 | |||
| Full name | Dalian Professional Football Club 大连人职业足球俱乐部 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Blue Hawks | ||
| Founded | 20 September 2009; 15 years ago (2009-09-20) | ||
| Dissolved | 17 January 2024; 14 months ago (2024-01-17) | ||
| Ground | Dalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 63,000 | ||
| 2023 | Chinese Super League, 15th of 16 (relegated) | ||
| Website | www | ||
Dalian Professional Football Club (Chinese:大连人职业足球俱乐部;pinyin:Dàlián Rén Zhíyè Zúqiú Jùlèbù;lit. 'The Dalianese F.C.'), known asDalian Pro, was a Chinese professionalfootball club based inDalian,Liaoning, which mostly competed in theChinese Super League. Dalian Pro played its home matches at various grounds across Dalian, including theDalian Sports Centre Stadium, theDalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium, theJinzhou Stadium, and thePuwan Stadium.
The club was refounded on September 20, 2009, by Dalian Aerbin Group Company, Ltd., and started from the third tier of the Chinese football pyramid,China League Two. Winning two consecutive league titles in the second and third tier professional football leagues, they were promoted to the top tier in the2012 Chinese Super League season, where they experienced their highest ever placing of fifth in the same season.[1] In 2014, they were relegated from the Chinese Super League. In December 2015, they were renamed Dalian Yifang Football Club. In October 2017, they were crowned champions ofChina League One and once again secured promotion to theChinese Super League. On May 25, 2019, Dalian Yifang Football Club was renamed Dalian Professional Football Club, with the new logo unveiled on January 21, 2020. The team dissolved on 17 January 2024 due to unaffordable historical debts.
On September 20, 2009, Dalian Aerbin Group Co. Ltd. established a new professional football club named Dalian Aerbin (Chinese:大连阿尔滨) and hired formerChinese footballerLi Ming to become the club manager. The club's nameAerbin comes from theManchu language, meaninga place with water, which is also the name of a small town inJinzhou District of Dalian where Dalian Aerbin Group Co. Ltd is located. They would soon move into theDalian University Stadium in theDalian Development Area and bring inChi Shangbin as their co-manager andSun Xianlu as their head coach.[2] Starting in the third-tier league, the club made their debut in the2010 China League Two season. The club brought in established top-tierChinese Super League players such asGuo Hui,Chang Lin, andYang Lin. The quality of these players helped the club win their regional division section and later, the league title overTianjin Songjiang as the club won the championship.[3]
In the following season, the club hired its first foreign coach, Bulgarian managerAleksandar Stankov. Dalian Aerbin F.C. set up a surprising winning streak and won the2011 China League One championship.[4] With their meteoric rise to the Super League, the club decided to use the 30,775-seaterJinzhou Stadium as its home stadium and shared it with their local rivalDalian Shide, as well as signing a more experienced manager inChang Woe-Ryong, who had previously managed in the Chinese Super League withQingdao Jonoon.[5] The club initially struggled in the league and the club brought inAleksandar Stanojević as the head coach.[6] By July 11, 2012, Dalian Aerbin brought in a marquee player in the form of formerBarcelona F.C. midfielderSeydou Keita, who departed the Spanish team on a free transfer and helped ensure Dalian Aerbin remained within the league.[7] At the end of the 2012 league season, Stanojevć managed to not only avoid relegation but actually guided the club to fifth within the league.
On 30 November 2012, Aerbin Group acquired the local rivalDalian Shide F.C. by taking on responsibility of their 330 millionRMB debt after Dalian Shide's chairmanXu Ming was arrested for bribing and corruption.[8] In the hope of bringing in a harmonious merger of the two teams, former Dalian Shide managerXu Hong was brought in for the start of the2013 Chinese Super League. However, after only 63 days in charge, he had to resign after theChinese Football Association found that he had manipulated a match while he was a manager atSichuan First City and was given a 5-year suspension from all football activity, which forced Li Ming to start the season as their caretaker manager.[9] The Chinese Football Association called off this merger, according to regulations, and decided that former Dalian Shide players should join the free market, while Dalian Aerbin could only sign them through a normal transfer, 5 at most, instead of taking over the whole team.[10] This incident caused Aerbin to face some serious financial problems, being unable to pay the salaries, bonuses, or even maintenance of the stadium.[11] At the end of the2014 Chinese Super League, Aerbin was relegated toChina League One.
With Dalian Aerbin back in the China League One division and with the loss of revenue generated from being in the top tier, the club could not afford to maintain their squad, which saw a mass exodus of players.[12]Mikael Stahre was hired as the head coach at the start of the2015 league campaign and looked to be pushing for promotion, which saw Dalian Yifang Group Co. Ltd on 8 July 2015, buy majority shares within the club.[13] The purchase was promoted byWang Jianlin and hisDalian Wanda Group, who are a main shareholder of the Yifang Group (一方, "one region"), with the investment signaling a return of football ownership from Wang Jianlin, who had previously ownedDalian Wanda F.C.[14] The club failed to win promotion back into the top tier after finishing third place at the end of the 2015 season and officially changed their name to Dalian Yifang F.C. (Chinese:大连一方) in December 2015.[15] On 10 July 2015, in a press conference to confirm the Yifang Group's investment, the general manager, Shi Xueqing (石雪清), admitted that the club was still losing money.[16]
In the2017 China League One season, Dalian Yifang won the division title and promotion back into the top tier under head coachJuan Ramón López Caro.[17] Despite this success, the Dalian Football Association announced that he was being replaced byMa Lin, which saw speculation grow that the club was still in financial difficulties and was looking for the local government Dalian Sports Bureau to take over the club.[18] On 20 February 2018, the Wanda Group took full control on the club after selling their 17% share inAtlético Madrid to Israeli businessmanIdan Ofer on 14 February 2018.[19] The Wanda Group would use the money taken from Atlético Madrid and invest it in bringing in Argentinian internationalNicolás Gaitán and Belgium internationalYannick Carrasco.[20]
The team and the Wanda Group sought further influence in the 2019 season. In February 2019, the club completed another marquee signing from Europe, this time acquiring the services ofNapoli manMarek Hamšík, who signed for a reported fee of about €20 million (£18m/$23m).Gaitán left the team to play for theMLS sideChicago Fire after just one season.[21] The team signed with Korean managerChoi Kang-hee, but had less-than-expected performance as the league went halfways. In July 2019, Dalian Pro ended contract with Choi, whileRafael Benítez was introduced to the team, that he "was impressed by chairmanWang's passion and future plan on football".[22][23]Salomon Rondon also joined fromNewcastle United, as a response to Benítez's call.
On 21 January 2020, Dalian Yifang changed their name to Dalian Pro.[24] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Chinese Super League did not start until July, after which, Carrasco decided to leave the team. Dalian Pro and Benitez focused on aggressive promotion of young players, putting older players down to the reserves, as the 2020 league did not have much relegation pressure.
In January 2021, Benítez and Dalian Pro parted ways.[25] Hamsik and Rondon also decided to leave. As the CSL introduced further limits on salary cap and transfer fees, the team seemed to reach a post-marquee era by not introducing new foreign players and remained low-profile. The team appointedJosé González, but was relegated to China League One afterthe season.
On 12 March 2022, Dalian Pro announced major changes in its owners. Wanda Group decided to quit, and the team would be taken over temporarily by a government-led reforming work team. Past debts and operating costs of the first team, youth training facilities, and projects for the next three years would still be covered by Wanda Group. The Dalian Pro Academy Base was donated to DETA Holdings (德泰控股), a state-invested company in Dalian.[26]
On 27 May 2022, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced that Dalian Pro, which had been relegated from the top flight at the end of last season, would compete in the 18-team top flight, as a replacement for disbanded clubChongqing Liangjiang Athletic.[27]
Dalian Pro were relegated from the Chinese Super League once again in 2023, and failed to acquire the entry permission into the 2024 league due to historical debts. The team announced its cease of operations on 17 January 2024.[28]
| Year | Owner | Club name |
|---|---|---|
| 2009–15 | Dalian Aerbin Group | Dalian Aerbin Football Club |
| 2015 | Dalian Yifang Group | |
| 2016–2020 | Dalian Yifang Football Club | |
| 2020–2021 | Dalian Wanda Group | Dalian Professional Football Club |
| 2022–2024 | Football Reform Workgroup of Dalian (Government-based) | Dalian Professional Football Club |
| First team | |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Xie Hui |
| Assistant coach |  Ng Wai Chiu |
| Assistant coach | Chang Lin |
| Goalkeeping coach |  Everton da Rocha Santos |
| Fitness coach |  Alex Ros Cladella |
| Tactical Analyst | Aitor Calero Garcia |
| Reserve and youth teams | |
| Reserve (U-23) coach | David Rivas Martínez |
| U-21 coach | Liu Yujian[29] |
| U-21 assistant coach | Zhou Ting |
| U-19 coach | Sun Wei |
| U-17 coach | Zhang Yaokun |
| U-17 assistant coach | Zou Peng |
| U-17 assistant coach | Li Wenbo |
| U-15 coach | Zhao Peng |
| U-15 assistant coach | Chi Yaojun |
| U-14 coach | Li Yang |
| U-15 assistant coach | Zou Jie |
| U-13 coach | Wang Zhaochen |
| Managers | Period |
|---|---|
| Chi Shangbin | Jan 1, 2009 – Dec 31, 2010 |
| Sun Xianlu | 2010 |
 Aleksandar Stankov | June 2010 – Dec 11, 2011 |
 Chang Woe-ryong | Jan 1, 2012 – Apr 3, 2012 |
 Aleksandar Stanojević | Apr 4, 2012 – Nov 9, 2012 |
| Xu Hong | Dec 11, 2012 – Feb 18, 2013 |
| Li Ming(interim) | Feb 18, 2013 – June 5, 2013 |
 Simo Krunić | June 3, 2013 – Dec 5, 2013 |
| Ma Lin | Nov 5, 2013 – May 28, 2014 |
 Yasuharu Kurata | May 30, 2014 – Dec 19, 2014 |
 Mikael Stahre | Jan 5, 2015 – July 5, 2016 |
| Milinko Pantić | July 5, 2016 – Aug 31, 2016 |
| Sergio Piernas | Aug 31, 2016 – Nov 29, 2016 |
| Juan Ramón López Caro | Nov 29, 2016 – Dec 26, 2017 |
| Ma Lin | Dec 26, 2017 – Mar 20, 2018 |
 Bernd Schuster | Mar 20, 2018 – Feb 11, 2019 |
| Choi Kang-hee | Feb 11, 2019 – July 1, 2019 |
| Rafael Benítez | July 1, 2019 – Jan 23, 2021 |
| José González | Apr 16, 2021 – Dec 31, 2021 |
| Xie Hui | Mar 19, 2022 – Dec 31, 2023 |
All-time League Rankings
| Year | Div | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pos. | FA Cup | Super Cup | AFC | Att./G | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 14 | 23 | 34 1 | W | NH | NH | DNQ | Dalian University Stadium | |
| 2011 | 2 | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 45 | 20 | 25 | 54 | W | R2 | NH | DNQ | ||
| 2012 | 1 | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 51 | 46 | 5 | 44 | 5 | QF | DNQ | DNQ | 15,774 | Jinzhou Stadium |
| 2013 | 1 | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 41 | 5 | SF | DNQ | DNQ | 10,538 | |
| 2014 | 1 | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 32 | 45 | −13 | 29 | 15 | R3 | DNQ | DNQ | 10,993 | Dalian Sports Centre Stadium |
| 2015 | 2 | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 46 | 22 | 24 | 58 | 3 | R3 | DNQ | DNQ | 15,233 | |
| 2016 | 2 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 13 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 45 | 5 | R3 | DNQ | DNQ | 10,806 | |
| 2017 | 2 | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 48 | 23 | 25 | 64 | W | R3 | DNQ | DNQ | 20,596 | |
| 2018 | 1 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 37 | 57 | −20 | 35 | 11 | SF | DNQ | DNQ | 33,145 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 44 | 51 | −7 | 38 | 9 | SF | DNQ | DNQ | 32,853 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 21 | −3 | 112 | 12 | R1 | DNQ | DNQ | −3 | −3 |
| 2021 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 21 | 37 | −16 | 19 | 15 | QF | DNQ | DNQ | −4 | −4 |
| 2022 | 1 | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 49 | 53 | -4 | 45 | 11 | R2 | DNQ | DNQ | Puwan Stadium Dalian Sports Centre Stadium | |
| 2023 | 1 | 30 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 25 | 47 | -22 | 20 | 15 | SF | DNQ | DNQ | 18,031 | Dalian Sports Centre Stadium Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium |
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Had international caps for their respective countries.
