Zhou Yajun () (born October 17, 1984 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 ...

) is a

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

former

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Shenhua and University

Zhou Yajun began his football career with the various

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 ...

youth teams and took part in the squads that trained in Brazil, however instead of immediately continuing with his football career Zhou Yajun would instead continue with his studies and go to

Donghua University Donghua University (DHU, ) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. The university is part of the Double First-Class Construction and Project 211. Formerly known as China Textile Universit ...

where he still played football as a goalkeeper. Once he had completed his studies he was allowed to return to Shanghai Shenhua and by the

2006 Chinese Super League The 2006 Chinese Super League was the third season since the establishment of the Chinese Football Association Super League (中国足球协会超级联赛 or 中超), also known as Chinese Super League, the thirteen season of professional associa ...

season he would start his professional football career as their third choice goalkeeper. His league debut would come on July 16, 2006 against

Qingdao Zhongneng Qingdao Hainiu Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Qingdao, Shandong, that competes in . Qingdao Hainiu plays its home matches at the Qingdao Youth Football Stadium, located within Chengyang District. Their current ...

in a 2-0 win. Surprisingly he would find himself continuing to play in goal due to injury and suspensions to the other goalkeepers and by the end of the season he had played in 12 league games. Zhou Yajun's progression within the Shanghai Shenhua's football team was short lived when they merged with local football team

Shanghai United F.C. Shanghai United F.C () was a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, who last played in the 16,000 seater Yuanshen Sports Centre Stadium in the Chinese Super League. The club was founded by Dalian Shide F.C. on 1 February 2000 and w ...

and with the influx of players he found himself immediately dropped from the newly formed team throughout the 2007 league season.

Henan Construction

Zhou Yajun was surplus to requirements and was allowed to leave Shanghai Shenhua at the end of the 2007 league season and by the beginning of the

2008 Chinese Super League The 2008 Chinese Super League (known as the Kingway 2008 Chinese Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League and the 15th season of the professional football league in China. This s ...

season he joined

Henan Construction Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

. He would make his debut on their first game of the season on April 5, 2008 against Liaoning Whowin F.C. in a 3-3 draw. After that game he would become their first choice goalkeeper throughout the season. While he aided Henan to a respectable 10th within the league he was dropped in favour of new goalkeeper

Zeng Cheng Zeng Cheng (; born 8 January 1987) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays for Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League. Club career Zeng Cheng started his football career at top-tier side Wuhan Guanggu; however, he was soon loane ...

by new Manager

Tang Yaodong Tang Yaodong (; born 17 February 1962 in Shenyang, China) is a Chinese football manager and former Chinese international footballer. He mainly played as a centre forward for Liaoning FC. Playing career Club career Tang Yaodong began his foot ...

at the beginning of the

2009 Chinese Super League The 2009 Chinese Super League season was the sixth season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League, the sixteenth season of a professional football league and the 48th top-tier league season in China. Beijing Guoan won their first ever ...

Shenzhen

On 3 February 2016, Zhou signed for

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 ...

club

Shenzhen FC Shenzhen Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club based in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Shenzhen played its home matches at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre and the Shenzhen Stadium. Their majority shareholder was the Kaisa Group, ...

. He would make his debut in a league game on 12 March 2016 against Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard F.C. in a 2-1 victory. He would go on to be part of the squad that gained promotion at the end of the

2018 China League One The 2018 China League One ( zh, 58同城 2018中国足球协会甲级联赛) was the 15th season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league system, Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment in 2004. The l ...

campaign.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2019.''

Honours

Club

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

Player stats at sohu.com

Squad profile at Henan Construction website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Yajun 1984 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Shanghai Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Henan F.C. players Shenzhen F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Donghua University alumni