Shanghai Port Football Club (), previously Shanghai SIPG (), 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

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 ...

, that competes in . Shanghai Port plays its home matches at the

Pudong Football Stadium The Pudong Football Stadium, currently named SAIC Motor Pudong Arena due to sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium in Shanghai, China. Completed in October 2020, it is the home of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port F ...

, located within

Pudong Pudong is a list of administrative divisions of Shanghai, district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu River, Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank (g ...

. Their owners are the Chinese group

Shanghai International Port Group Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd. (SIPG) is the exclusive operator of all the public terminals in the Port of Shanghai. It is a component of SSE 180 Index as well as CSI 300 Index and sub-index CSI 100 Index. Its headquarters a ...

(SIPG). The club was founded on 25 December 2005 as Shanghai East Asia Football Club by former Chinese international footballer Xu Genbao. The club used graduates from the Genbao Football Base, a football academy also founded by Xu, to form their first team as they made their debut in the third tier of China's football league pyramid in the 2006 league season. They made it to the top tier and finished as league champions for the first time in the 2018 Chinese Super League season, before winning two more consecutive titles in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. According to a ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' report from 2015, Shanghai Port was the third-most valuable football club in China, with a club value of $159 million and an estimated revenue of $37 million. According to the annual report of the parent company, the club had a revenue of in 2015, as well as a net loss of , total assets of , and net assets of .

History

2005–2007: League Two

On 16 May 2000, the former Chinese international football coach Xu Genbao founded the Genbao Football Base and enrolled 96 academy members born between 1988 and 1991, who were to be trained in the recently built Genbao Football Base Arena. Xu Genbao initially had no intention of establishing a professional football club. However, as the youngsters in the Base grew up, the lack of youth football competition in China prompt Xu to set up a football club so that his protégés could earn match experiences in professional football. On 25 December 2005, Shanghai East Asia Football Club was jointly established by Xu Genbao and Shanghai East Asia Sports and Culture Center Co. Ltd, with Xu Genbao being the club chairman. Xu appointed Claude Lowitz, a French youth coach in the Base, as the team manager. With young players aged between 14 and 17, Shanghai East Asia competed in the 2006

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 ...

, the third-tier of the Chinese league system. The team played their home games at Genbao Football Base Arena training ground in Chongming,

, and eventually finished their first season in seventh place. During the campaign, Xu's players broke a few records during the season, with

Cao Yunding Cao Yunding (; born 22 November 1989) is a Chinese former footballer who played as a right-footed left winger. Club career Cao Yunding started his football career when he joined the Genbao Football Academy in 2000 and was promoted to Shan ...

being the youngest Chinese goalscorer aged 16 years and 242 days, and Wu Lei the youngest Chinese professional footballer, aged only 14 years and 287 days. At the end of 2006, Claude Lowitz left the club, and former assistant manager Jiang Bingyao took up the manager position. With lessons learned and experiences gained from their debutante season, the young East Asia FC went on to win the division title in 2007, by beating

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

in the final, and thus gaining promotion to

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 ...

, the second-tier of the football league.

2008–2012: League One

Despite the successful promotion, questions arose as to what would happen to the team, especially given that Xu's previous efforts to create a professional club ( Shanghai 02) ended up being sold off to

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

in 2002 due to financial difficulties. In June 2007, Shanghai government came to Xu's rescue with financial aid, in exchange East Asia FC would represent Shanghai in the

2009 National Games of China The 11th National Games of China were held in various cities in Shandong from October 16 to October 28, 2009. Represented were 33 sports, 43 disciplines and 362 events, including 4 winter sports which were held in Shenyang, Changchun and Qingdao ...

. With the club in a higher division, Shanghai East Asia moved into the 30,000 seater

Jinshan Sports Centre Jinshan Football Stadium () is a multi-use stadium in Jinshan District, Shanghai. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 30,000 people. See also * List of football stadiums in China * List of stadiums in C ...

Jinshan District Jinshan District, is a suburban district of southwestern Shanghai, neighboring Zhejiang province and Hangzhou Bay. It has a land area of and a population of 732,500 as of the 2010 Chinese census. Jinshan District, located in the southwest of ...

of Shanghai and finished the

2008 China League One The 2008 China League One title was won by Jiangsu Sainty. Promotion and Relegation Teams promoted from Yi League 2007 * Shanghai East Asia * Sichuan F.C. * Anhui Jiufang Teams promoted to Super League 2009 * Jiangsu Sainty * Chongqing L ...

division campaign in sixth place. In summer 2009, Shanghai East Asia represented the Shanghai football team and took part in the 2009 National Games. Xu Genbao took up the management post himself and led the team to win gold in the men's football tournament. Meanwhile, in the league, Shanghai East Asia chose the 65,000 seater

Shanghai Stadium The Shanghai Stadium () is a football-specific stadium in Shanghai, China. Between 2009 and 2019, the stadium hosted home matches of the Chinese Super League team Shanghai SIPG, and has been the current home of Shanghai Shenhua since 2023. ...

as their home stadium for their

2009 China League One The 2009 China League One is the sixth season since the establishment. League kicked off on 28 March 2009 and is scheduled to end on 25 October 2009. Winners and runners-up promotes to Chinese Super League next season and the last placed team ...

campaign. They finished the season in fourth place and just missed out on promotion by a single win, but it was still considered quite an achievement because that team was made up of players under 20 years old, and with no foreign imports. The 2010 league season saw former Chinese international

Fan Zhiyi 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, Shanghai COSCO Huili, Cardiff City, Buler Ran ...

receive his first management job at the club as well as the introduction of their first-ever foreign players in Macedonian

Nikola Karçev Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek '' Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bul ...

and Haitian Fabrice Noël. Despite these new signings the club failed to improve upon the previous season's results and finished in fourth place. Failure to gain promotion and financial difficulties caused the club unable to hold onto their rising stars. Before the 2011 season, five of the team's starting players left the club: team captain Wang Jiayu, Chinese international Zhang Linpeng, and Chinese under-23 players Cao Yunding, Jiang Zhipeng, and

Gu Chao Gu Chao (; born 20 August 1989) is a Chinese people, Chinese former professional footballer. He was later banned from football-related activities in China for life over allegations of match-fixing and other forms of corruption. Club career Gu ...

. In the following 2011 season, Xu Genbao promoted several young players into the first team and the team finished the season in ninth place. At the beginning of the 2012 season the club sold their team name to sponsor, Zobon Group for 30 million Yuan on a three-year deal, which saw the club change first team's name to Shanghai Tellace on 31 December 2011, while the club's name remains unchanged as Shanghai East Asia. At the end of the season, they won the league title and was promoted to the

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 ...

2013–present: Chinese Super League

On 28 December 2012, Shanghai East Asia changed its first team name again to Port Shanghai F.C., under a 40-million Yuan sponsorship deal with Shanghai International Port. Within the off-season, on 7 January 2013, the club officially acquired another Shanghai-based football club, Shanghai Zobon, which had previously played in the 2012 China League Two division before they were dissolved. Most of its players, born between 1993 and 1994 and graduated from Genbao Football Base, were brought back under Xu Genbao's wing and would become the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

of Shanghai East Asia. In the club's debut within the top tier they brought in former Chinese national team manager Gao Hongbo as their head coach and he would go on to guide the club to a ninth-place finish at the end of the 2013 league season. The Shanghai International Port would decide to strengthen their position within the club and officially took over the whole club on 18 November 2014 and immediately appointed

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...

as their new head coach. During the 2015 winter transfer window, Shanghai SIPG signed eight new players to strengthen the squad: Sun Xiang, Davi Rodrigues de Jesus, Dario Conca, Kim Ju-Young, Yang Boyu, Shi Ke, Jean Evrard Kouassi, and Yu Hai – who the club spent 50 million Yuan on. It became the highest transfer record of any Chinese player. The team won the first three games of the season, which creates their best CSL league start in its history. On 9 May, Shanghai SIPG secured a 5–0 victory over their rival Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, and it was their first victory in the Shanghai Derby. The team signed Ghanaian player Asamoah Gyan in the summer transfer window. Jean Evrard Kouassi was dropped into the reserve team due to the registration restriction at that time (4 foreign players + 1 Asian foreign player). Shanghai SIPG finished the season in second place with 65 points – just two points behind the champions Guangzhou Evergrande. It was their best league position in the club's history and they managed to get into the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

qualification. In the beginning of 2016, SAIC Motor Corporation became one of Shanghai SIPG's main sponsors. The club signed former AFC Champions League & CSL golden boot winner Elkeson from Guangzhou Evergrande for €18.5 million. It broke the record of the Chinese transfer market. On 9 February, the team secured a 3–0 victory over Muang Thong United from Thailand in the AFC Champions League qualification round, and successfully went in to the group stage of the ACL. Shanghai SIPG went through the group stage in first place. In the round of 16, Shanghai SIPG faced FC Tokyo. They lost 2–1 away in the first leg, yet thanks to Wu Lei's late 90th-minute goal in the second leg, the team went through the round of 16 with an

away goal Away may refer to: Film and television *Away (2016 film), ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair *Away (2019 film), ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by ...

difference. During the summer transfer window, Shanghai SIPG spent €56 million to sign the Brazilian international

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

. The team was eliminated in the ACL quarter-finals, and in the CSL, the team ended up in third place with 52 points. In

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Shanghai rode the momentum of Wu Lei, who was the league's top scorer in that year, to win their first-ever CSL title. In 2019, they won the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

for their second top tier trophy.

Ownership and naming history

Rivalries

The club's main rival is

, with whom they contest the local Shanghai derby. With the club's founder Xu Genbao having managed Shenhua to the 1995 league title, the Shenhua tie holds a direct personal link between the two teams. On 28 April 2013 the two sides met for the first time in a league game that saw the club defeated 2–1 to Shenhua. The tie against Shanghai Shenxin also holds strong links between the two teams with Jiang Zhipeng and Wang Jiayu both having represented both teams before the two clubs met in their first derby on 2 June 2013, which resulted in a 6–1 victory. The club's geographical location has also opened them up to rivalries with neighbouring clubs Hangzhou Greentown and Jiangsu Guoxin-Sainty with whom they contest the Yangtze Delta Derby.

Squad

First-team squad

B-team squad

Out on loan

Coaching staff

Managerial history

List of Shanghai Port managers: * Claude Lowitz (2006) * Jiang Bingyao (2007–2009) *

(2010) * Jiang Bingyao (January 2011 – 20 December 2012) * Gao Hongbo (27 February 2013 – 7 November 2013) * Xi Zhikang (4 December 2013 – 17 November 2014) *

(18 November 2014 – 4 November 2016) *

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese sports executive, and former professional Manager (association football), football manager, who is currently the List of FC Porto presidents, president of Port ...

(4 November 2016 – 30 November 2017) * Vítor Pereira (13 December 2017 – 31 December 2020) * Ivan Leko (1 January 2021 – 1 December 2022) * Xi Zhikang (1 December 2022 – 28 February 2023) * Javier Pereira (1 March 2023 – 31 December 2023) * Kevin Muscat (1 January 2024 – present)

Honours

League

** Winners (3):

** Runners-up (3):

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

** Winners:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

** Winners: 2007

Cup

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

** Winners:

** Runners-up (2):

* Chinese FA Super Cup ** Winners:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

** Runners-up (2):

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Results

Season-by-season rankings

* In group stage * The season was shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

* Lost in the semifinals * Withdrew from the competition due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures ;Key * Div = Division * Pld = Played * W = Games won * D = Games drawn * L = Games lost * GF = Goals for * GA = Goals against * GD = Goal difference * Pts. = Points * Pos. = Final position * DNQ = Did not qualify * DNE = Did not enter * NH = Not held * R2 = Second round * R3 = Third round * R4 = Fourth round * QF = Quarter-finals * SF = Semi-finals

International results

All results list Shanghai's goal tally first.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes, titlestyle = background:#E20E0E; color:#FFFFFF; {{box-shadow border, a, #E20E0E, 1px, list1 = {{Shanghai Port F.C. squad {{Shanghai Port F.C. managers {{China League One {{China League Two Football clubs in Shanghai Football clubs in China Chinese Super League clubs China League One clubs China League Two clubs Association football clubs established in 2005 2005 establishments in China