About

Guangzhou Football Club (simplified Chinese: 广州足球俱乐部; traditional Chinese: 廣州足球俱樂部; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Zúqiú Jùlèbù), previously Guangzhou Evergrande (simplified Chinese: 广州恒大; traditional Chinese: 廣州恆大; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Héngdà), is a Chinese professional football club based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, that competes in China League One, the second tier of Chinese football. Guangzhou plays its home matches at the Huadu Stadium, located within Huadu District. The club's majority shareholders are the now bankrupt Evergrande Real Estate Group (56.71%) and the e-commerce company Alibaba Group (37.81%), while the rest of the shares are traded in the Chinese OTC system. The club was founded in 1954, and won several second tier titles before turning professional in 1993. Their results improved, leading to a runners-up spot in China's top tier. Unable to improve upon these results, the club went through a period of stagnation and decline before they experienced a brief revival, when they won the 2007 second division. In 2009, the club was embroiled in a match-fixing scandal and was subsequently relegated. In 2010, the Evergrande Real Estate Group decided to purchase the club and pumped significant funds into the team. They immediately won promotion and gained their first top tier title in the 2011 season. Guangzhou are the most successful Chinese football club in continental competitions, winning the AFC Champions League twice, in 2013 and 2015, and participating in the FIFA Club World Cup in both years as a result. Between 2011 and 2017, Guangzhou won seven consecutive Chinese Super League titles, and after winning another Chinese Super League title in 2019, the club were relegated after the 2022 season amid financial difficulties. According to a Forbes report from 2016, the team was valued at US$282 million, the highest out of all Chinese football teams, with a reported operating loss of over US$200 million in 2015.