Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C.

Cangzhou Mighty Lions
Cāngzhōu Xióngshī
沧州雄狮
Full name	Cangzhou Mighty Lions Football Club
Founded	25 February 2011; 10 years ago
Ground	Cangzhou Stadium
Capacity	31,836
Owner	Zhang Huafang
Chairman	Li Xiaopeng
Manager	(caretaker)
League	Chinese Super League
2020	CSL, 16th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours

Cangzhou Mighty Lions Football Club (simplified Chinese: 沧州雄狮; traditional Chinese: 滄州雄獅; pinyin: Cāngzhōu Xióngshī) is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Cangzhou, Hebei and their home stadium is the Cangzhou Stadium that has a seating capacity of 31,836. Their majority shareholder is the Yongchang Real Estate who own 70% of the shares of the club.

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 , which just won the runners-up spot of 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 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) 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, 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 in 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 able to guide 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 were 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, the same year 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)

Current squad[]

First team squad[]

As of 31 July 2021^[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
1	GK	CHN	Zhang Zhenqiang
5	DF	CHN	Yan Zihao
6	DF	CHN	Yang Yun
7	MF	CHN	Zang Yifeng
8	MF	CHN	Lin Chuangyi
10	FW	BRA	Muriqui
11	MF	CHN	Xie Pengfei
12	MF	CHN	Luo Jing
13	DF	ZAM	Stoppila Sunzu
14	GK	CHN	Shao Puliang
15	MF	CHN	Sabit Abdusalam
16	DF	CHN	Zheng Kaimu
17	MF	CHN	Piao Shihao
18	MF	CHN	Zheng Zhiyun
19	DF	CHN	Liao Chengjian
20	FW	CHN	Liu Xinyu


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	CHN	Zhang Aokai
22	MF	CHN	Guo Hao
23	FW	CHN	Yang Yiming
24	MF	CHN	Abduhamit Abdugheni
25	MF	UZB	Odil Ahmedov
26	MF	CHN	Guo Yunqi
27	MF	CHN
28	FW	SEN	André Senghor
29	GK	CHN	Han Feng
30	DF	CHN	Liu Yang
31	MF	CHN	Chen Zhongliu
32	FW	CHN	Zhao Xuebin
33	MF	CHN	Zhang Xiangshuo
35	MF	CHN
37	FW	CHN	Bughrahan Skandar (on loan from Guangzhou)
39	FW	COD	Oscar Maritu

Reserve squad[]

As of 7 March 2019

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
41	GK	CHN
42	MF	CHN	Sun Xuelong
43	MF	CHN	Mao Ziyu
44	GK	CHN
47	MF	CHN
48	MF	CHN	Wang Chunkai
49	DF	CHN
50	MF	CHN	Pei Ziqi
51	DF	CHN


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
52	FW	CHN	Li Xun
53	DF	CHN	Chen Yuhang
54	GK	CHN	Long Tengyi
58	GK	CHN
59	DF	CHN	Lü Hongchen
62	MF	CHN	Wang Shen
64	DF	CHN
-	MF	CHN	Chen Zeng

Unregistered players[]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	CHN
—	DF	CHN
—	MF	CHN	Ci Tian
—	DF	CHN	Lü Jianjun
—	MF	CHN


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	MF	NOR	Adama Diomande
—	DF	CHN
—	MF	CHN	Zhang Hao
—	GK	CHN	Zhang Yi
—	DF	CHN

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

Coaching staff[]

Position	Staff
Head coach	(caretaker)
Assistant coach	Peter Vagenas
Assistant coach	Jun Marques Davidson
Goalkeeper coach	Cossa
Conditioning coach	Andrea Magini
Technical analyst	Jahanyar Mohebbi

Source: sina.com

Managerial history[]

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

(2011)
(2012 – May 14, 2013)
(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)
(caretaker) (6 Sep 2021 – )

Honours[]

League[]

China League One^[13]

Runners-up (1): 2014

Results[]

All-time League Rankings

As of the end of 2019 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	39¹	3	DNE	DNQ	DNQ
2012	2	30	12	10	8	41	32	9	46	3	R2	DNQ	DNQ	4,142	Fuzhou 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	?	DNQ	DNQ	N/A

^1 In group stage.

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[]

^ "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.
^ "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. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
^ "China 2011". rsssf.com. 2014-11-05. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
^ "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. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
^ "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.
^ "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.
^ "China 2015". rsssf.com. 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
^ "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.
^ "Afshin Ghotbi, nuevo técnico de Shijiazhuang Ever Bright". es.superligachina.com. 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
^ "沧州雄狮2021大名单出炉：穆里奇拿到10号，艾哈迈多夫25号". Dongqiudi (in Chinese). 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
^ "Shijiazhuang Ever Bright » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
^ "Shijiazhuang Yongchang". footballzz.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
^ "CHINA LEAGUE ONE – 2014". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
^ "China – List of Champions". rsssf.com. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
^ "石家庄永昌". sodasoccer.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

External links[]

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

[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. Retrieved 2015-06-12.

[3] "China 2011". rsssf.com. 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. 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.com. 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. Retrieved 2016-11-21.

[10] "沧州雄狮2021大名单出炉：穆里奇拿到10号，艾哈迈多夫25号". Dongqiudi (in Chinese). 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.

[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.com. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.

[15] "石家庄永昌". sodasoccer.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

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