Shenhua joins hands with sports varsity to form women's team

Ma Yue

Shanghai Greenland Shenhua and Shanghai University of Sport jointly announced the establishment of Shanghai Greenland Shenhua SUS women’s football team on Tuesday.

The team is basically the school team of Shanghai University of Sport, and the Chinese Super League side will start to provide both financial and technical support.

The establishment of the team is in line with the China Football Association’s policy which was unveiled at the beginning of the year. According to the policy, all CSL clubs must have their own women’s teams or mandated women’s teams from the 2020 season. In the 2019 season, it is optional whether a club has a women’s team. But starting from next year, it will become a threshold for clubs wishing to participate in the top-tier league.

The policy is aimed at boosting the development of women’s football, which has not enjoyed the resources and attention afforded to the men’s game. Shenhua is among the very early batch of clubs to take action.

According to Li Yin, party secretary of Shanghai University of Sport, Shenhua approached the university with the proposal. The two sides reached an agreement soon and made the joint announcement at Shenhua’s Kangqiao training base.

The newly established Shanghai Greenland Shenhua SUS women’s football team will play in the Chinese Women’s League Two – the third-tier women’s national league – in September. Most participants of Women’s League Two have been teams representing universities.

“We have set a target for the new team to advance to the (second-tier) Chinese Women’s League One, and even the (top-tier) Chinese Women’s Super League in the future,” said Wu Xiaohui, president of Shanghai Greenland Shenhua.

According to the CFA’s policy, a CSL club’s women’s team must be playing in one of the three tiers of the national league. The team’s training facilities and living costs must be covered.

If the women’s team plays in the top-tier Women’s Super League, the club’s yearly investment in the women’s team should be between 15 million yuan (US$2.2 million) and 30 million yuan.

“The club will set goals for the new team every year, and promises the team with adequate investment and support according to the goals,” added Wu.

The new team will be coached by Ye Zhijing, an assistant coach of the China university women’s team. She will be assisted by two former Shenhua players Li Weiyi and Zhu Jianmin.

The team has 25 players with an average age of 20. All are students of Shanghai University of Sport.

According to Wu, Shenhua will provide technical support and consultation service when necessary. The women’s team may use Shenhua’s Kangqiao training base, or even its home ground of Hongkou Football Stadium in the future. Friendly matches will be organized between the women’s team and Shenhua’s reserve and youth teams.

According to Li, Shanghai University of Sport will also share scientific research resources with Shenhua and help in players’ rehabilitation as part of the cooperation.