ever finished is third in the 2022, 2023 Chinese Super League seasons.

History

Zhejiang Green Town Football Club Co., Ltd. was officially established on January 14, 1998, with a capital of 16,000,000 Yuan and Zeng Leming was appointed as their general manager. Greentown Real Estate Company, Hangzhou Qiantang Real Estate Company, Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Provincial Football Association all participated in the creation as well as the registration of the club.[1] The company would go on to form a youth team before finally creating a senior team on January 22, 1999, to take part in the third tier with Bao Yingfu as their first head coach. They wouldn't wait long to show their ambition when they would make the play-offs in 2000 before losing to Tianjin Lifei.[2] Still determined to win promotion the club decided to buy the playing right for Chinese Football Association Jia League as well as 32 players from first team of Yanbian F.C.(Then Jilin Aodong) on November 23, 2000, for 25,000,000 Yuan, in time for the beginning of the 2001 league season. Under the new general manager Shen Qiang the club brought in new sponsors and Gu Mingchang as the new head coach, however during this period the club couldn't win promotion to the top tier and the chairman Song Weiping expressed his disappointment of the team. Song Weiping would soon discover that the reason for his club's disappointing results when it was discovered that several of his players and coaches were taking bribes, with a 6–0 defeat against Changchun Yatai in the 2001 league season being highlighted, which saw the offending participants banned for a year while the club had three months to reform and re-apply for a CFA playing license.[3] This would see the club would go through several management changes as well as a significant ownership shift, which saw Song Weiping's company Greentown China Holdings Limited take a 96% share of the team for 20,000,000 Yuan in 2005 while Zhejiang University held on to 4%.[1]

As Hangzhou Greentown

In 2009, The club renamed itself to Hangzhou Greentown Football Club.

Under Wang Zheng as their head coach the team would start to generally push for promotion, eventually achieving it at the end of the 2006 league season when they came second in the division.[4] The club often found themselves fighting off relegation and would bring in several managers to alleviate the problem, however this wasn't enough during the 2009 league season and the club found themselves in the relegation zone at the end of the season. Surprisingly the club were allowed to stay within the 2010 CFA Super League after it was discovered that Chengdu Blades and Guangzhou GPC were guilty of match-fixing.[5]

AFC Champions League debut

After gaining a reprieve from relegation the club went on a spending spree by signing several established Chinese internationals such as Du Wei, Li Yan and Wang Song.[6] The signings seemed to work and the club's results significantly improved throughout the 2010 league campaign, which saw the club achieve their best ever finish of fourth and a chance to play within the 2011 AFC Champions League for the first time.[7]

This club is known for its outstanding football academy and youth training facilities. However, they were relegated to the 2017 China League One after getting second-to-last place in the 2016 Chinese Super League because of their bad performances for the season with only 8 wins in 30 games.[8]

Aimed to take the crown in the football competition of 2017 National Games of China, Hangzhou Greentown adopted a risky youngster-first policy which was more radical than ever. But good wishes were all vain. In 2017, the team struggled near the relegation zone in their first season of China League while the youngsters who formed the Team Zhejiang watched the championship slip away in the final. Young trainer Xu Lei filled in manager Hong Myung-bo's shoes and the team finally ranked 9th in the league. Meanwhile, former player and veteran Jiao Fengbo also returned as the new general manager.

As Zhejiang Greentown

On 14 January 2018, the club changed their name to Zhejiang Greentown F.C. for the 20th anniversary of the club.[9] The same season they reached third place in the China League, one place away from returning to the CFA Super League.

As Zhejiang Energy Greentown

In September 2020, the team changed their name to Zhejiang Energy Greentown F.C., as Zhejiang Energy Group stepped in as one of the major share holders, while Song Weiping officially quit the club.[10]

As Zhejiang Professional

On 26 February 2021, According to the requirements of non-corporate change of club name by the Chinese Football Association, after several rounds of discussion and reported to the relevant provincial departments and the Chinese Football Association for review and approval, the club's name changed to Zhejiang Professional Football Club.[11]

Return to the AFC Champions League

Zhejiang finished third in the 2022 Chinese Super League season, which is their highest position they have ever finished in the top tier of the Chinese league saw them qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage after 12 years.

Name history

More information Period, Club Name ...

Crest history

Current squad

First team

As of 27 February 2024[12]

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

More information No., Pos. ...

Reserve team

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

More information No., Pos. ...

Out on loan

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

More information No., Pos. ...

Notable players

Coaching staff

As of 18 May 2022

More information Position, Staff ...

Source:

Managerial history

As of Beginning of 2022 Chinese league season[13][14]
  • China Bao Yingfu (22 Jan 1999 – Dec 1999) (general coach)
  • China Zhu Haibo (May 1999 – Dec 1999)
  • China Wu Tingrui (Dec 1999 – Jul 2000)
  • China Zhang Jingtian (18 Jan 2000 – 2000) (general coach)
  • China Zhou Chenggui (Jul 2000 – Oct 2000)
  • China Gu Mingchang (23 Dec 2001 – 7 Jul 2001)
  • China Wang Changtai (8 Jul 2001 – 21 Jul 2001) (caretaker)
  • Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Goran Kalušević (24 Jul 2001 – 28 Aug 2001)
  • China Wang Changtai (28 Aug 2001 – 6 Oct 2001) (caretaker)
  • England Bobby Houghton (Jan 2002 – 21 Jul 2003)
  • China Li Bing (21 Jul 2003 – Dec 2003)
  • China Wang Zheng (Dec 2003 – 15 May 2007)
  • China Zhou Suian (15 May 2007 – Dec 2007)
  • China Sun Wei (Dec 2007 – 21 Apr 2008)
  • China Zhou Suian (21 Apr 2008 – 21 Sept 2009)
  • China Wu Jingui (21Sept 2009 – Nov 2011)
  • Team Committee (16 Oct 2011 – Nov 2011)
  • Japan Takeshi Okada (15 Dec 2011 – 5 Nov 2013)
  • China Yang Ji (6 Nov 2013 – 4 Nov 2014)
  • France Philippe Troussier (2 Dec 2014 – 1 Jul 2015)
  • China Yang Ji (1 Jul 2015 – Nov 2015)
  • South Korea Hong Myung-bo (17 Dec 2015 – 25 May 2017)
  • Bulgaria Zdravko Zdravkov (25 May 25, 2017 – Nov 2017) (caretaker)
  • Spain Sergi Barjuán (26 Nov 2017 – 3 July 2019)
  • China Zheng Xiong (3 July 2019 – 31 Dec 2020)
  • Spain Jordi Vinyals (1 Jan 2021 – )

Grounds

More information Ground, Location ...

Records

Honours

Major

League

Cup

Minor / Reserve / Youth

Results

All-time League rankings

As of the start of 2024 season.[16][17]

More information Season, Division ...

^1 Bought the first team of Jilin Aodong as well as their position in second tier.

^2 Two CSL clubs were involved in match-fixing scandal and relegated to China League, so Hangzhou Greentown could stay at top level.

^3 Failed to achieve promotion in the play-off.

^4 Promotion was achieved via the play-off.

Key

More information W, RU ...

Feeder teams

  • Hangzhou Luyuan (1999–2003) [Youth team of Zhejiang Green Town FC]
    • 2000, 2001 Chinese Yi League
  • Ningbo Huaao (2006) [Youth team of Zhejiang Green Town FC]
    • 2006 China D2 League
  • Wenzhou Provenza (2011) [U19 team of Hangzhou Greentown FC]
    • 2011 China D2 League

International friendlies

  • On 26 July 2009, Manchester United visited the Dragon Stadium and played a friendly against Hangzhou Greentown as part of their pre-season Asian tour.[19] Manchester United won by 8 goals to 2.
  • On 16 July 2011, Arsenal visited the Meihu Stadium and played a friendly against Hangzhou Greentown as part of their pre-season Asian tour.[20] The game was drawn 1–1.
  • Zhejiang Greentown also played two friendly games at the Mini Estadi in 2017 and 2019, against FC Barcelona B with the Spanish side won 1-0 and 3-1 respectively.

Continental results

More information Season, Competition ...

Kit history

More information Season, Kit manufacturer ...

Rivals

Because there are not many football clubs based on Zhejiang in history, Zhejiang FC has rarely been able to have a rival in the province for a long time. In 2017, after being relegated to China League, Hangzhou Greentown briefly had a 2-seasons Zhejiang derby with Zhejiang Yiteng but only won 1 out of 4 matches. More often than not, Zhejiang FC has a stronger rivalry with other teams of the same level in the Wu Chinese region, particularly Shanghai Shenhua, and Shanghai Zhongyuan historically.


References

  1. "绿城介绍". GreenTown Football Club Inc. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  2. "China League Tables 2000". RSSSF. 19 Jun 2003. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  3. "China League Tables 2001". RSSSF. 19 Jun 2003. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  4. "China League Tables 2006". RSSSF. 8 Mar 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  5. "天上掉馅饼重庆力帆偷着乐 狂喜之外更感到自身差距". sports.sina.com.cn. 24 Feb 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  6. "陕西队长李彦加盟杭州 五大国字号有望齐聚绿城". sports.sohu.com. 11 Feb 2010. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  7. "China League Tables 2010". RSSSF. 10 Dec 2010. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  8. "中超赛季回顾之杭州绿城——降级中寻弊端". sports.sohu.com/20161126/n474236173.sdoc. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 30 Nov 2016.
  9. "里程碑!绿城迎20周年庆典 正式更名为浙江绿城". Sina. 2018-01-14. Archived from the original on 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  10. "浙江绿城更名浙江能源绿城 宋卫平彻底放弃股权". sina.com.cn. 9 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  11. "2023赛季浙江队大名单". 懂球帝. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  12. "Hangzhou Greentown " Manager history". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  13. "Hangzhou Greentown". footballzz.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
  14. "CHINA LEAGUE ONE – 2006". uk.soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  15. "China League History". RSSSF. 22 Oct 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  16. "杭州绿城". sodasoccer.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  17. 2000年中乙联赛决赛阶段比赛名次 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine fa.org.cn 2013-04-30 Retrieved 2016-12-20
  18. "China friendly announced". Manutd.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  19. "Arsenal announces pre-season game in China". Arsenal.com. 25 May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Hangzhou_Greentown_F.C., and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.