acton28.blog
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I wrote a piece for a local journal called "Sven, Sun and the lack of City" and they agreed I can post it here... [although heavily edited since my original piece].
Football isn’t as big in South China as it should be. It may be the fact that China hasn’t appeared at a World Cup since 2002 – the only time the team nicknamed Lóng Zhī Duì (Team Dragon) or sometimes The Great Wall made this tournament. Their honours board for the AFC Asian Cup and East Asian Football Championship is pretty sparse too. They did win the Far Eastern Games a few times, prior to it ended around the beginning of World War II. Since then, a country of this size, has punched beneath its weight. Former Manchester City utility player Sūn Jìhǎi is their 8th most capped player with 80 games. He retired from the international scene in 2008. He still plays now, aged 36, at Guìzhōu Rénhé in the Chinese Super League. Outside of China he has the honours of winning the 2001/02 Football League First Division – and scoring against TNS of Welsh Premier League fame.
Eye Eye Yippee Sun Jihai,
Singing Eye Eye Yippee Sun Jihai,
Singing Eye Eye Yippee,
His Dad's got a chippy,
Eye Eye Yippee Sun Jihai.
So armed with a plethora of Wikipedia-read facts and statistics, I aimed to lose my mainland China football virginity. I managed to persuade Dalian-born (just like Sūn Jìhǎi) Rossi (杨杉 - Yang Shan) to goto the game in Guangzhou. He kindly drove us there, and back. After a day playing pool together, having all meals together and then joining Bryony and Becky’s new house party, I thought Rossi’d be bored tremendously of my company. He seemed as enthusiastic as ever – despite wearing the standard Chinese poker face of expressionless impassive deadpan blankness. At the last minute Murray’s F.C. Kenmicals (real name肖载龙 - Xiao Mount Dragon), the two Brazilians Rogerio Assis Gomes and Marcelo Junior Gomes, Indian player Sidhant Sharma and Eddy O’Neill from Middlesbrough all bailed on us. To be fair, most arranged very last minute holidays to Guilin. Eddy just went on a date.
On arrival, we parked under the football stadium, at 8RMB per hour. We then wandered around looking for a ticket, the official club stall’s cheapest tickets started at 100RMB. Surrounding the stall, and what was to be soon noted as the only stadium entrance, were hundreds of ticket touts. Rossi was not sure of the ticket legitimacy, but we wandered around, haggled, and eventually settled on a ticket each for 25RMB. I brought an official team shirt for 20RMB after haggling with the club shop. I doubt I’ll ever bargain like this at any other football game. Kick off soon approached, the gates opened. After hustling by armed guards, police with sub-machine guns and ultra-hooligan looking fans on their best behaviour, the climb up a steep staircase met a sharp bottleneck left and up a narrow staircase into the floodlit glow of a the main Yuexiushan Stadium bowl. You can’t beat going to real sports games. Whatever your passion, be it rugby (union, league or other), football, cycling, boxing, motor racing, etc., there is romance to be had. The emotions ride high, everything seems fresh and new, or maybe you can switch off and let someone do the work. You can support. You can follow. You can kick every ball in your mind, you can give your all, you can be the difference – or you can relax and enjoy the occasion. There are sights, smells, sometimes tastes, senses and emotions that can be crammed into around 90 minutes that you may not feel in a month or regular week.
Yuexiushan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium with a small athletics track (limited in lane numbers), some off-field games areas, a massive hotel-looking complex at one end and a very communist looking scoreboard. If Subbuteo’s USSR edition was ever to be made real, this would be it. In 1950, when it opened it would probably be considered modern. Six renovations later, it feels dated. Situated inside the boundaries of the Yue Xiu Park it has a pleasant feel.
The club's name Fùlì (R&F in English) is short for "Rich" (富) and "Force" (力). The fans like a bit of noise, the away support from Guìzhōu Rénhé totalled around 50 or so fans. Their fans having to travel 1,100km for a Saturday night kick off adds perspective to a possible Plymouth Argyle away game in Carlisle and the 625km between them. Credit to the home fans for applauding their rival fans at the fulltime whistle. The niceties extended into the game also, Sūn Jìhǎi is a national footballing legend and the home fans sang his name every time he had the ball. What he lacks in pace, he makes up for in set-piece crosses, tackling ability and that never-say-never attitude that endeared him to countless Manchester City fans through the years. In his years at Maine Road and the City of Manchester Stadium his name was sung from the rafters for the drive and battle, to some he was the Gerard Wiekens of the Far East.
So, the game was pretty even, the visitors striking the woodwork three times and forcing four good saves. The home side had a good anchor of an engine in Davi, a Brazilian midfielder; Moroccan international striker Abderrazak Hamdallah scored what would be the winner on 31 minutes; Aaron-Samuel Olanare featured having come from Nigeria via Norway; and many players who regular feature for the varied age groups of the national squads of China. For the visitors, Hyuri Henrique, a Brazilian forward; veteran attacker Mike Hanke from Germany; Polish-born midfielder Krzysztof Maczynski; Gyawe Jonas Salley, born of the Ivory Coast but now an Australian national (AFC Champions League Runner-up at Adelaide U****d in 2008) all played their parts. The standard was akin to the third tier of English league football (League One). Throughout the game applause, standing ovations and gentle cheers broke through the drumbeats of groups of fanatics. The game was attended by around 11,712 fans – and at least 1,000 police officers. Not a steward was to be seen. Official pictures can be found here, but beware it is hard to follow.
After the game, a drive back to Dōngguǎn and the Wànjiāng Qū area was completed with a meal of Mǔlì (oysters) soaked in spices and garlic completed a fine day. Lunch that day was had at Murray’s bar, it was steak and good one at that. So, Saturday was rich with force through and through.
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I wrote a piece for a local journal called "Sven, Sun and the lack of City" and they agreed I can post it here... [although heavily edited since my original piece].
Football isn’t as big in South China as it should be. It may be the fact that China hasn’t appeared at a World Cup since 2002 – the only time the team nicknamed Lóng Zhī Duì (Team Dragon) or sometimes The Great Wall made this tournament. Their honours board for the AFC Asian Cup and East Asian Football Championship is pretty sparse too. They did win the Far Eastern Games a few times, prior to it ended around the beginning of World War II. Since then, a country of this size, has punched beneath its weight. Former Manchester City utility player Sūn Jìhǎi is their 8th most capped player with 80 games. He retired from the international scene in 2008. He still plays now, aged 36, at Guìzhōu Rénhé in the Chinese Super League. Outside of China he has the honours of winning the 2001/02 Football League First Division – and scoring against TNS of Welsh Premier League fame.
Eye Eye Yippee Sun Jihai,
Singing Eye Eye Yippee Sun Jihai,
Singing Eye Eye Yippee,
His Dad's got a chippy,
Eye Eye Yippee Sun Jihai.
So armed with a plethora of Wikipedia-read facts and statistics, I aimed to lose my mainland China football virginity. I managed to persuade Dalian-born (just like Sūn Jìhǎi) Rossi (杨杉 - Yang Shan) to goto the game in Guangzhou. He kindly drove us there, and back. After a day playing pool together, having all meals together and then joining Bryony and Becky’s new house party, I thought Rossi’d be bored tremendously of my company. He seemed as enthusiastic as ever – despite wearing the standard Chinese poker face of expressionless impassive deadpan blankness. At the last minute Murray’s F.C. Kenmicals (real name肖载龙 - Xiao Mount Dragon), the two Brazilians Rogerio Assis Gomes and Marcelo Junior Gomes, Indian player Sidhant Sharma and Eddy O’Neill from Middlesbrough all bailed on us. To be fair, most arranged very last minute holidays to Guilin. Eddy just went on a date.
On arrival, we parked under the football stadium, at 8RMB per hour. We then wandered around looking for a ticket, the official club stall’s cheapest tickets started at 100RMB. Surrounding the stall, and what was to be soon noted as the only stadium entrance, were hundreds of ticket touts. Rossi was not sure of the ticket legitimacy, but we wandered around, haggled, and eventually settled on a ticket each for 25RMB. I brought an official team shirt for 20RMB after haggling with the club shop. I doubt I’ll ever bargain like this at any other football game. Kick off soon approached, the gates opened. After hustling by armed guards, police with sub-machine guns and ultra-hooligan looking fans on their best behaviour, the climb up a steep staircase met a sharp bottleneck left and up a narrow staircase into the floodlit glow of a the main Yuexiushan Stadium bowl. You can’t beat going to real sports games. Whatever your passion, be it rugby (union, league or other), football, cycling, boxing, motor racing, etc., there is romance to be had. The emotions ride high, everything seems fresh and new, or maybe you can switch off and let someone do the work. You can support. You can follow. You can kick every ball in your mind, you can give your all, you can be the difference – or you can relax and enjoy the occasion. There are sights, smells, sometimes tastes, senses and emotions that can be crammed into around 90 minutes that you may not feel in a month or regular week.
Yuexiushan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium with a small athletics track (limited in lane numbers), some off-field games areas, a massive hotel-looking complex at one end and a very communist looking scoreboard. If Subbuteo’s USSR edition was ever to be made real, this would be it. In 1950, when it opened it would probably be considered modern. Six renovations later, it feels dated. Situated inside the boundaries of the Yue Xiu Park it has a pleasant feel.
The club's name Fùlì (R&F in English) is short for "Rich" (富) and "Force" (力). The fans like a bit of noise, the away support from Guìzhōu Rénhé totalled around 50 or so fans. Their fans having to travel 1,100km for a Saturday night kick off adds perspective to a possible Plymouth Argyle away game in Carlisle and the 625km between them. Credit to the home fans for applauding their rival fans at the fulltime whistle. The niceties extended into the game also, Sūn Jìhǎi is a national footballing legend and the home fans sang his name every time he had the ball. What he lacks in pace, he makes up for in set-piece crosses, tackling ability and that never-say-never attitude that endeared him to countless Manchester City fans through the years. In his years at Maine Road and the City of Manchester Stadium his name was sung from the rafters for the drive and battle, to some he was the Gerard Wiekens of the Far East.
So, the game was pretty even, the visitors striking the woodwork three times and forcing four good saves. The home side had a good anchor of an engine in Davi, a Brazilian midfielder; Moroccan international striker Abderrazak Hamdallah scored what would be the winner on 31 minutes; Aaron-Samuel Olanare featured having come from Nigeria via Norway; and many players who regular feature for the varied age groups of the national squads of China. For the visitors, Hyuri Henrique, a Brazilian forward; veteran attacker Mike Hanke from Germany; Polish-born midfielder Krzysztof Maczynski; Gyawe Jonas Salley, born of the Ivory Coast but now an Australian national (AFC Champions League Runner-up at Adelaide U****d in 2008) all played their parts. The standard was akin to the third tier of English league football (League One). Throughout the game applause, standing ovations and gentle cheers broke through the drumbeats of groups of fanatics. The game was attended by around 11,712 fans – and at least 1,000 police officers. Not a steward was to be seen. Official pictures can be found here, but beware it is hard to follow.
After the game, a drive back to Dōngguǎn and the Wànjiāng Qū area was completed with a meal of Mǔlì (oysters) soaked in spices and garlic completed a fine day. Lunch that day was had at Murray’s bar, it was steak and good one at that. So, Saturday was rich with force through and through.
[bigimg]https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t31.0-8/10655179_10153233567370760_7116898268395391656_o.jpg[/bigimg]
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