Chinese OSCs, Shenzhen Blues + Sun Jihai + Shenzhen Peng City FC

Being a Chinese city fan and grew up in a family which literally every male member is in certain degree football crazy. I find it really amusing to hear you say Chinese is a nation lacking of football enthusiasm.
Football was and has been still the No1 sport in China with huge followings. PL is the most watched league here. If you have been in china before 2000, you will probably be amazed by the amount of people watching football. So what happened? After Chinese National Team failed to qualify for the word-cup again in 2010, huge scandal of matching fixings broke out which included majority of the referees, heads of FA, famous football players and managers. I remember Sun said in one of the interview that one of the reasons why he choose to go to City, was to get away from all of the "bad influence" in Chinese football. As a result of this, people started to turn their heads toward other sports.
Another reason is the demographic change, as more of the post-80s and 90s growing up, majority of these two generations are child of the "one child policy" enforced by the government. Many of the one child's parents forbid their children to get into sports they believe can be dangerous. Therefore, less people playing the sport and less professional and decent player came out of the system.
The football culture in generally is in decline in the past decades, so what you are seeing now probably is not a market that is in its infancy, but more of a jumped shark type of thing.
Still I will be over the moon, if City decides to buy a local team here.
BTW, any city fan wished to travel to Shenzhen China, feels free to drop me a line.
 
weare8kyk said:
Football was and has been still the No1 sport in China with huge followings. PL is the most watched league here. If you have been in china before 2000, you will probably be amazed by the amount of people watching football. So what happened? After Chinese National Team failed to qualify for the word-cup again in 2010, huge scandal of matching fixings broke out which included majority of the referees, heads of FA, famous football players and managers. I remember Sun said in one of the interview that one of the reasons why he choose to go to City, was to get away from all of the "bad influence" in Chinese football. As a result of this, people started to turn their heads toward other sports.

I have to disagree with you. I think it is still much much more about the books and the ping pong than it is about the footy.
 
So, the rumours are of City having two games in Shenzhen and Shanghai in summer 2018.
But before that can even be discussed, here are some photos from a curtailed-event [at half-time] held by Manchester City in Shenzhen on Sunday night. Paul Dickov attended.

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For many blues based in China this was a treat and fans came from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, and Hong Kong to attend. Sadly, some arrived late and were reportedly denied access. And, at half time the screen's power was switched off.

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Public gatherings are strictly monitored.

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That was a shame because City put together a potentially great evening.

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Previously...

PRE-SEASON DATES IN CHINA

City's International Champions Cup China 2016 schedule:


Manchester City v Manchester United

25 July 2016, 8pm (local time)

Beijing


Borussia Dortmund v Manchester City

28 July 2016, 8pm (local time)

Shenzhen

I believe Sun Jiahi is still playing in top flight football at 36. Having just been exiled in China for a year, I shall make it my mission to go at see him play for Guizhou Renhe (they have a 55,000 seater stadium).

Down the road is Sven at Guangzhou R&F (at a ground for around 18000 souls) too. Hopefully I'll get to that game against Sun's team.

What I don't get here (Dongguan/Guangzhou areas) is how poorly followed or how small football is to people. Some people here have never seen a TV game and alot barely even know what soccer/football is. So, who is the Premier League marketing the game too? There is one TV channel (Guandong Sports) here show a selected UK 3pm kick-off at the weekend for free. Now, I have been here since the day after we played Norwich away (roughly 4 weeks) and have been showing off City, and football in general. The response has been very positive. Yet, one hour away is Hong Kong and they are football crazy there!

I understand the People's Republic of China has many different attitudes to sports and the like, but in a country as big as this (I'm overwhelmed by how large the cities are here) I'd have thought with their alternative access to social media (there are versions of everything found in the west and VPNs are normal) football could and should blossom here.

I know the Chinese Super League has strict rules on foreign players and UEFA also controls entrants from outside Europe but China could be a goldmine.

I literally shown one kid how to do kick-ups one day, and two weeks later he is still practicing. He can also shoot now, having fell over the ball the first time I shown him.

The PE teachers at my school just teach badminton, basketball, marching and athletics. I am now coaching them in how to coach basic football. I've been here for so little time, yet everyone I meet wants to try this new-fangled sport that is football.

Some lads I know are up in Inner Mongolia and I have friends in Beijing, yet football pitches, clubs and shirts are rare.

2002, South Korea and Japan, was the first world cup held in Asia. The next possible date for a tournament here could be 2030. The newest host selection policy is that any country may bid for a World Cup, provided that their continental confederation has not hosted either of the past two World Cups. Qatar belongs to the Asia continental confederation. After their spectacular Beijing Olympics, surely now is the time for the powerhouse of China to bid for the World Cup.

I doubt they will. They're export list to the Premier League stands at 5 players.

Dong Fangzhuo – Manchester U****d F.C. – 2006–07
Li Tie – Everton F.C. – 2002–04
Li Weifeng – Everton F.C. – 2002–03
Sun Jihai – Manchester City F.C. – 2002–08
Zheng Zhi – Charlton Athletic F.C. – 2006–07

Couple in the factor of recent scandals and match fixing, this presents problems for China.

But, here is a country devoid of footballing academies. Here is a country where drilling, practicing and perfecting go hand in hand with success. There is so much potential here.

If City are to be global, a solid partnership with a club and academy network would enhance our Asian presence. I haven't seen any football shirts out here yet, just basketball and athletics jerseys. Not even a dirty red fan (which is perfect).

We have a presence globally in North America (New York City FC ), Australasia (Melbourne Heart FC), Europe (Aarhus; Espanyol; Gil Vicente;Limerick ) and Africa (Right to Dream Academy; Mpumalanga Black Aces) but after a




China is gargantuan to be fair. It is comparable from going from living in the Isle of Man to living in Berlin. I’m sure there are parts of China (I’m still exploring) that have stronger football bases but in Guandong, Hunan and Guangxi provinces , I’ve yet to see signs that football exists.

I know of numerous satellite providers that can source channels that show football from Germany, Spain and the UK – but they are poorly advertised (and kick-offs usually coincide with bedtime). I’ll look up Shenzen a bit more – I’ve only skirted over that town.

Shnaghaicityfish I know my post was very general and their can be exceptions to the rule. I’ve not discovered PPTV and Tencent – thank you for the guidance. The locals of Dongguan barely know of the game, and certainly do not seem to know any websites or TV channels. Perhaps, I should have looked at life in Shanghai too!

Falastur, if we moved into an Asian league side, I’m sure City would do a proper due diligence and assess the risks etc. I’m sure we could be a beacon and example, and set a good president.
Football globally is a working class game, it is one of the most accessible sports in a basic form.
Japan and South Korea could also be good scouting territory for City’s new Asia presence, but have nowhere near the populations found in China.

I guess my limited experience of China and football stands out, but then it beats starting a post to redress every stray tackle or attack players in our club verbally… With debate, comes information – and all that.

Do you play football in Shenzen at all weare8kyk?
 
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