Nantong Zhiyun Football Club () is a Chinese professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Rugao,

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

, that competes in . Nantong Zhiyun plays its home matches at the Rugao Olympic Sports Center, located within Rugao. The club was founded on 13 March 2016 by Fan Bing with the support from the Rugao and

Nantong Nantong is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. Nantong is a vital river port bordering Yancheng to the north; Taizhou to the west; Suzhou, Wux ...

municipal governments, and the

provincial government. The club name ''Zhiyun'' derives from Zhiyun Tower, a tower of historic significance in

, and is depicted on its club badge.

History

The club was formed when the Nantong Municipal Football Association bought the first team of Guangxi Longguida F.C. as well as their registration and position in the Chinese Football Association

China League Two The Chinese Football League 2 (), or China League Two, is the third-tier association football league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association and operated by the Chinese Professional ...

division. Nantong Zhiyun F.C. was officially established on March 13, 2016, in a launching ceremony held in Rugao,

in the

province where the Chairman Fan Bing, with the support from the Rugao,

and

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

Municipal Government, announced that the club was named after the Zhiyun Pagoda situated on the top of the Langshan hill overlooking the city of

. The club's badge would utilise a wolf as reference to Langshan hill's history with wolves while blue was chosen as the team's home colours. Former Chinese referee Li Jun was appointed as the club's general manager and former Chinese international

Wei Xin Wei Xin (; born April 18, 1977, in Chongqing) is a Chinese football manager and former player who is the current manager of Jinan Xingzhou. Before becoming a coach, he played professionally as a versatile defender or midfielder who predominant ...

as the club's Head Coach. In the

2018 China League Two The 2018 Chinese Football Association Division Two League season was the 29th season since its establishment in 1989. The league is expanded to 28 teams, with 14 teams in North Group and 14 teams in South Group. On 11 July 2018, Anhui Hefei Gui ...

season, they gained promotion to the

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

for the first time in its history after beating Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic 1–0 at Shaanxi Province Stadium in front of 48,869 spectators on October 27, with a last minute goal by Nan Yunqi sealing the game. With that victory the club were able to gain investment after several shareholders left the club while they were in the third tier. In the second tier the club would struggle and Wei Xin was replaced with Gary White as Head Coach on 20 August 2019, who ensured the clubs survival within the division. On 31 March 2020,

Xie Hui Xie Hui (謝晦) (390–426), courtesy name Xuanming (宣明), was a high-level general of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty, who, along with his colleagues Xu Xianzhi and Fu Liang, deposed Emperor Shao after the death of Emperor Wu (Liu Yu) due ...

was brought in as the new Head Coach, however his vocal behaviour and critical options, particularly on the President of the

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 ...

Chen Xuyuan Chen Xuyuan (; born 1956) is a Chinese politician. He served as the president of Chinese Football Association from August 2019 to October 2023. He was president of Shanghai International Port Group before being elected to serve as CFA president. ...

saw him resign. On 26 August 2021,

Cao Rui Cao Rui () (204 or 205 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarr ...

would be brought in to manage the team and he would go on to lead the team to third within the division and promotion to the top tier at the end of the

2022 China League One The 2022 China League One ( zh, 2022中国足球协会甲级联赛) was the 19th season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment in 2004. Format On 12 May 2022, the Chinese Football ...

season. In 2022, Nantong Zhiyun secured promotion to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

for the first time in history from 2023 season after finishing third place in

in 2022 season.

Players

Current squad

Reserve squad

Out on loan

Coaching staff

Managerial history

(2016) * Tomislav Stipić (2017) *

(2017–2019) * Gary White (2019–2020) *

(2020–2021) *

(2021–2022) * David Patricio (2023) * Zhu Qi (caretaker) (2023) * Gabri (2023) * David Patricio (2023) * Mihajlo Jurasović (2024) * David Patricio (2024) * Yoshiyuki Shinoda (2025–present)

Results

All-time league rankings ''As of the end of 2023 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

External links

* {{Chinese Super League Chinese Super League clubs Association football clubs established in 2016 2016 establishments in China Sport in Nantong Football clubs in China Football clubs in Nantong China League One clubs China League Two clubs