Fan Zhiyi ( zh, c=范志毅, p=Fàn Zhìyì; born 6 November 1969) is a Chinese coach and former international footballer. He played as a defender for Shanghai Shenhua, Crystal Palace,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Shanghai COSCO Huili, Cardiff City, Buler Rangers and Shanghai Zobon. He was considered a trailblazer in his native homeland when Sun Jihai and he became the first two Chinese footballers to play in the English leagues, joining Crystal Palace in 1998. Internationally, he would go on to play with the China national team in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. Fan was also the first player from China to be named AFC Player of the Year. He has since gone on to become a football coach and had his first stint as manager at Shanghai East Asia.

Club career

Fan Zhiyi was considered a talented youngster and integrated into the China national B team which was allowed to take part in the Chinese football league system for a season. His time with them was extremely successful and he was even able to win the Chinese league title with the team in the 1989 league season before he had to return to Shanghai Shenhua. After returning to Shanghai and playing in his first season as a professional, Fan's best was brought out of him due to the improved level of play. His superb fitness and hardworking ethics as well as his excellent positional play as a central defender would see him become a regular within the team. By the 1995 league season, he had already gained a reputation as tough tackler who had superb aerial ability especially from set-piece plays, however he would also show his versatility as a player when he played in several positions including a provisional striker when he was the league's top goalscorer with fifteen goals as he guided Shanghai Shenhua towards the league title in the 1995 season. After several seasons he had now settled into central defense as a sweeper and would captain his side as they won Chinese FA Cup in 1998. In the 1998–99 season, Fan made national headlines when he left Shanghai to join First Division side Crystal Palace where he and Sun Jihai became the first Chinese footballers in the English leagues. Fan soon established himself as an important player at Crystal Palace and was very popular with the fans and staff as well as winning the club many new fans back in China. He was also the captain of Crystal Palace for a while and scored several important goals for the club. As he played for Crystal Palace, Fan would also play in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup for the China national team before personally winning Asian Footballer of the Year in 2001. After helping China qualify for the

in October 2001, Fan transferred to

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

for £350,000. He managed to score against Celtic in a 3–1 loss with a good long-distance shot after positioning himself well after he received a pass from Nacho Novo. After returning from the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Fan decided not to return to Dundee and decided to return to China to join top-tier club Shanghai International for a brief period. He would soon return to the United Kingdom, where he had a trial with Gillingham; however, Fan decided to join Second Division side Cardiff City in November 2002. In October 2003, he signed a one-year contract to become player-coach of

Hong Kong First Division League The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the List of oldest football competitions, third oldest in Asia, after Calcutta and Bombay. Moreover, it is ...

side Buler Rangers. However, his stay in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

lasted only a few months when, in early 2004, he moved back to Shanghai to become the captain of China League One side Zhuhai Zobon. He led the club to promotion to the Chinese Super League one year later and the club renamed to Shanghai Zobon after it moved to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Fan left the club after the 2005 season and joined Buler Rangers for a second stint but, after five games, he decided to end his playing career and retired.

International career

Fan was a key veteran of the China national team that qualified for the

, their first time qualifying for the tournament. After returning from the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Fan announced his retirement from the national team after ten years where he was an anchor in the defense and was capped 106 times for his country.

Managerial career

Fan often stated that his desire was to move into management and had brief spells as an assistant coach with Buler Rangers and Shanghai Zobon while he was still playing. Once he retired from playing football, he became a technical director and assistant coach at China League Two side Suzhou Trips. Fan became manager of China League One side Shanghai East Asia in 2010, but he was sacked at the end of the 2010 season. Between 2015 and 2018, Fan worked as the manager of Shanghai Shenhua youth team.

Career statistics

:''Results list China's goal tally first.''

Honours

Player

China B * Chinese Jia-A League: 1989 Shanghai Shenhua * Chinese Jia-A League:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

* Chinese FA Cup: 1998 Individual * Asian Footballer of the Year: 2001 *

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

Player of the Year:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

* Chinese Jia-A League Team of the Year:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

* Chinese Jia-A League Top goalscorer:

* Crystal Palace Player of the Year: 2001

Filmography

Variety shows

Film

TV Drama

References

External links

Fifa World Cup 2002
at bbc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fan, Zhiyi 1969 births Living people Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Shanghai Chinese football managers China men's international footballers FIFA Men's Century Club Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players English Football League players Chinese expatriate men's footballers Chinese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Cardiff City F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Wales 2002 FIFA World Cup players 1992 AFC Asian Cup players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players Dundee F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Scottish Premier League players Beijing Chengfeng F.C. players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Hong Kong First Division League players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Asian Footballer of the Year winners Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Men's association football defenders Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Chinese football coaches Shanghai Shenhua F.C. non-playing staff Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Wales Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong 20th-century Chinese sportsmen