On March 24, a sad news came from domestic football. Mr. Chen Chengda, former Secretary General of the Chinese Football Association, Executive Committee Member, Vice Chairman of the AFC and Director of the Technical Committee, and the youngest head coach in the history of the Chinese football team, died in Beijing in the early morning of March 24 at the age of 93. According to Chen Lao's family, he died peacefully this morning. The departure of Elder Chen is undoubtedly a huge loss to Chinese football. After the bad news came out, representatives of the domestic football community mourned Elder Chen in various ways.
Born in Shanghai in 1929, Chen Chengda competed in 7-a-side football at the age of 10. In 1945, he joined the Shanghai small club "United Stars" team and the Shanghai A club "Jingwu" team, and in 1949, he was admitted to the Department of Architecture of St. John's University in Shanghai. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he played for the Shanghai Students' Federation in 1950, and then was selected for the Shanghai Municipal Team and the East China Team in 1951.
In 1952, Chen Chengda was officially selected for the national team, and two years later he went to Hungary with the national team to study. In 1958, he was named one of the first football players in China. Chen Chengda, who is not tall, is good at playing right forward on the field, and he also played as a center-back and center forward when he was a player. He has a strong sense of passing, is good at organizing attacks and creating shooting opportunities for his peers, and has the characteristics of accurate and steady steals.
From 1957 he was the coach of the national team until 1963. During this period, he was appointed head coach in 1959, thus becoming the youngest head coach in the history of the Chinese team at the age of less than 30. During his coaching for the national team, he led the team to win the 1959 China-Soviet and Hungarian Trilateral Tournament and the 1964 China-North Korea, Vietnamese and Mongolian Tournament.
In 1964, Chen Chengda was transferred to the football department of the then National Sports Commission. He was the coach of hebei from 1971 to 1973 and returned to work in the football department of the National Sports Commission the following year. In 1982, Chen Chengda received the FIFA Intercontinental Senior Coaching Certificate. In 1983, he became the director of the Football Division of the National Sports Commission and the Secretary General of the Chinese Football Association. In 1984, Chan was elected as a member of the AFC Executive Committee and a member of the Competition and Emergency Committee. After retiring in 1986, Chen Lao served as a researcher in the Football Office of the National Sports Commission and was elected vice president of the Asian Football Federation in the same year. He has hosted coaching sessions many times and has authored and translated dozens of articles on football training. In January 2017, the Chinese Football Association awarded the "Outstanding Contribution Award for Football" to Director Chen. It can be said that The life of Elder Chen is a life of hard work and blood for the cause of Chinese football, and it is also a life of glory. Even if he withdraws from the front line of football, he still insists on casting his light, heat and love to his favorite football career.
A football celebrity learned from Chen Lao's family that Chen Lao died peacefully at his home in Beijing in the early morning of March 24. Domestic football celebrities, including former women's football internationals Wen Lirong, Pu Wei, Ma Yuan'an, etc., have also received this heart-wrenching news, and expressed their regret and sorrow for the long death of this "football giant" through various channels. Wen Lirong wrote on the social platform: "Mourning Chen Dao, Chen Dao has gone all the way! Your wisdom and rationality in football will always be remembered. Pu Wei wrote: "Chen Guide Xian passed away, all the way good! Thank you To Director Chen for your teaching and help to our sonorous Rose generation players, I will always miss it! ”
It is reported that after the Chinese Football Association heard the bad news of Chen Lao's death, it instructed the comprehensive department of the association to contact Chen Lao's family for the first time. After verifying the relevant information, the association will send a tribute to Elder Chen through official channels.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Zhao