Stick to the north gate of football
This red land in Jiangxi has never lacked the spirit of revolution: it is a spirit of hard struggle, courage to move forward, adherence to faith, diligence and bravery. These spiritual qualities have long been rooted in the hearts of every Jiangxi person, including the Jiangbei Gate Football Club, which has always adhered to it. But it is such an old club that has inherited the fine tradition of Jiangxi football, but it has come to a crossroads of choice.
A storm triggered by a microblog
The anger caused by the national football team on the first day of the New Year has not yet dissipated; the face found by the women's football team on the sixth day of the New Year has not yet been cold, and when the people of the whole country are immersed in the joy of the Winter Olympics, the media has broken a news that the Chinese League A club is about to be dissolved. What is doubly surprising is that it is not the most difficult club that has been rumored to be dissolved, but the gate of Jiangbei, which has always had stable funds and stable results. For fans who are familiar with the Chinese First Division and Chinese football, this name should not appear on the disbandment list.
20 years of football perseverance
In the twenty years from amateur to professional, it seems that each decade has a different meaning for the club.
Turning the clock back to 2002, the Jiujiang Liansheng Amateur Football Team was founded under the organization of their chairman Yan Yongmin. At that time, the young teenagers would not know that the history of Jiangxi football would change from here. Yan Yongmin is a full fan, in those years, as long as there are football matches in Jiujiang, there is his figure everywhere. He not only plays football, but also often sponsors Jiujiang football matches. Slowly, his amateur football team made some name for itself in Jiangxi, and in the nine years from 2002 to 2011, Liansheng Amateur Football Club won 10 championships in the Jiujiang City League, the Jiangxi Provincial City Cup and the National Amateur League. These 10 golden trophies are full of Yan Yongmin and Liansheng football players' persistent pursuit, tenacious struggle, and courage to move forward.
In the blink of an eye, the time came to the second decade of the Liansheng team, that is, in 2012, Nanchang Hengyuan left Shanghai, renamed Shanghai Shenxin, and Jiangxi football collapsed. At the invitation of the then leader of the Jiangxi Provincial Sports Bureau, Yan Yongmin stepped forward and carried the banner of Jiangxi professional football. This work is another decade.
Compared with the first decade, the road of professional football is extremely difficult, and the doubling of the increase in capital investment has put Yan Yongmin under pressure, but for the future of Jiangxi professional football, he does not dare to fall, let alone fall. This is a heavy responsibility, but also his dedication to Jiangxi football.
In just two years, Jiangxi Liansheng Football Club has become a champion of "wearing a strong and sharp, invincible and unfavorable", bringing the heavy Chinese Second Division championship trophy back to the land of Jiangxi. However, the high investment in the JinYuan era still turned away Unisun's football dream, and in just one season, Jiangxi Unisheng was relegated from the Middle League to the Middle B. In the 2016-2019 season, Jiangxi Liansheng still became a strong team in the Chinese Second League under the condition of lack of attention and exposure, and when the low-level teams disbanded in groups, they did not sink. In the 2020 season, Jiangxi Liansheng fulfilled its promise to return to the Chinese First Division. In the two seasons of the Chinese League One, they relied on their high investment, successfully completed the relegation task, and remained on the stage of the Chinese League One steadily.
Ten years of amateur leagues, ten years of professional leagues, Liansheng football has become an increasingly clear symbol of Jiangxi sports culture in twenty years, leaving a deep memory for Jiangxi fans; Liansheng people use football to deeply engrave Jiangxi Province, Jiujiang City and Ruichang City on the map of Chinese professional football, and the names of Jiangxi Province, Jiujiang City and Ruichang City are resounding together with Liansheng Football. This is Yan Yongmin's commitment to Jiangxi football, and it is also his adherence to Jiangxi football for 20 years.
Stand at the northwest gate of the river at the intersection
If there is one word to describe this storm, it must be "sudden". But if we carefully comb through the causes and effects, it is not difficult to find the reasons for them.
As we all know, Liansheng Group, as a supermarket and retail-oriented business entity, unlike most real estate industries that invest in football, the commodity retail industry has also suffered an economic downturn during the epidemic. Coupled with the Chinese Football Association's implementation of name neutralization from the 2021 season, it was still possible to rely on the club's influence in China for certain publicity, after changing its name to Jiangbei Gate, Liansheng, a company that is deeply involved in Jiangxi football, has no publicity rights that can be obtained from football, and it is understandable that the club has a heart to heart.
Jiangxi football you and I build together
"Those who hold the salary for all must not let them freeze to death in the wind and snow; for those who strive for the present, they must not drown in dust." How many 20 years can you have in life? From amateur football clubs to Jiangxi Liansheng, which carries the banner of professional football, to today's Jiangbei Gate, Jiangbei Gate is one of the few clubs in China that has not changed its investor for twenty years. Among them, the ups and downs have also been passed together, and the difficulties and obstacles have also been crossed together; if there is a glimmer of vitality, who is willing to give up twenty years of persistence? Who wants to see Jiangxi football sink again?
A healthy club cannot be separated from the support of all parties. Policy support + fan construction + enterprise investment, the three parties work together to form a good, healthy football development system. Everyone collects firewood and flames high, helping the development of Football in Jiangxi, which requires the joint participation of all parties and everyone.
There is no winter that is insurmountable, and there is no spring that does not come. What we need to do is to report to the group to keep warm, wait for the next spring blossom season, and let the flowers of football bloom all over Jiangxi, a hot land with a red spirit.