The Origin, Present Situation and Countermeasures of Football Development in Modern China
Liang Junqi and Ma Doucheng
Football originated in China. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, "Cuju" or "Collapse Ju" appeared. The earliest statement can be found in Qi Ce, the Warring States Policy: "Being rich is very blessed and real …… it collapses". In the Han Dynasty, cuju got a greater development due to the prosperity of social economy, which was almost empty, and cuju became the main sports activity of the court. Modern football originated in Scotland, and since it was introduced to China at the end of 19th century, it has been widely welcomed by Chinese people with its unique charm. Li Huitang, a player who was active in modern China football, was once rated as one of the "top five ball kings in the world" by an authoritative magazine in the Federal Republic of Germany. However, as football has become one of the most popular sports in China, the development of football in China has been ill-fated and has failed to live up to the support and love of Chinese people. Exploring the development history of football in China and putting forward targeted opinions and suggestions have certain reference significance for promoting the development of football in China.
1. Shanghai has become the birthplace of modern football in China.
When it comes to modern football in China, we can’t help but mention Shanghai. As the earliest gateway city to open concession in modern China, Shanghai was inhabited by westerners, with numerous church organizations, and was deeply influenced by the west in all aspects of social life. Therefore, it became one of the main windows for modern China to introduce western things, including sports, and was once known as "the cradle of China football" and "the important football town in the Far East", just after Hongkong. It can be said that Shanghai is the birthplace of modern football in China and the cradle of the development of modern football in China.
In 1848, when the Cambridge Rules, the first written rule of football, was born, Shanghai, known as the "ten-mile foreign field", was also influenced by missionary schools, which opened a new era of modern competitive sports in China. In November 1867, Shanghai Westerners established a football association, also called a football club, and formulated some football rules. Later, according to their respective units, they gradually split into different teams, such as navy football club, police football club and so on. However, Shanghai Football Club still undertakes the responsibility of leading and organizing all the western football clubs in Shanghai. At the end of 19th century, football was included in the teaching content of Westernization schools and missionary schools.
In 1895, St. John’s College established the first all-face of china football team in Shanghai. Although I dare not say that this is the first football team in China, it is also one of the early modern football teams in China, and it is known as the "St. John’s Braid Army". Shortly thereafter, Shanghai Nanyang College also set up its own football team. In 1902, the two schools imitated the football team competition between Oxford and Cambridge, and began to hold a series of competitions that could be recorded in the history of China. As a result, football became a popular sport in various famous universities in Shanghai at that time, and even major middle schools such as the famous Xuhui College became "trendsetters" in this "new sport".
In 1902, the Shanghai Football Association was founded (referred to as "Western Union") and began to hold the Scooter Cup. As the most influential football match in Shanghai that year, participants in the Scooter Cup are not allowed to have China teams or face of china. To this end, Shanghai students and the people jointly established the East China Inter-school Football League, in which soccer teams from eight schools participated. In order to fight against the Western Union, the All-China Sports Association was established in 1924, with Zhang Boling as the chairman and Wang Zhengting as the honorary president. In the same year, the Chinese Football Federation was established in Shanghai, which was a milestone in the development of modern Chinese football. Since then, with the holding of the national sports meeting and the national sub-regional football match, it indicates that football has gained extensive attention and gradually spread throughout the country.
Second, modern football in China went from glory to decline.
Football is an emotional sustenance and a historical inheritance. A philosopher once said: There are only two common languages of human beings, one is music and the other is football! As the "world’s first sport", football is very popular all over the world. Especially in some European and American countries, the level of football is relatively high, and the development of football and football industry is relatively mature. But little known is that the popularity of football in modern China is not inferior to that of today, and it represents the highest level in Asia at that time.
On the history of modern football development in China, Li Huitang is an unavoidable figure. In 1922, at the age of 17, Li Huitang was selected as the main striker of South China Team, the most famous football team in Hong Kong. In 1925, Li Huitang was invited to Shanghai to prepare for the Shanghai Lehua Football Team. In 1927, he led the team to win three championships, namely, the first-class tournament held by the Western Federation and the first-class tournament held by the Chinese Football Federation. Although they didn’t win the Scooter Cup, Li Huitang and Lehua football have already become the symbols of China football. In the 1920s, there was a saying in China: "It’s up to Mei Lanfang to watch the play and Li Huitang to watch the ball." In old China, it is really extraordinary that a football star can be compared with the name of Mei Lanfang, a master of Peking Opera. He won the title of "Asian Ball King" with tenacious struggle and superb skills. In 1976, an authoritative football magazine in the Federal Republic of Germany organized a selection campaign, and Li Huitang was named "the top five soccer kings in the world" along with Brazil Pele, England Matthews, Spain Stifano and Hungarian Serbs.
In 1924, the Football Association of the Republic of China was established, and China football was truly systematized and institutionalized. For the first time, a regular team representing the country’s foreign wars appeared. In 1924, it was also regarded as the founding year by the national football team, marking the beginning of football in China and becoming a standardized competition in China. Joining FIFA in 1931 also confirmed the recognition of China football by the international community. At that time, China football began to enter the "golden age" of strong development in Asia. Together with Li Huitang, the first groundbreaking pioneers emerged. From 1915 to 1934, China won nine consecutive championships in the Far East Games, and was shortlisted for the Olympic Games twice in 1936 and 1948. At this time, China football is a well-deserved overlord in Asia. Later, due to political and other reasons, there was a vacuum in the whole world football, and China football was no exception.
After the founding of New China, the China Football Association was established in 1955. After failing to hit the 1958 World Cup finals, it withdrew from FIFA. Then came the ten-year Cultural Revolution, when football was banned. After the reform and opening up, he rejoined FIFA in 1979. Since then, China failed in the 1982 World Cup finals. This is the first time that China’s football has been closed for a long time, and it has hit the World Cup qualifying right since it returned to FIFA. In essence, it is the beginning of the modern history of China’s football. Since 1976, China team has participated in the Asian Cup for nine times in a row, and reached the finals twice in 1984 and 2004, but both of them came back with a grudge. Their debut in the first World Cup was the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, but they lost all three games and conceded 9 goals without scoring a goal.
1992 was the first year of football professionalization in China. The "Hongshankou Conference" held in June, 1992 was hailed as the Zunyi Conference of China Football. The conference decided to take professionalization as the breakthrough of football reform, and it was also supported by national leaders. In 1994, the first League A began, and China Football Year officially entered the professional road. After the end of the 2003 season, League A and League B were transformed into the first-class football leagues in chinese super league and China. Entering the 2002 China-Japan World Cup finals was the heyday of Japanese football. Since then, the achievements of the "National Brand" team have been lackluster, but Evergrande Football Club won the AFC Champions League twice in 2013 and 2015 respectively, saving some face for China football.
Revitalizing and developing football is the ardent expectation of the whole country, which is related to the physical and mental health of the masses and the cultivation of excellent culture, and is of great positive significance for building a sports power, promoting economic and social development and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. On March 16th, 2015, the highly anticipated Overall Plan for Football Reform and Development in China (hereinafter referred to as the Plan) was officially announced. As a programmatic document of China’s football reform and development, there are 50 reform measures in the plan, which can be called the most important reform in the history of new China football in terms of content and scale. It also means that China’s football reform has entered a "deep water area", and the future reform road has attracted more attention. In April 2016, the Medium-and Long-term Development Plan of China Football (2016-2050) (hereinafter referred to as the Plan) was issued. The plan is divided into three periods: short-term, medium-term and long-term. In the near future, it is necessary to achieve the development goal of ensuring basic, strengthening grassroots and laying a foundation; In the medium term, it will achieve the development goal that China football is more dynamic, more energetic and more influential, and ranks among the top teams in the world; In the long run, it is necessary to achieve the goal of being a first-class football power, and China’s football will achieve all-round development.
If the Plan is the "program" of football reform and development in China and the Plan is the "goal" of football reform and development in China, the future development of football in China will usher in a clearer timetable and a clearer road map.
Third, it is a long way to go to realize the revitalization of football in China
Since China football has been concerned by the public, tragedy and tragedy have become synonymous with them. China men’s soccer team took part in international competitions and capsized several times at the last minute, and performed a series of "black three minutes", which seemed to be an insurmountable psychological barrier for the China team. "5.19 tragedy", "Irbid tragedy", "Golden State tragedy", Yangcheng tragedy, borhani’s humiliation, World Cup tragedy … have impacted the fragile hearts of China fans again and again. "If you are not happy, just watch the national football game!" "If you want to be in a bad mood, go and see the Super League!" ….. netizens commented like this.
Of the three big balls, only football was invented by China. At present, China men’s soccer team can only be regarded as a third-rate team in the world and a second-rate team in Asia. China is the birthplace of football, and now China’s backward football achievements and status are not commensurate with the status of the birthplace of football and China’s status as a big country in the world. Popularize football on a large scale, greatly improve the level of football, and make China a world football power, so as to match the historical and realistic status of this birthplace.
一是加强青训体系建设。良好的青训体系是足球人才的最根本的来源。在欧洲乃至世界足坛，几乎每一家球队都非常看重自家的青训营，比如巴萨拉玛西亚青训营、阿贾克斯青训营、曼彻斯特联青训营、拜仁慕尼黑青训营等，培养和出产了大批享誉世界的足坛巨星。曾经，支撑着中国足球的是举国体制的培养训练模式，为中国足球输送了不少人才。但2004年之后，足协把青训的任务交给了市场，原有青训体系崩塌，多年来青训的进展发展缓慢，甚至原地踏步，甚至不断倒退。实现中国足球腾飞的梦想，就要牢记习近平总书记对校园足球及中国足球发展的殷切希望，牢记立德树人、全面发展的核心目标，进一步完善校园足球制度体系和治理体系，探索和建立一个符合我国国情和特色的青训体系，为中国足球的腾飞壮骨强筋、固本培元。
The second is to popularize football for all. At present, there are less than 7,000 young players registered by China Football Association, accounting for 1.4% and 1% of Japanese 600,000 and Spanish 620,000 respectively. There are 8,000 registered professional players, and the quarterly shortage of football population seriously affects the development of football in China. Popularizing football by the whole people and increasing the football population base will naturally increase the number of outstanding players. It is necessary to actively integrate into the top-level design, conscientiously implement the requirements of the "Program" and "Planning", and provide strong support for vigorously popularizing social football. It is necessary to increase financial input, extensively carry out mass amateur football leagues, and drive social football events to go deep into the masses. It is necessary to promote the construction of venues, improve the utilization rate of campus football fields, further improve the hardware facilities of football venues, and provide a strong guarantee for the extensive development of social football. It is necessary to solve the defects in the management system, solve the problem of backward system and mechanism, separate management from office, de-administer, and overcome the tendency of "pseudo-professionalism".
Third, we must strengthen the construction of the league. By other’s faults, wise men correct their own. The experience of European and American football powers tells us that high-level leagues are the only way for football development. League is the foundation of football development in China. Players of our national team are selected, improved and grown in the league. The progress of the national team cannot be separated from the healthy development of the league, which is the basis for the survival and development of the national team. League standards should be in line with international standards, adhere to openness and innovation, and constantly absorb and learn from international advanced experience to transform and upgrade the league level. League organization should be more scientific, and club construction should be more standardized and healthier. It is necessary to increase the construction of professional league culture and professional ethics, improve the all-round and three-dimensional supervision system of the football industry, and resolutely prevent the recurrence of problems such as "fake gambling". It is necessary to adhere to the principle of "football starts with dolls", promote the development of youth training from "quantity" to "quality", effectively improve the club’s own hematopoietic function, realize a virtuous circle and long-term sustainable development, and train and transport outstanding talents for the national team. It is necessary to enhance the awareness of the overall situation, jointly build a national team that can recruit good fighters and have a good style of work, and strive to achieve results that satisfy the broad masses of the people.
(Liang Qiqi, School of History, Qingdao University; Professor Ma Doucheng, School of History, Qingdao University)