Red Star News Network (reporter Dan Tangwen and intern Chen Yijia)Reported on December 11 More than 40 years ago, the first batch of Sichuan youth teams produced many outstanding players. It was not only the golden era of Sichuan football, but also the football memory of a generation of Chinese people. Now, “inheriting the spirit of Xiongqi and building the dream of Sichuan Football Youth”, the Sichuan Youth Team has restarted again. On December 11, the founding ceremony of the Sichuan Youth Team was held grandly at Chengdu Sheffield United Football Park. The members of the Sichuan Youth Team were dressed in brand-new uniforms and lined up in high spirits, with their eyes full of longing and expectation for the future. Sichuan football legends, youth training experts, representatives of the sports authorities and the families of the first batch of players jointly witnessed this important historical moment.
With the holding of the team building ceremony, it not only announced the official restart of the Sichuan Youth Team, but also marked the further improvement of the Sichuan football youth training system, laying a solid foundation for cultivating more outstanding football reserve talents. In the future, the Sichuan Youth Team will receive systematic and scientific training under the guidance of a professional coaching team, strive to improve their technical and tactical levels, provide the highest platform for young people who love football to realize their dreams, and promote the healthy development of youth football in Sichuan.
Sichuan Youth Team officially established 18 members from all over the province
“The Sichuan Youth Team is officially established! Cheers for the future of Sichuan football! Rise up!” At about 10 o’clock in the morning, under the witness of many guests and fans, with the announcement by Chen Xingdong, member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Sports Bureau, the Sichuan Youth Team was officially established. There was thunderous applause, and everyone’s face was filled with smiles of excitement and joy.
The restart of the Sichuan Youth Team is led by the Sichuan Provincial Sports Bureau. It is a concrete embodiment of the youth football development strategy of the Sichuan Provincial Sports Bureau. Through scientific planning and resource integration, it aims to cultivate top local talents for Sichuan and even Chinese football through scientific and systematic youth training, lay a solid foundation for the re-emergence of Sichuan professional football, and ultimately achieve the grand goal of reviving the glory of Sichuan football. “The ‘Sichuan Football Spirit’ is our root and our treasure, and it must be passed down from generation to generation!” Chen Xingdong said that the Sichuan Provincial Sports Bureau will firmly put the development of youth football in a prominent position, make every effort to improve the integration of sports and education, build a strong youth training system, and optimize talent channels. “I hope that the Sichuan Youth Team will engrave the ‘Xiongqi’ spirit in their hearts, put in their efforts in running every day, and put the team into everyone’s heart.”
As a member of the first batch of Sichuan Youth Team and former flag-bearer of the Sichuan Quanxing Football Team, Wei Qun solemnly handed over a team flag symbolizing inheritance and hope to the captain of the Sichuan Youth Team. This moment is a passage of football spirit that spans time, containing the entrustment and call of the future from our predecessors.
In fact, in 2024, the Sichuan Youth Team has already started the pace of restarting. In the 2024 Sichuan Football Project (U-8 and U-9 age groups) provincial training camp, 30 young players stood out from the 80 young players participating in the training camp and initially formed the Sichuan Youth Team.
After its establishment, the Sichuan Youth Team actively carried out exchange activities with outstanding youth training teams at home and abroad. Through competitions and training exchanges, it continued to learn advanced experience, broaden the players’ horizons, and enhance the team’s overall competitiveness. Among them, in the 2024 Sichuan “Star Selection Plan” and “Tianfu Cup” City Football Invitational Tournament, the Sichuan Youth Team was divided into the Sichuan Youth Team Red Team and the Sichuan Youth Team Blue Team. The two teams won the championship and third place in this competition respectively, making a good start. Soon after, the Sichuan Youth Team went to Thailand. In the Naka Cup Youth International Football Championship, the Sichuan Youth Team A and Team B won the runner-up and third-place trophies.
Finally, after a year of training and selection, 18 young players stood out and formed today’s Sichuan Youth Team. The team members come from Chengdu, Mianyang, Deyang, Luzhou, Zigong, Leshan, Nanchong, Panzhihua and other cities and states. The members of the Sichuan Youth Team, with their love and dreams for football, take over the banner of their predecessors here, start their football journey, and write their own legendary chapter.
“Restarting the Sichuan Youth Team is not only the formation of a youth football team, but also a systematic inheritance project carrying a historical mission.” Liu Bin, vice chairman of the Sichuan Football Association and head coach of the Sichuan Youth Team, said that the establishment of the New Sichuan Youth Team aims to respond to the national call of “football starts from childhood”, provide Sichuan’s football-loving youths with the highest platform to realize their dreams, and promote the healthy development of local youth football. “The ultimate goal of the team is to pass on the ‘rising’ spirit, fighting spirit and technical style of play to the new generation of Sichuan teenagers, so that this precious football cultural heritage can be continued and carried forward, and shine brighter in the new generation of teenagers.”
Inheriting the spirit of Sichuan Football Team, new players took over the “baton” from the hands of football legends
The team logo is the spiritual totem of a team and a visual symbol of faith and mission. At today’s team building ceremony, Li Rouping, executive deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Football Revitalization and Development Office, and Wang Dong, director of the Sichuan Football Management Center, jointly unveiled the Sichuan Youth Team emblem. The team emblem uses “vital blue + passionate yellow” as the main color. The yellow color is inherited from the glorious history of Sichuan Football Team, and the blue color represents the new generation of Sichuan Football Team full of vitality and hope. The design is based on the team spirit (inheritance, hard work, innovation) with a shield as the basic shape. The outline of the Sichuan map is integrated into the specially shaped Chinese character “Chuan”, which reflects the team’s mission: to inherit the spirit of Sichuan Football Team and rebuild the glory of Sichuan Football Team.
More than 40 years ago, in order to help the rapid development of Chinese football, Sichuan established the first batch of Sichuan Youth Football Team. Under the hard training of mentors, the former Sichuan Youth Team produced outstanding players such as Liu Bin, Ma Mingyu, Wei Qun, Yao Xia, Zou Yougen, Sun Bowei, An Wenyu, Xu Jie, Ren Xin and other outstanding players for the national team, national second team, national youth team, and youth team. The Sichuan Quanxing team, with those Sichuan youth team members as the core, swept the “yellow whirlwind” across the country. With its tenacious fighting spirit and unique tactical style, that team not only became the pride of Sichuan football, but also ignited the love of football for countless Sichuan people.
Inherit the “Quanxing Spirit” and rebuild the glory of Sichuan Football Team. The establishment of the New Sichuan Youth Team is rooted in the deep and glorious historical soil of Sichuan football. At the team building ceremony, former Sichuan Youth Team members and former Sichuan Quanxing Football Team members Wei Qun, Li Bing, Yao Xia, Zou Yougen, Zhai Biao, Liu Bin, Li Xiaofeng, Zhang Weizhe, Zhao Lei, Xu Hui, Wu Lian, Qin Yong, and Yang Zhe also came to the scene. They passed on the jersey numbers symbolizing the “Quanxing Spirit” to the new Sichuan Youth Team members.
Two generations of Sichuan football youths stand side by side in uniform team uniforms, where the past and future of Sichuan football intersect. “Their environment now is much better than ours back then!” Seeing the teenagers in front of him, Wei Qun recalled the scene when he started playing football as a child. He hopes that these teenagers can become talents as soon as possible under the training of professional coaches.
Regarding the inheritance of this number, Zou Yougen believes that this is not only a spiritual inheritance, but also a cultural inheritance, and it is also an inheritance of their will and will. “I hope these kids can inherit Lao Chuanzu’s flexible, fast and passionate style and have a better education in the field of football.
“The biggest purpose of this event is to inherit the spirit of old Sichuan football.” Yao Xia was also very emotional. He encouraged the new players to cherish the good conditions now, train hard, and strive for the future of Sichuan football. “We also hope that more young people will join this industry and contribute to Sichuan football and Chinese football.”
Gao Jianbin believes that the restart of the Sichuan Youth Team provides a valuable opportunity for these children and is the key to their future development. In his view, the integration of resources from all parties provides a more complete football training environment for today’s children and injects new vitality into the development of youth football.
Taking over the “baton” from the seniors, the members of the Sichuan Youth Team were very excited. The new players have expressed that they will follow the example of the old players, train hard, work hard to improve their skills, and contribute to the revival of Sichuan football, so that the “Quanxing Spirit” will shine even more dazzlingly in the new era.
In the past few days, the 2025 Quanxing Cup Heritage Football Star League is in full swing at Sheffield United Football Park. The restart of the Sichuan Youth Team has also received the attention and affectionate support of this group of senior Chinese football players. They were moved by the football dreams of the new generation of Sichuan Football Youth and specially prepared professional training materials to help.
The fire of inheritance has been rekindled. At Chengdu Sheffield United Football Park, a new story is about to begin.
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