Xu era ends as Shanghai East Asia changes hands
Print Edition
VETERAN Shanghai coach and part-owner of the Chinese Super League side Shanghai East Asia, Xu Genbao, will call it quits at the end of the season.
The 70-year-old Xu, who earned fame as a coach in the 1990s, will end his ties with the club he was deeply involved with, because of a change in ownership.
Xu guided local outfit Shanghai Shenhua to its first and only top league title in 1995. He later coached teams in Guangzhou and Dalian before returning to Shenhua in 2002. The Shanghai native started Genbao Football Academy in 2000, and became the general coach of Shanghai East Asia from 2005.
Next season, the club will be taken over by its main sponsor Shanghai International Port Group from the current owners Genbao Football Academy Ltd Co and Shanghai East Asia Group. The club has been struggling with financial difficulties over the years.
The team will likely change its name to Shanghai Shanggang FC next year.
Most of Shanghai East Asia’s players were products of Genbao Football Academy. The club advanced to CSL after winning the Chinese League One in 2012 and won praise for its success with youth development. It came to be known as China’s Manchester United.
East Asia is currently fifth in the 16-team standing with 47 points after beating Jiangsu Sainty 3-0 in its last home game this season at Shanghai Stadium yesterday. East Asia and Xu’s supporters thronged the stadium to bid him farewell.
“Thank you for supporting East Asia over the years. I hope you will continue to support the team and the players,” Xu told the fans.
“He deserves all our respect,” a fan said. “To lead a team to this position with limited resources is no mean achievement. He has been Shanghai football’s name card for a long time.”
Xu will continue to work at the academy as an administrator, but not as a coach.
East Asia is currently the top ranked team among the three Shanghai teams. Shenhua is ninth with 34 points after losing 2-5 to Tianjin Teda yesterday. Shanghai Shenxin is 11th with 32 points after beating Changchun Yatai 2-0.
Second placed Beijing Guo’an beat league leader and defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande 1-0 yesterday. Guo’an is three points behind Evergrande with the latter also holding a huge 23-goal advantage.
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