From struggling in the depths to rising across the board, Liaoning football is making a strong “comeback”!

Special contribution by Shen Jun On November 8th, in the closing game of China League One, Liaoning Ironmen claimed the championship title, marking Liaoning football’s second team to reach the Chinese Super League following Dalian Yingbo’s promotion last year. Recently, the Liaoning U18 men’s team won the gold medal in a penalty shootout against strong Shandong at the 15th National Games, reclaiming the title after 12 years; meanwhile, the Liaoning women’s team, competing in the Women’s Super League for the first time, secured third place, nearly creating a “Kaiserslautern legend” in Chinese football.

From professional leagues to the National Games, from senior squads to youth teams, and from men’s to women’s football, Liaoning football is breaking through on all fronts, escaping the slump, and rising again.

Liaoning football once enjoyed a glorious history. In the 1990s, the Liaoning men’s team achieved a legendary “ten consecutive championships” across the FA Cup, Jia League, National Games, and Asian Club Championship. After professionalization, Dalian football created the remarkable feat of “eight championships.” During the peak of the Jia A League, three teams from Liaoning—Liaoning, Shenyang, and Dalian—competed simultaneously in the top league; the Liaoning and Dalian women’s teams also reached the top of national championships and the National Games, becoming key forces in Chinese women’s football. However, as professionalization deepened, Liaoning football gradually faced difficulties: youth training gaps caused talent loss, the Liaoning women’s team was once disbanded, Shenyang Jinde relocated to Hunan, and after Liaoning Hongyun men’s team was relegated from the Super League in 2017, it was dissolved in 2020, plunging Liaoning football into an unprecedented low.

To revive Liaoning football’s former glory, relevant provincial departments proactively planned and implemented precise policies. On November 30, 2023, the “Reorganize and Revitalize” Liaoning Football Development Symposium was held in Shenyang, clearly positioning Liaoning as a major sports and football province and exploring development paths aligned with football’s growth laws and Liaoning’s characteristics. In January 2024, the Provincial Government Press Office released a special plan for reform and development of professional football clubs in Liaoning to provide strategic guidance. A series of policy benefits have injected strong momentum into Liaoning’s professional football.

Liaoning Ironmen Football Club has become a “beneficiary” of these supportive policies, receiving substantial backing from Liaoning Province and Shenyang City. At the start of 2025, building on last season’s fourth-place finish in China League One, the club signed several strong domestic and international players, including this season’s top scorer Mbemba, forming the “top squad” in the league. At the season’s outset, Liaoning Province invested over 100 million yuan to renovate Tiexi Stadium into a professional venue with a 40,000 spectator capacity, greatly enhancing the fan experience. Throughout the league, Liaoning Ironmen surged forward, clinching the China League One championship two rounds early.

The “youth storm” of the Liaoning women’s team is equally inspiring. This squad, with an average age of just 21, showcased remarkable strength in their debut Women’s Super League season in 2025. For most of the season, the young players fought fearlessly, holding their own against established teams like Beijing and Shanghai, and stayed atop the standings for a long time. Although in the final stage their inexperience led to some inconsistency, and they lost to Beijing in the last away match—where a draw would have secured the title—finishing third, this team completed a remarkable “four-level leap” from youth league to Women’s Super League third place in just four years, nearly replicating the “Kaiserslautern legend” in Chinese football. Their rapid development and fighting spirit have become symbols of Liaoning football’s revival.

Meanwhile, Dalian Yingbo Football Club is another vital force in Liaoning professional football. This newly promoted team firmly established itself in the 2025 Chinese Super League season, not only securing survival well before the season’s end but also dazzling the nation with its electrifying home atmosphere. This season, the average attendance at Dalian Yingbo’s home stadium, Suoyu Bay, neared 60,000 per game, with a peak attendance of 61,616, earning it the title of “Asia’s number one home ground.”

“What started as a spark has now become a blazing fire.” After the Liaoning U18 men’s team won the National Games, a congratulatory message from former Liaoning national player and veteran coach Marin captured the essence of Liaoning football’s youth training revival. Football revitalization is built on youth development. Notably, this team remained unbeaten in six matches throughout the tournament, conceding no goals in regular time, with goalkeepers Wang Tian’ai and Ju Mingze delivering multiple outstanding saves. The team showed solid performance in both attack and defense, demonstrating the strength of Liaoning’s youth training foundation.

The U18 men’s team’s championship was no coincidence but the result of Liaoning’s youth training system’s “multi-point layout and Shenyang-Dalian collaboration.” Among the 22 players on this champion squad, 15 come from Dalian and 7 from Shenyang. The complementary and coordinated youth training resources between these two cities are key to Liaoning’s youth training resurgence. In recent years, Shenyang and Dalian have deepened cooperation in football youth development, jointly building the “Shen-Da Football Youth Training Community”: the China Football (Northern) Training Base in Dalian has operated for years as a major national youth training platform; Shenyang is accelerating the construction of a high-standard youth training base expected to host more national youth competitions and training; meanwhile, professional clubs such as Liaoning Ironmen, Dalian Yingbo, and Dalian Kuncheng have established comprehensive multi-level teams covering U13 to U21 age groups, forming a three-dimensional youth training network combining “professional clubs + city youth training bases.”

The ongoing “Liao Xiaohu” Cup Shen-Da Youth Football Competition further promotes the integration of youth training resources between the two cities. Now in its third consecutive year, the tournament covers eight categories from U10 to U17, with dozens of teams participating each time. Through regular exchanges and matches, young players from Shenyang and Dalian learn from each other and improve together.

Liaoning women’s youth training has also achieved remarkable results. Currently, three players from Liaoning women’s team have been selected for China’s senior women’s national team, and eight for the U20 national team. At the provincial level, Liaoning women’s football has built U14, U16, and U18 tiered teams, forming a virtuous cycle of “youth team construction promoting first-team development.” The Dalian Football Association, leveraging local football heritage, has established a comprehensive women’s youth training system aimed at “winning back the Women’s Super League championship,” strongly supporting the development of Liaoning women’s football.

In the process of Liaoning football’s revival, fans are not just “spectators” but also “participants” and “drivers.” The creation of Dalian Yingbo’s “Asia’s number one home ground” owes much to fans’ full support: to produce the giant TIFO in the south stand, hundreds of fans transported canvas overnight from Shenyang to Dalian, assembling steel frames and positioning ropes on site until the early morning; fan Wang Liheng from Lushun has run dozens of kilometers multiple times from home to Suoyu Bay Stadium to cheer, and his story, spread on live-streaming platforms, has inspired more fans to actively contribute to the home atmosphere.

Liaoning fans’ passion for their teams has long transcended regional boundaries. At the second Liaoning City Football Super Tournament (“Liao Super”), such scenes are common: over 300 fans from Benxi collectively traveled to support their team at an away match in Fushun; fans from Heishan commute daily between Heishan and Benxi to cheer for their hometown team; at the Liaoyang venue, Benxi fans actively introduced their hometown’s cuisine and attractions to Liaoyang supporters; at Dalian Jinzhou Stadium, Dalian and Benxi fans exchanged their matchday experiences after games... Fans from different cities connect through football, making the sport a bond linking urban emotions. During the “Liao Super” matches, attendance at two games in Dalian Jinzhou Stadium exceeded 10,000, with venues in Benxi, Fushun, and Huludao also reaching full capacity.

Taking advantage of the “Liao Super” event, various parts of Liaoning have deeply integrated football matches with cultural tourism consumption, creating distinctive “event + market + culture-tourism” consumption scenes. At the opening match in Shenyang, over 80 themed floats and booths gathered Liaoning’s intangible cultural heritage, agricultural products, local delicacies, and event merchandise, attracting many fans to shop; the Benxi venue incorporated the “China’s Maple Leaf Hometown” tourism resources, launching “Autumn Maple Viewing” themed travel routes during the event, combining fan attendance with autumn tourism; around Suoyu Bay Stadium in Dalian, a “Football Carnival” IP was created, featuring parent-child football and fun shooting activities, drawing family participation and boosting related industries such as dining, accommodation, and retail.

The booming ticket market of Dalian Yingbo has become a “new engine” for the city’s economy. Leveraging the brand effect of “Asia’s number one home ground,” Dalian is promoting the deep integration of football with culture, tourism, and commerce, planning to develop Suoyu Bay Stadium into a city landmark combining event hosting, cultural performances, and sightseeing.

The comprehensive revival of Liaoning football is inseparable from the “guarantee” provided by system and mechanism reforms. After the burst of the “golden era” football bubble, achieving sustainable development for professional football clubs has become a common challenge nationwide. The “shareholding reform exploration” of Dalian Yingbo Club offers valuable experience for Liaoning football and professional football across China.

By the end of 2024, driven by the Dalian municipal government, Dalian Yingbo Club completed a diversified equity reform: the original private investor Dalian Tongshun Construction Development Group retained 80% equity, while two state-owned enterprises—Dalian Zhangzi Island Group and Dalian Huirong Assets—acquired 15% and 5% respectively, totaling 20%. This reform broke the traditional pattern of absolute state-owned control, adopting a market-oriented approach of “shareholding without control, assistance without interference”—the two state-owned firms provide financial support through advertising sponsorship without direct involvement in team management, while introducing modern corporate management concepts to help improve club operations.

Beyond professional club reforms, Liaoning Province is also deepening “sports-education integration” in youth training system construction. By establishing a comprehensive football talent development pathway, facilitating cross-district and cross-regional school admissions, and expanding recruitment of football-specialized students; compiling youth football training guidelines, standardizing training, and emphasizing “learning through competition,” hosting over a thousand youth matches annually to provide ample playing opportunities. Additionally, Liaoning plans to build or renovate 1,000 social football fields within the next three years to further improve football infrastructure and encourage broader public participation in the sport.

“Liaoning football will persistently strive and maintain continuous efforts on the path of revitalization and development, contributing Liaoning’s strength to the rise of Chinese football!” The statement from the Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau official not only affirms the achievements of Liaoning football in the past year but also expresses high hopes for its future growth.