Over the past year, from the Dalian Football Super League to the National Staff Football League, Dalian has given every ordinary football fan the opportunity to personally participate, allowing foreign guests to feel the city’s strong football atmosphere;
Over the past year, two professional teams from Dalian have worked hard and achieved the feat of reaching the Super League and the First Division respectively, letting the whole country see the solid pace of Dalian football recovery;
Over the past year, the successful hosting of the International Sports Federation Football World Cup and World Cup Qualifiers has focused the world’s attention on Dalian and deeply felt the unique charm of the football city.
The waves hit the tide, and thousands of sails spread
Good football cultural heritage and first-class football infrastructure have created an excellent “green field” in Dalian. Events at all levels are blooming everywhere, helping the city polish its football “business card”. Dalian is becoming an ideal venue for domestic and foreign football events.
“Continuous Super”
Demonstrate strong mass base and football heritage
On November 2 this year, with the conclusion of the elite group finals of the social group, the 2024 Dalian Football Super League (referred to as “Lianchao”) came to a successful conclusion. 2024 will be the first year of the “Continuous Super League”, with a total of more than 7,600 teams and nearly 200,000 people participating. Both data are the highest among amateur football matches in our city.
▲The 2024 Dalian Football Super League concluded successfully. (↑Click on the picture to view details)
This year’s “Continuous Super League” competition is divided into three categories: campus group, employee group and social group, covering all types of schools, employee members, communities and township residents in the city. Since the launch of the event, the organizing committee has given full play to Dalian’s advantages of deep football heritage, solid foundation and complete facilities to provide a good competitive environment for participating teams, ensure that the competition is fair, just and smooth, and provide a complete and exciting event for football lovers in the city. , safe and orderly football feast.
The annual “Mayor’s Cup” football championship was once the leading football event for primary and secondary schools in our city. This year, the event has also become a competition for the “Continuous Super League” campus group. In the past two months of competition, players from high schools and junior high schools A total of 10 champions were produced from 106 participating teams in four categories: primary school, primary school and secondary vocational school. The wonderful skills, tactics and competition content presented by each team pushed our city’s campus football to a new height. At the same time, the attention of the event has also increased significantly, and all walks of life have paid more attention to campus football, forming widespread concern and strong support for campus football from teachers, students, parents, and the entire society.
▲Dalian football youth training has a solid foundation, and football injects vitality into the colorful campus.
The “Continuous Super League” event, which covers the entire region, runs throughout the year, and is participated by all people, has been widely praised by all walks of life this year. On the field, the participating teams showed their style and level, and the majority of football fans gained happiness and health; off the field, through hosting games, our city comprehensively improved the city’s quality image and promoted the high-quality integrated development of culture, sports, tourism and business. From event organization and arrangement to linkage between all walks of life, “Continuous Super League” fully demonstrates the mass foundation and profound heritage of “Football City” and embodies Dalian’s philosophy of building a city, developing industries, and benefiting the people.
In the future, our city will further build the “Continental Super League” into a football event that is participated by and shared by all people, gathering a strong synergy from the whole city to promote the revitalization of football and urban development.
Overtake
InBev shows Dalian football’s hard work
Established in 2021, it won the fourth place in the Chinese Champions League in 2022 and successfully promoted to the second level; in 2023, it won the runner-up in the Chinese Second League and successfully promoted to the first league; in 2024, it participated in the Chinese League One and won the second place and successfully promoted to the super league. Dalian Yingbo team achieved ” “Triple jump in three years” – this is an impressive record achieved by a young team, and it is also an impressive report card that makes more than 7 million Dalian citizens feel excited.
▲Dalian Yingbo Football Team successfully reached the Super League. (↑Click on the picture to view details)
November 3rd is a carnival day for Dalian fans. In the final match of the 2024 Chinese League One, Dalian Yingbo can ensure success in reaching the Super League as long as it wins at home. Amid the cheers of 60,951 fans in the audience, Dalian Yingbo team relied on unremitting offense and finally scored the winning goal at the last moment, with the help of goals from Kalanga and Zhu Pengyu. The team successfully achieved the Super League.
Our players did not give up and continued to attack until the last moment of the game. This is not only the result of our efforts, but also a reflection of the spirit of Dalian football.
After the game, the team’s head coach Li Guoxu said with emotion.
▲ Dalian Yingbo Football Team players dribble the ball through the field.
This season, Dalian Yingbo played 15 home games at the Barracuda Bay Football Stadium. The loyal and fanatical Dalian fans also turned the Barracuda Bay Football Stadium into the “devil’s home stadium”. A total of 632,805 people attended the stadium throughout the season, with an average attendance per game. There are 42,187 people, and the top 10 records for the highest number of live spectators in the history of the Chinese League One are all set by Dalian, of which Dalian Yingbo occupies 8 seats. This is the answer that Dalian fans handed over this year.
▲The attendance rate of Barracuda Bay Football Stadium will continue to rise in 2024, breaking the historical record of the Chinese League One many times.
The long road through Xiongguan is really like iron, but now we are crossing it from the beginning. The Dalian Yingbo team, which is composed of Dalian natives and Dalian youth training players, has not only achieved the goal of surpassing the league through the “old to lead the new” approach this season, but many young players in the team such as Mao Weijie and Zhu Pengyu have also been fully trained. and growth. However, the joy of victory needs to stay yesterday. The next journey to the Chinese Super League is the real challenge these young people will face. As coach Li Guoxu said:
We have to be a great team and we have to stick to our own style of football so that we can go further. After returning to the Chinese Super League, I hope Dalian Football can stand firmly on this stage.
China Sports Federation
A glorious moment belonging to China and Dalian
Dalian in May
The locust flowers are blowing in the face, and the green shade is covered
The 2024 FISF Football World Cup, representing the world’s highest level of football competition for middle school students, grandly opened at the Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium. 55 teams and more than a thousand young football players from 33 countries and regions on five continents ” “Reunion” to start a football feast and youth event together.
In the first opening match, the Chinese third team, which was composed of Dalian players, faced the Czech second team at the Barracuda Bay Football Stadium. In the end, the players lived up to expectations and won the game with a score of 7:2, giving the audience a great performance. A hearty and fierce duel. After many days of fierce competition, the Chinese team won both the men’s and women’s championships in this competition, leaving the two championship trophies in China. This is a glorious moment that belongs to China and Dalian.
▲The 2024 FISF Football World Cup Women’s Finals will be held at Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium.
The International Middle School Football World Cup is the world’s highest level, largest, most concerned and most influential middle school football event hosted by the International Middle School Sports Federation. In July 2023, the International Federation of Secondary School Sports announced that Dalian has won the right to host the 2024 International Federation of Sports Football World Cup. This is also the first time that the world’s top football event for middle school students has been held in China. Under the guidance of the Provincial Department of Education, Dalian has made careful preparations for this event, from competition guarantees to cultural exchanges, from player station layout to special experience activities, allowing domestic and foreign guests to deeply experience the beauty of Dalian city. Craig, head coach of the GB women’s team, said:
Dalian is a beautiful port city. The weather here makes people feel comfortable and is very suitable for football training and competitions. At the same time, I also tasted different food when I came here. I like everything about Dalian. This is a great event. .
The end of international competitions such as the FISU Football World Cup in Dalian is not the end. Looking forward to the 2025 FISU Football World Cup, Dalian will once again let the world see the charm of the football city with a new look.
▲The 2024 FISF Football World Cup concluded successfully in Dalian. (↑Click on the picture to view details)
football city
city of hope
Meeting Dalian, my heart is boundless
In this passionate city, a jumping football can gather people’s enthusiasm and pursuit. Generations of children who grew up with football follow the dreams of their parents and run tirelessly on the green field. .
On weekdays, middle-aged people, young people, children and other age groups are everywhere playing football in the square and on campus; weekends are a happy time for watching football, with families of three or three generations going to Barracuda. Watch the game at Bay Football Stadium and Dalian Sports Center, wearing the blue jersey that symbolizes the Dalian team , become the “12th man” on the court, cheering for your favorite players and teams… It is precisely because parents in Dalian like to watch football and are willing to send their children to play football, and the children are also happy to participate. As a result, Dalian campus football has achieved sustained and vigorous development for decades.
▲In September, Barracuda Bay Football Stadium created a strong home atmosphere for the national football team. (↑Click on the picture to view details)
The “Northeast Road” phenomenon is famous throughout the country
known as
“Football Huangpu” “The Cradle of Football Stars”
On July 12, 2023, the 24th “Beibei Cup” youth U12 group of the Chinese Football Association ended in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu. As the final whistle sounded, the Dalian team, headed by Dongbei Road Primary School, defeated Zhejiang Greentown, winning another national championship in this event for our city after more than 20 years.
What impressed me most was the game against Hainan. We played very hard, but no one gave up, and we finally won with one of my goals!
This experience made me realize more deeply that playing football well requires not only perseverance, tacit cooperation and trust among players, but also the warmth and care from family, school, coaches and many other people.
Huang Qi’en, who graduated from Dongbei Road Primary School in Shahekou District last summer and is now studying at Dalian No. 21 Middle School, recalled the competition at that time and was still full of excitement and emotion. With his outstanding performance, he was selected into the elite echelon of the national men’s football team. In March this year, he entered the selection team of the Chinese national junior U14 team in Suzhou and then went to Japan with the team for training, starting all four games.
It should be the dream of every football player to be able to wear the jersey of the Chinese team and participate in the game. Now I have realized my dream, and I have won four consecutive victories, brought glory to the country and won the championship.
Northeast Road Primary School, founded in 1926, enjoys the reputation of “Football Huangpu” and “The Cradle of Football Stars” throughout the country. With the joint efforts of generations of Northeasterners, the school has provided more than 400 talents to Class A and above football clubs, and more than 100 national-level players to the national team, the National Olympic team, the National Youth Team, and the National Junior Team. There are players from the Northeast Road Primary School in the national men’s football team… It can be said that there is only one “Northeast Road” in Dalian, but there is more than one “Northeast Road”.
Generations of Dalian footballers continue to pass down the legend
Elite training and mass popularization proceed simultaneously
Born in Dalian, he started football enlightenment training at Dongbei Road Primary School since he was a child. Later, he entered the youth training echelon of Dalian Yiteng Club, and then started his career at Shenyang Dongjin Football Club. After retiring, he became a football coach on campus – with There are not a few Dalian players who have the same career as Liu Xin. Today, Liu Xin appears on the playground of Dalian Experimental Primary School on time every afternoon. As the coach of the school’s U10 team, he leads the children to gallop on the green field.
There are currently six professional coaches like me in the experimental primary school, all of whom are retired players with experience in professional football clubs.
According to Liu Xin, more than 100 children in six grades of the school were selected through tests such as athletic talent and football literacy before entering school. They were divided into five elite echelons and a goalkeeper special echelon according to age, and training was conducted four days a week. There are two competitions, and during the winter and summer vacations, we have to practice Sanjiu in winter and Sanfu in summer.
Dalian’s football genes are very strong. I can deeply feel that many young players are influenced by their parents to embark on a green road. Our youth training coaches also hope to bring out more good talents, send them to professional competitions, and continue to polish the golden brand of Dalian football.
Liu Xin said.
This year, Dalian Experimental Primary School has added a new foreign football coaching team – Nico from Serbia and his Chinese assistant coach and translator. Xigang District has introduced the first batch of foreign football youth coaching teams to the campus to engage in football teaching and youth training. This will further increase the popularity of campus football and the level of youth football, and lead Dalian football youth training to a new stage. The reporter learned that the foreign coaching team not only provides professional and systematic training for the school’s elite echelon, but also undertakes football lessons for two classes every day. This course achieves full coverage of all classes, cultivates the interest in football among students in the school, discovers and cultivates more young football talents, and strives to become a model for football youth training in the city.
A “time-honored” team with more than 70 years of history
Won the national championship this year
On August 30 this year, the 2023-2024 National Youth Campus Football League High School Finals kicked off at the Beijing Olympic Sports Center. In the end, Dalian No. 8 Middle School defeated Nanchang No. 2 Middle School 2:0 and won the national championship. At the same time, Zhang Tongyu of the team won the best goalkeeper award, Zhang Yu won the best player award of the game, and Niu Jinglong won the best coach award.
The National Youth Campus Football League is a national student football event sponsored by the Ministry of Education. It is currently a campus football brand event with wide coverage and far-reaching influence. “The game was very tense and exciting. When the boys from Dalian No. 8 Middle School football team faced strong opponents, they showed their spirit of not being afraid of challenges and tenacious fighting, showing the foundation and inheritance of ‘Football City’.” The relevant person in charge of the Education Bureau said excitedly after the game.
After winning the championship, Dalian citizens’ circle of friends were flooded with the good news——
Congratulations to your alma mater!
Go forward, Dalian boys!
Excitedly, Dalian’s football war song ‘Sha La La’ rang out in the Beijing stadium. This time it was sung by a group of post-00s teenagers! …
As one of the first pilot middle schools for sports reserve talents in the country, a traditional football school in Liaoning Province, and a national youth campus football characteristic school, sports activities, especially football, have a long history and glorious tradition in Dalian No. 8 Middle School.
In 1953, the second year after the establishment of No. 8 Middle School, the school selected and established a youth football team. A year later, the school football team won the district and city championships, thus starting a 10th consecutive championship streak. For more than 70 years since its establishment, Dalian No. 8 Middle School has never stopped developing campus football. The school has 6 football clubs, each of which has its own rules and regulations and standards for recruiting players. The school has a school-level football team, and each grade has three teams, forming a complete echelon construction – “everyone participates, every class has a team, and football matches are held every year”, which has become a school football long-term mechanism for development.
The school won the Liaoning Provincial Middle School Football Championship from 2013 to 2017; won the Liaoning Provincial Middle School Football Championship again in 2019 and 2020; represented Liaoning Province in the National Student Games (High School Group) in 2021 and won fifth place. In the same year, he won the championship of Liaoning Provincial Middle School Student Championship.
Dalian City is one of the first batch of high-level youth campus football comprehensive reform pilot areas and the national youth campus football reform pilot area in the country. Currently, 4 urban districts in the city have been awarded the national youth campus football pilot areas and the national youth campus football starry training camp. 265 primary and secondary schools were rated as national youth campus football characteristic schools, and 124 kindergartens were rated as national football characteristic kindergartens. The continuous flow of many outstanding football talents to the country not only demonstrates the impressive results of our city’s youth campus football work, but also provides excellent exploration samples for the development of campus football across the country.
Dalian fans build “Blue Wall” together
Inheritance and dreams extend indefinitely
Mention football
It’s hard not to think of Dalian
Mention Dalian
You are even less likely to forget football,
Forget the Dalian people who are passionate about football
Known as the “number one sport in the world”, football’s greatest characteristic is how to put one’s wisdom and ability into the team and contribute to the collective; its core spirit is hope, which is to work hard and passionately for hope. The pursuit of beauty, openness and enterprising for the sake of hope, the tolerance, respect, unity and friendship for the sake of hope. This football spirit is the embodiment of the spirit of the city of Dalian that dares to fight and never give up. Dalian cannot live without football, and football cannot be separated from every Dalian fan.
Continue the dreams of our fathers indefinitely
Have you ever seen a video like this? When the national flag was raised and the national anthem was played before the game at Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium, a group of deaf fans in the stands “sung” the national anthem in uniform sign language. Among the crowd, they seemed particularly quiet and powerful. Teng Yanqian, president of the Dalian Deaf Fans Association, told reporters that “singing” the national anthem in sign language was unified by national standards in 2021. From the following year, many deaf people in the association spontaneously began to sing the national anthem in sign language.
Because everyone can’t hear the national anthem, they can only sign with the lyrics they memorized. Therefore, we practice and standardize the national anthem in sign language countless times. Because the national anthem is particularly solemn, there is no room for error in gestures.
Teng Yanqian said. Nowadays, we see that these deaf fans can “sing” the national anthem in sign language uniformly before every game, which is inseparable from their repeated and boring practice behind the scenes.
When talking about the Dalian Deaf Fans Association, we have to mention Teng Yanqian’s father, Teng Yutao. Teng Yutao, who has loved football all his life, founded the Dalian Deaf Fans Association more than 20 years ago to create a game-watching environment for such a special group of fans that is indistinguishable from that of normal people. Due to the lack of companionship, the young Teng Yanqian did not understand his father’s focus on football at the time, and he never thought that he would be able to take over his father’s job 20 years later.
When my father was seriously ill, he would come to watch the football even if he was in a wheelchair. Every time after watching the game, his mental state would get better. Football is indeed a spirit that can provide positive power to him and many people. pillar.
Teng Yanqian said.
▲A group photo of members of the Dalian Deaf Fans Association.
In 2017, Teng Yutao passed away due to illness. Hearing Teng Yanqian could have chosen a normal life, but in the process of accompanying his father to fight against the disease, he was infected by his father’s perseverance in football. After his father passed away, he resolutely took over his father’s job and became a Dalian deaf fan. The second president of the association.
What my father worries most about is the association he founded. After taking over these tasks, I found that my existence can also greatly facilitate this special group. Although they are deaf and disabled, football has brought them a lot of positive things. The energy is the same as normal people in the stadium, but the way of cheering is different.
Teng Yanqian said, I will continue my father’s dream, dedicate myself to this special group, and witness Dalian football’s return to its peak with everyone.
Let football feelings be passed down from generation to generation
Dad, there is a flat road ahead, you run forward boldly!
When fan Wang Lexiang recalled the last time he went to watch a game with his father, he said that it was the semi-finals of the 2019 FA Cup. When he arrived at the stadium, the game was about to start. His father did not dare to run fast because he was blind. He took his father and ran quickly to the court. Hence, the sentence at the beginning.
The 63-year-old Wang Guoliang was a loyal fan of the Dalian team when he was young. At that time, he took Wang Lexiang to watch the game. Wang Lexiang recalled that one time my father took me to watch a game. When I arrived, I found that the tickets had been sold out. The police on duty at the time saw that my father was leading a child like me and could not enter the stadium, so he gave me a “dilemma”. “As long as I can name three Dalian players, let us two in.”
Li Ming, Sun Jihai, Zhang Enhua… I named a bunch of players at that time and successfully watched the live game.
Wang Lexiang said.
More than ten years ago, Wang Guoliang gradually lost his vision due to an eye disease, until he was completely blind. But Wang Lexiang still took his father to watch the game live. Wang Guoliang sat quietly in the stands with a radio, relying on the radio commentary to understand the game.
There is about a 15-second delay between the radio and the live game, so whenever a goal is scored, my son will run over to me immediately and tell me. I then turn up the volume on the radio and imagine the goal in my mind.
In 2020, Wang Guoliang suffered a cerebral infarction, and his subsequent recovery was not ideal. Now he can only rely on a wheelchair to travel, and he has never gone to watch a game in person.
Even if he couldn’t be there, my father would never miss any Dalian team game. In the last Super League match this year, my father insisted on going to watch the game. I was worried that the weather would be too cold, so I didn’t take him there.
But Wang Lexiang promised his father that he would take him to watch the game at the Barracuda Bay Football Stadium next year. Last year, Wang Lexiang’s son was born, and he also posted a photo of him taking a photo with Dalian Yingbo players. Wang Lexiang said that because of the influence of his father, I became a fan of Dalian. Now that I am a father, I hope to pass on this feeling and love for football!
Dalian football spirit lives on
Passing through the waiting hall of Beijing Station, skillfully swiping his ID card and passing through the ticket gate, wearing a blue jersey and a Dalian team scarf, Lu Desheng stood out even in the crowded high-speed rail station. For him, going home is a kind of “commute”. Even if he works in Beijing all year round, he will not miss the Dalian team’s home games.
Like many Dalian children, Lu Desheng was influenced by his family since he was a child. He was exposed to football and became a loyal Dalian fan. In the past season, whether at home or away, he has always followed the team throughout its travels.
As long as I have time, I will go to all Dalian team’s games. No matter how far away, no matter success or failure, I will stand in the stands and cheer for them.
This year, Lu Desheng watched 12 away games and all 15 home games of the Dalian Yingbo team’s 30 games. He laughed and said that only working overtime could stop him from going to support the Dalian team.
In August this year, Lu Desheng accidentally suffered a fracture while playing football, and the doctor told him to rest at home. At that time, the Dalian Yingbo team was at a critical moment for the Super League. Even though he was in a wheelchair or using a cane, he did not delay going to the scene to cheer.
When entering many venues, you have to go through a flight of stairs. I can only use crutches to jump up on one foot. After entering the stadium, I sometimes have to jump down one step at a time to find my seat. Some stadiums do not allow crutches, so I just use crutches. Jump up the stairs.
In this way, Lu Desheng “jumped” all the way from Dalian Yingbo’s home and away games to the national team’s World Cup qualifiers. Of course, he also met many unfamiliar Dalian fans in the process who helped him carry his wheelchair into the stadium.
According to Lu Desheng, there are currently more than 200 Dalian fans living in Beijing. For every home game, several people will rush back to Dalian from Beijing. In key games, they will even form a team of dozens of people to come back to cheer. In addition to Beijing, Dalian fans all over the country have also formed fan clubs. Loyal fans like Lu Desheng are by no means an exception.
Gathered it is a ball of fire, scattered it is a sky full of stars
Football connects the hearts of countless Dalian fans, and every drop of love gathers into a sea to build the “blue wall” of Dalian football. We breathe the same breath with this city, share our destiny, share our honor and disgrace – this is probably the common aspiration of every Dalian fan.
Dalian people’s love for football is too short to say that a lifetime is too short, because this love is inherited from the hands of the fathers and handed over to the next generation, passing on from generation to generation. What Dalian football cannot write endlessly is a story about inheritance and dreams. Every Dalian fan who raises his arms and shouts has guarded football and Dalian tightly in his heart. He cannot take it away or let it go. , Love is not enough, life after life.
People who love football and Dalian so much
Dalian
I also love you deeply
Source | Dalian release
Original title: “Why Dalian is the City of Football”
Read the original article
