Meizhou Hakka Football Club (;

Hakka language Hakka (, , ) forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people throughout Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of East Asia, Southeast Asia and in overseas Chinese communities ar ...

: Mòi-Chû Hag-Ga chuk-khiù khî-lo̍k-phu) is a professional Chinese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

club that currently participates in the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

under license from the

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the country' ...

(CFA). The team is based in

Wuhua County Wuhua County (, Hakka: Ng-Fa) is a county under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Meizhou in the east of Guangdong Province, China. Ethno-linguistic make-up Wuhua is noted for its large Hakka population. Administrative divisio ...

Meizhou Meizhou (, Hakka Chinese: Mòichû) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, China. It has an area of , and a population of 3,873,239 million as of the 2020 census. It comprises Meijiang District, Meixian District, Xingning Cit ...

in the province of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

and their home stadium is the 27,000 capacity

Huitang Stadium Wuhua County Olympic Sports Centre (), formerly known as the Wuhua County Football Culture Park (), is a sports complex located in Wuhua County, Meizhou, Guangdong, China. The complex consists of a football stadium named Huitang Stadium, gymnasium, ...

. Their current majority shareholders are the Meizhou municipal government, Municipal Sports Bureau, Wei Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. and partners. The club was renamed ''Meizhou Wuhua Football Club'' according to ''Meizhou Daily''. However, the original name was still used in official documents of CFA all the time.

History

Meizhou Hakka F.C. was established in January 2013 by former

Guangdong Sunray Cave Shaanxi Wuzhou Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club based in Xi'an, Shaanxi which last played in the China League One division. The club was originally formed on February 5, 2007 as Guangdong Sunray Cave F.C. and was once ...

manager Cao Yang along with the support of the Meizhou municipal government, Municipal Sports Bureau. He would soon go on to gain financial support from the Chairman of Wei Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., Wei Jinping who was persuaded in investing into the team after Cao Yang described his envision of creating a footballing hub in

, the home town of former Chinese footballer and coach

Lee Wai Tong Lee Wai Tong (; 16 October 1905 – 4 July 1979) was a Hong Kong and Chinese international association football player, head coach, and former Vice President of FIFA. He is often regarded as the greatest Chinese footballer due to his accomplis ...

. The squad was assembled with local

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

players and players from other teams in Guangdong, including Guangdong Sunray Cave,

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

Shenzhen Ruby Shenzhen Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League. The team is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong and their home stadium is the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre that has a seating capacity of ...

and Shenzhen Fengpeng before entering the third tier in the 2013 league season where despite topping the group stages they finished fifth in the knock-out stages. Former Chinese national team Head coach

Qi Wusheng Qi Wusheng (; ; born May 20, 1944 in Weihai) is a Chinese football coach and a former international player. Playing career Despite being born in Shandong, Qi would go on to play for teams within Liaoning before he would be selected for the C ...

was brought in during the

2015 China League Two The 2015 Chinese Football Association Division Two League season was the 26th season since its establishment in 1989. It was divided into two groups, North and South. There were 16 teams participating in the league, 8 teams in North Group and 8 t ...

season. He would go on to help guide the club to win the division title in a penalty shoot-out against Dalian Transcendence and promotion to the second tier for the first time in the clubs history. Qi Wusheng would not extend his contract with the club and Dutch football manager

Luc Nijholt Luc Nijholt (born 29 July 1961) is a Dutch football manager and a former player, who played for a number of clubs, both home and abroad. Nijholt began his career in the early 1980s with Haarlem, spending six years with the club. Nijholt was a me ...

was brought in on 1 January 2016 as well as 80 million Yuan to invest within the team. Luc Nijholt would leave the team on 19 July 2016 as the club sat twelfth within the league and marginally above the relegation zone, a position they would remain in for the rest of the season. After several managerial changes with limited success, Serbian Manager Milan Ristić was brought in on 6 February 2021 and he was able to guide the team to promotion to the top tier at the end of the

2021 China League One The 2021 China League One ( zh, 2021中国足球协会甲级联赛) is the 18th season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment in 2004. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic The 2021 Chi ...

season.

Name history

According to the club's statement: *2013 Meizhou Kejia 梅州客家 *2014– Meizhou Wuhua 梅州五华 According to official documents of CFA: *2013–2015 Meizhou Kejia 梅州客家 *2016— Meizhou Hakka 梅州客家

Current squad

First team squad

Reserve squad

Out on loan

Coaching staff

Managerial history

Cao Yang Cao Yang (; born 15 December 1981 in Tianjin) is a Chinese international football player who currently plays as a versatile defender or midfielder. Club career Cao Yang began his career graduating through the Tianjin Teda youth system eventua ...

(2013) *

Tan Ende Tan Ende (; born August 21, 1971) is a retired Chinese football player. He is currently a coach. Playing career Tan Ende played the majority of his football career for Guangzhou Apollo where he would aid them to two runners-up positions for the ...

(2014–26 May 2015) * Zhang Jun (26 May 2015 – 3 July 2015) *

(3 July 2015–31 Dec 2015) *

(1 Jan 2016–19 Jul 2016) * Cao Yang (caretaker) (19 Jul 2016–31 Dec 2016) *

Vjekoslav Lokica Vjekoslav Lokica (born 19 September 1965) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Managerial career He replaced Goran Sablić as manager of RNK Split Radnički nogometni klub Split, commonly known as RNK Split, is a ...

(16 Feb 2017–29 Apr 2017) * Cao Yang (caretaker) (29 Apr 2017–23 Jul 2017) * Aleksandar Stankov (23 Jul 2017–18 Dec 2017) *

Rusmir Cviko Rusmir Cviko (born 2 January 1972) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Orobah. Cviko is a former player of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team and coach ...

(18 Dec 2017–28 Aug 2018) * Li Weijun (carettaker) (28 Aug 2018–19 Dec 2018) * Zheng Xiaotian (19 Dec 2018–6 Nov 2019) * Marcelo Rospide (12 Nov 2019–31 Dec 2020) * Milan Ristić (2 Feb 2021–present)

Honours

China League Two The Chinese Football Association Division Two League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会乙级联赛), or China League Two, is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football As ...

(Third Tier League) :Winners (1):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Results

All-time league rankings ''As of the end of 2019 season.'' * In group stage. Key

* 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

{{Chinese Super League Football clubs in China Sport in Meizhou Association football clubs established in 2013 2013 establishments in China