Original title: How a “super” team was formed. Behind the historic breakthrough of Guangxi football
On October 20, the Guangxi Pingguo Benong Women’s Football Team (hereinafter referred to as Pingguo Benong) ended the 2025 Chinese Football Association Women’s League A with a 4:1 victory. After winning the final battle, Pingguobenong won the league championship with a record of 22 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, and also won a ticket to the Chinese Football Association Women’s Super League next season.
On October 26, the Guangxi Hengchen men’s football team also successfully won the Chinese Football Association Second Division Championship. So far, Guangxi football has achieved a historic breakthrough in the 2025 season and won the “double championship” of the National Women’s and Men’s Professional Leagues.
What is even more exciting is that Pingguo Benong achieved the “three consecutive jumps” from Class B to Super League in 4 years. For the first time, a Guangxi team will appear on the stage of China’s top professional football league. So, how was this “super” team formed?
The “three consecutive jumps” from breaking through to the second level to being promoted to the Premier League
Turning the clock back to 2021, Pingguo, known as the “Aluminum Capital of South China”, faced the issue of transformation and development of industrial cities and was determined to “revitalize sports and education” and plan for the development of football. Through introduction and purchase, Pingguo successively established Guangxi Pingguo Halong Football Club and Guangxi Pingguo Benong Football Club, which competed in the Chinese Second League and Women’s Second League respectively.
Pingguo Benong is a team jointly built by Pingguo and the Changchun Volkswagen Excellent Women’s Football Team. Therefore, a group of outstanding players from all over the world gathered in this small Guangxi city. In the women’s second league final held on December 17 of that year, facing the Hainan Qiongzhong Women’s Football Team led by former China U16 women’s football coach Chen Wanting, Pingguo Benong won the championship with a score of 2:1, and at the same time rewrote the history of the Guangxi women’s football team – this was the first national league championship for the Guangxi women’s football team.
In the Chinese Women’s Football League system, the Women’s League Two is a “professional qualification exam.” Promotion to the Women’s League One marks a team’s formal entry into the “workplace.” This victory is undoubtedly a “shot in the arm” for football practitioners and fans in Guangxi, marking the beginning of the Guangxi women’s football team entering the professional league.
The journey is not always easy. “Whether it is competition or operation, the team faces considerable challenges.” Su Gang, chairman of the Pingguo Football Association and team leader of Pingguo Benong, said: “At the most difficult time, the entire team only had 15 players, and the future was full of uncertainty.”
Su Gang has witnessed the team’s growth along the way. Over the past four years, Pingguo Benong has gradually got on the right track with the support of all parties. In August 2024, the club underwent a shareholding reform, and a state-owned enterprise in Pingguo City completed the acquisition of Pingguo Benong Club. This means that the team has more stable financial support and solves the worries of daily training, competition and operations. The long-term development of the club is ensured, allowing higher goals to be set.
In the 2024 Women’s League A, Pingguo Benong entered the championship group with an unbeaten record of 10 draws and 3 wins in the regular season. However, the team finished third, just one step away from the coveted Women’s Super League. Su Gang said frankly that the girls were very disappointed at that time. But this unwillingness has become the driving force for the team to move forward. Entering the preparation period for the new season, everyone is holding back their energy.
At the beginning of this season, due to the reorganization of the team, Pingguo Benong’s initial goal was just to enter the top six. But the subsequent 5-game winning streak exceeded everyone’s expectations, and the team’s confidence also increased. In the end, they steadily took the championship trophy into their arms. “When the team was first established, our goal was actually to reach the First Division in three years and the Super League in five years.” Su Gang said that now the “five-year goal” has been achieved ahead of schedule, the girls have higher goals, and a new journey is waiting for them to debut.
The key to a team’s upward growth
Looking back on Pingguo Benong’s journey to promotion, the key is the full support of a city. The support from local governments and enterprises has given the team the confidence and motivation to grow upward, allowing it to continuously strengthen its lineup and improve itself.
Compared with the turmoil of many low-level professional teams in Chinese football, the Benong girls know that opportunities are hard-won. Therefore, “fighting” is the distinctive feature of this team. Two training sessions a day, rain or shine, strict adherence to work and rest schedules and diet plans, running on the court without any effort… Pingguo Benong head coach Zhao Yan told reporters that these disciplines have been internalized into the daily rules of each team member. Some team members said after winning the championship: “My biggest wish now is to drink a bottle of Coke!”
Zhao Yan has equally strict requirements on himself. In the league match on October 17, even though promotion was confirmed, Zhao Yan still didn’t have much joy on his face and repeatedly told the players not to relax. It wasn’t until the dust settled and the trophy was in hand that she finally relaxed her tense nerves, hugged the team members and cheered – “We are the champions!”
Everything stems from her coaching philosophy. “Every game has a different script and requires different strategies.” Zhao Yan believes that as a “screenwriter”, it is very important to make careful preparations. “The emotions of victory and defeat should be left in yesterday. Whether you can review the game and learn from it is the key to a team’s success.”
Zhu Chenmengnan has been playing for Pingguobinong for four years and can be regarded as a “veteran player”. Asked what was the biggest change in the team over the past four years, she said without hesitation: “It has become more and more cohesive, and the spirit is completely different.”
This is what Zhao Yan hopes to see. In her view, unity is another key to Pingguo Benong’s success. “Football itself is a collective project, so we will focus more on team building to make everyone more willing to contribute to Guangxi football.” Zhao Yan said.
“Compared to personal data, the team’s victory is more important!” In Pingguo, captain Mei Xue won the first championship of her career. Even though she has experience in the Women’s Super League, the 36-year-old will still be moved by the support of Guangxi fans – it was August 24, Pingguo Benong’s last home game of the season. More than 16,000 spectators came to the scene that night to cheer for the game, setting a new attendance record for the domestic women’s professional football league. It started to rain towards the end of the game, but it failed to dampen the enthusiasm in the stands. After the game, the fans were reluctant to leave for a long time, waiting to take photos and sign autographs with the girls, lighting up the night with continuous applause and cheers.
“They are all using their own strength to support the team and the development of football.” Zhao Yan said, “Only by making more efforts can we be worthy of this heavy love.”
Good seedlings grow at jointing in Guangxi
Stepping onto the more competitive stage of the Women’s Super League, how can Pingguo Benong gain a foothold? Zhao Yan admitted that the team is confident, “The strict requirements in daily life have made the team accustomed to high-pressure conditions. ‘Moving forward against the wind’ is our normal state, and it is also the sharpest ‘weapon’ in difficult situations.”
Pingguo Benong has always attached great importance to the shaping of team style, which can be seen in the selection criteria. Zhao Yan said: “When forming a team, the reputation of the players has never been the key to our consideration. The fit with the team’s tactical style is the primary criterion.”
Take this season alone, frequently changing starting lineups have become the norm. In the final game without the pressure of points, Zhao Yan directly started the starting lineup with all “post-00s” players, indicating the team’s strategic thinking of accumulating strength for future development. After all, the long-term vision of this team is to allow more good football talents from Guangxi to take root, break ground and eventually become talents here.
Currently, there are three local Guangxi players in Pingguo Benong, and Guangxi girl Pan Yanhong is the leader among them. At the end of 2023, she entered Pingguobinong from Nanning Qionglin School. After two seasons of training, she has been able to calmly play side by side with the veteran players who have competed in the Women’s Super League. “When I first joined the team, they were very tolerant of me and would guide me on what to do. My personal progress is inseparable from their help.” In the last home game of the season, defender Pan Yanhong scored his first professional league goal, allowing everyone to see her improvement.
“This shows that Guangxi still has a lot of potential reserves.” Zhao Yan said, “Now the team’s senior, middle and youth echelons have begun to be established, and the coaching staff will also work hard to help more local Guangxi players grow.” Just like “Bai Nong” means “brothers and sisters” in the Zhuang language, this team also hopes to be united and stable like “Bai Nong”.
Let football be integrated into Guangxi’s city card
Chinese football in 2025 is ushering in a craze sweeping the country. Professional competitions continue to be popular. The number of attendances in a single round of the Chinese Super League has repeatedly reached new highs, with nine games exceeding the 60,000 mark. Popular football is not to be outdone. The “Scottish Super League” has made a strong comeback, with the number of spectators exceeding 320,000 in the first month of the game. In this craze, Guangxi football has attracted more people’s attention.
“Guangxi finally has its first ‘super’ team!” After learning that Pingguo Benong won the championship, Liao Yingsong, president of the Guangxi Pingguo Unknown Fans Association, was excited and proud beyond words. In his eyes, these girls are like “his own children”. The growth they have experienced along the way has always touched the hearts of hometown fans.
“They are very competitive and have created momentum and style for Pingguo and Guangxi!” Liao Yingsong believes that Pingguo Benong’s success in “super league” has greatly enhanced Pingguo’s image and popularity. “Now when we talk about Pingguo, we no longer only have the industrial business card of ‘Southern Aluminum City’, but also have the new signboard of ‘Gold Medal Football Market’, and will soon be upgraded to a veritable ‘Home Page of the Women’s Super League’!”
Another far-reaching impact is to set an accessible role model for children who love football. “Pingguo Benong’s successful promotion will inspire more young people to devote themselves to football and inject new vitality into the construction of Guangxi’s football youth training system.” The relevant person in charge of the Guangxi Football Association said that the construction of the youth training system is the top priority for football development. Only by consolidating the foundation of youth training can Guangxi’s football industry have strong self-development capabilities and be fully prepared for the next step in the circle.
This autumn, Guangxi football has gained a lot of hope. The Pingguobinong women’s football team was “promoted” to the Premier League, and the Guangxi Hengchen men’s football team also won the second league championship and successfully entered the first league. This is a historic breakthrough for Guangxi football in the 2025 season: it is crowned the “double champion” of the National Women’s and Men’s Professional Leagues, and both are moving towards a higher professional league platform.
According to Jia Leishi, director of the China Football Professional League Federation, the significance of the “double championship” has gone beyond competitive events. “This will promote more viewers to move from understanding football to loving football, thereby consolidating the mass base of football in Guangxi and further attracting more social resources and policy attention. These are of great significance to the popularization and promotion of football in Guangxi.”
Previously, “Focus on A Tour Pingguo” was selected into the 10 “Weekend Tours to Bagui” launched by Guangxi. After Pingguo Benon’s “promotion”, Pingguo’s “gold medal football market” is expected to add fire. “Taking the 2026 Women’s Super League as an opportunity, Pingguo will plan high-quality tourism routes for events such as ‘Watch the Women’s Super League Tour Pingguo’, launch various cultural and tourism discounts and promotional activities, and integrate football culture into the city’s business card more deeply through measures such as creating football-themed leisure streets.” said Xu Richang, deputy director of the Pingguo Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau.
The hosting of a football match can drive the development of transportation, catering, retail, tourism and other industries. After a series of breakthroughs, Jia Leishi believes that the football industry can become a new economic growth point in Guangxi. “By promoting the in-depth integration of ‘football + cultural tourism’, it will effectively promote the overall development of the economy.” (Guangxi Cloud – Guangxi Daily reporter Qin Liuliu)
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