Hebei Football Club (simplified Chinese: 河北足球俱乐部; traditional Chinese: 河北足球俱樂部; pinyin: Héběi Zúqiú Jùlèbù) was a professional Chinese football club that participated in the Chinese Super League division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Langfang, Hebei. The club was dissolved in March 2023.[1]
 | |||
| Full name | Hebei Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 | ||
| Dissolved | 29 March 2023 | ||
| Ground | Langfang Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 30,040 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
According to Forbes, Hebei was the 7th most valuable football team in China, with a team value of $90 million, and an estimated revenue of $22 million in 2015.[2]
History
Hebei Zhongji was founded on 28 May 2010 by the Hebei football association and Hebei Zhongji Group who promised to invest three million Yuan a season for next four campaigns.[3] They registered to play within China League Two, third tier of the Chinese football league system, as Hebei Yilin Shanzhuang (Simplified Chinese: 河北依林山庄) for sponsorship reasons in the 2011 league season. They failed to advance into the Play-offs after finishing in 5th place in the group stage. On 17 October 2011, the cooperation relationship between Hebei FA and Hebei Zhongji Group was terminated and Hebei Zhongji Group took full ownership of the club while the players who were owned by Hebei FA split into a new team called Hebei Youth.[4] In the 2012 league season, Hebei Zhongji finished in 1st place in the North Group with 18 wins, 5 draws and only 1 defeat, however they were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Play-offs by Hubei China-Kyle with the score at 1–1, losing on the away goals rule. On 16 August 2013 Guo Ruilong was brought in to manage the team for the rest of the 2013 league season, however during his brief tenure at the club he quickly led them to promotion after finishing runners-up at the end of the campaign.[5] Huang Yang was brought in to coach the team during the off season while on December 26, 2013, the club announced that Uruguayan Nelson Agresta would be the club's first foreign manager.[6]
On 27 January 2015, they changed the team name to Hebei China Fortune (Simplified Chinese: 河北华夏幸福 Archived 2013-04-01 at the Wayback Machine) after being purchased by China Fortune Land Development. Serbian manager Radomir Antić signed a three-year contract with the club on the same day.[7] They changed the club name to Hebei China Fortune F.C. in December 2015 after winning promotion to Chinese Super League in the 2015 season. The club has since expanded its bid for league success by landing international stars such as Gervinho and Ezequiel Lavezzi.[8] In August 2016, the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini became manager of the club,[9] as part of a larger plan for Hebei China Fortune F.C. and Chinese football to make a great leap forward by the end of the decade. This process continued with the appointment of Chris Coleman on 10 June 2018.[10]
Ownership and naming history
| Year | Owner | Club name | Sponsored team name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Hebei Zhongji Group | Hebei Zhongji Football Club | Hebei Yilinshanzhuang |
| 2012–2014 | |||
| 2015 | China Fortune Land Development | Hebei China Fortune | |
| 2016–2020 | Hebei China Fortune Football Club[8] | ||
| 2021–2022 | Hebei Football Club[11] | Hebei Football Club |
Managerial history
| Nationality | Manager | Duration | Departure reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Finish | |||
 | Wei Yuanhao | May 28, 2010 | October 13, 2011 | Mutual consent |
| | Zhang Yandong | October 14, 2011 | August 15, 2013 | |
| | Guo Ruilong | August 16, 2013 | December 3, 2013 | |
| | Huang Yang | December 4, 2013 | December 25, 2013 | |
 | Nelson Agresta | December 26, 2013 | August 14, 2014 | Sacked |
| | Alejandro Larrea | August 14, 2014 | December 31, 2014 | Mutual consent |
 | Radomir Antić | January 27, 2015 | August 18, 2015 | |
| | Li Tie | August 18, 2015 | August 27, 2016 | Sacked |
 | Manuel Pellegrini | August 27, 2016 | May 19, 2018 | Mutual consent |
 | Chris Coleman | June 10, 2018 | May 15, 2019 | Sacked |
| | Xie Feng | May 15, 2019 | March 28, 2021 | Mutual consent |
 | Kim Jong-boo | March 28, 2021 | December 16, 2022 | Mutual consent |
Results
All-time league rankings
As of the end of 2022 season.[12][13]
| Year | Div | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pos. | FA Cup | Super Cup | AFC | Att./G | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 16 | −2 | 16 | 5 1 | DNE | DNQ | DNQ | Yutong International Sports Center | |
| 2012 | 3 | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 50 | 11 | 39 | 59 1 | 6[14] | R2 | DNQ | DNQ | 4,783 | |
| 2013 | 3 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 40 | 13 | 27 | 27 1 | RU | R2 | DNQ | DNQ | ||
| 2014 | 2 | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 31 | 54 | −23 | 29 | 14 | R2 | DNQ | DNQ | 6,239 | |
| 2015 | 2 | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 53 | 30 | 23 | 60 | RU | R4 | DNQ | DNQ | 7,796 | Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium |
| 2016 | 1 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 34 | 38 | −4 | 40 | 7 | QF | DNQ | DNQ | 18,469 | |
| 2017 | 1 | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 55 | 38 | 17 | 52 | 4 | R4 | DNQ | DNQ | 18,054 | |
| 2018 | 1 | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 39 | 6 | R16 | DNQ | DNQ | 16,029 | Langfang Stadium |
| 2019 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 37 | 55 | -18 | 33 | 11 | R4 | DNQ | DNQ | 17,799 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 32 | 44 | -12 | 25 | 8 | R1 | DNQ | DNQ | ||
| 2021 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 28 | -13 | 25 | 8 | R4 | DNQ | DNQ | ||
| 2022 | 1 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 18 | 115 | -97 | -3 2 | 18 | R2 | DNQ | DNQ |
- ^1 In group stage.
- ^2 Hebei had 3 points deducted due to unpaid salaries on 5 November 2022 and had 6 points deducted due to unpaid salaries on 23 November 2022.
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
- Official site (in English)