【Qingdao News Network Exclusive】
Reporter Chen Zhiwei
To create a young, fashionable, vibrant and desirable youth city, it is inseparable from the pull of professional sports events.
Professional football from scratch, from something to prosperous, Qingdao West Coast New Area took only one year. This year, through the introduction of professional sports clubs and the creation of a professional sports highland, the West Coast New Area has become a very representative football fertile land.
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In 2022, Qingdao Qingchundao Club, a new team in the Chinese League One, decided to take root on the west coast, and on March 21 this year, the club officially changed its name to Qingdao West Coast Football Club, and the West Coast New District had the first team to play in professional football.
On August 13, in the 18th round of the China League One, Qingdao West Coast team sat at home - West Coast University Town Stadium, ushered in the final match of three consecutive home games in this stage, against the bottom ranked Wuxi Wuhook team, with Sun Jie's goal and Guo Yi's goal, Qingdao West Coast team beat their opponents 3-1 at home, winning three consecutive home games while continuing to lead the standings.
At the end of this round, Qingdao West Coast, Guangxi and Sichuan Jiuniu all won the game, with the three teams accumulating 36 points, and Qingdao West Coast leading the China League One standings by virtue of the win-loss advantage.
Commenting on three consecutive wins, Qingdao West Coast acting coach Jankovic is very satisfied: "This is the last of three consecutive home games for us, and winning this victory for us means still maintaining the top position in the table and we will continue to move forward on the road to overtaking. ”
Qingdao Red Lions Football Club is a professional football team that just settled in the West Coast New District this year.
In April this year, the signing ceremony of Qingdao Red Lion Football Club and the 2023 China Second League departure ceremony were held in the Sino-German Ecopark of the West Coast New Area. Qingdao Red Lions became the second professional football club to enter the West Coast New District after Qingdao West Coast Football Club.
On August 6, Qingdao Red Lion visited Wuhan Hankou Culture and Sports Center to face Wuhan Jiangcheng, and finally Qingdao Red Lion defeated Wuhan Jiangcheng 3:0.
In the first phase of the China Second League, Qingdao Red Lions achieved 10 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats, accumulated 31 points, tied with Dalian Zhixing FC for the highest number of points in the northern zone, and currently only finished second with a two-goal difference, and third in the overall standings of China B. 6 wins and 1 loss at home, 4 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats away games.
It is worth mentioning that Qingdao Red Lions are the only team in the China League Two to score goals in every game so far, with 10 players scoring a total of 21 goals in the first 14 games.
Not only men's football, but also the West Coast New District has ushered in a breakthrough in professional women's football.
On May 18, Qingdao professional football ushered in another major event - Qingdao West Coast Women's Football Club, which settled in the West Coast New Area in April, officially participated in the 2023 Chinese Football Association Women's B League. The trip of Qingdao West Coast Women's Football Club is the second rebirth of Qingdao professional women's football team after 20 years since its dissolution in 2003.
After the establishment of the West Coast Women's Football Team, it formulated a plan of '1-2 years to rush to the top and 5 years to rush to the top'. In the group stage of the China Second League this season, the West Coast Women's Football Team won all four games to reach the top 12 in the country. On August 19, the West Coast Women's Football Team welcomed the first match of the group stage of the round of 12 and embarked on the journey to the First Division.
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In order to undertake professional football events, the West Coast New Area has also built the Qingdao West Coast University Town Sports Center, becoming a new landmark of the sports city.
On May 10, Qingdao West Coast University Town Sports Center was opened, the stadium covers an area of 140 acres, can accommodate 20,000 spectators, is currently one of the closest stadiums to the sea in the country, Qingdao West Coast Team and Qingdao Red Lions are taking this as the main stadium to release unlimited competition vitality.
In terms of training bases, the West Coast, Red Lions and West Coast Women's football team are all based at the Sino-German Ecopark German Football Asia Base.
With a total land area of nearly 40,000 square meters, the base has built a number of 5-a-side football fields, 7-a-side football fields and 11-a-side standard courts, as well as rehabilitation physiotherapy centers and supporting service buildings, which can meet the needs of various competitions, training and exchanges. Professional football clubs can easily build a club base camp integrating training, competition, accommodation and office here. The base has successively held important domestic and international events such as the National Youth Campus Football Summer Camp and the Sino-German Youth Football Friendly Match.
At present, of the three professional teams introduced by Qingdao West Coast New Area, one team is making every effort to overtake it, and two teams are actively rushing to the first class, and all of them have achieved good results. Qingdao West Coast leads the China League One standings, Qingdao Red Lions are ranked in the B Chong A group, and the West Coast Women's Football Team is about to compete in the group stage of the round of 12 and embark on the journey of the First Division.
If the three teams are in full bloom, if the future ushers in the Chinese Super League competition, the West Coast New Area will face "happy troubles" - the football stadium that hosts the event may face a shortage. At present, the home stadium of Qingdao West Coast and Qingdao Red Lions is at the West Coast University Town Sports Center, and in the event of a field conflict, the Red Lions will move to Qingdao Tiantai Stadium as a backup home. Moreover, as the largest and most professional stadium in the West Coast New Area, the West Coast University Town Sports Center can only accommodate 20,000 spectators.
Looking at the whole of Qingdao, in addition to Qingchun Stadium, Qingdao Citizen Fitness Center and Qingdao Guoxin Stadium are good choices for hosting professional football events. However, the West Coast New District is committed to creating a new highland for professional football, and the use of these venues may be an option for the transition period.
According to the "14th Five-Year Plan" period of the "National Football Development Key City Construction Plan" issued by Qingdao, by 2025, Qingdao will have 1,500 football fields of all kinds at all levels, achieving the goal of 1.5 football fields per 10,000 people, of which 260 standard football fields can undertake 6 professional league stadiums and 4 football training bases.
In fact, the West Coast New Area has considered the construction of a large professional football stadium. In response to the inquiry of "Minsheng Online" netizens, the West Coast New Area said that it will strengthen the planning and layout according to the control plan and the requirements of undertaking related events in the future, start the site selection and construction of large-scale professional football stadiums in a timely manner, fully tap the potential of the football industry, optimize the development environment, create a good football atmosphere, and inject new momentum into the economic and social development of the West Coast New Area.
In the future, Qingdao West Coast New Area will accelerate the construction of football venues and other hardware facilities, strengthen the creation and publicity of football culture, create a high-quality football event brand, promote the marketization and large-scale development of the football industry, strengthen professional football, and help Qingdao's football influence be comprehensively enhanced.