Retired Officials Take Photograph with Shide Football Team

Retired officials of Dalian came to the training base of Shide Football Club and met the players on 8 June 2005. Mr. Sui Xinmin, Deputy Managing Director of General Affairs of Shide Football Club, Mr. Lin Lefeng, General Manager, and all the players and the Main Coach, met the official there. The activity was one of the heart-to-heart programs aiming at serving fans, serving the community and brightening Dalian football.

The retired officials included Mr. Yu Xuexiang, former Secretary for City Committee and Chairman of Dalian People’s Congress, Mr. Fan Yongchang, Mr. Fangjun, Mr. Yang Shenglie, Mr. Lu Daoqi, Mr. Song Youcheng, former Vice Chairman of Dalian Political Consultative Conference, Ms Dong Wenjie, Sports Secretary for City Committee, Mr. Sun Mingjie, Deputy Secretary-General for Dalian Communist Party of China, Mr. Haoming, Chairman of Sports Federation, as well as Mr. Sun Xinsheng, Deputy Director and Chairman of Dalian City Football Association. They arrived at the base at 2:00 pm. Mr. Lin Lefeng chaired the meeting. He introduced to the guests the present situation of the team and thanked them for their care for it. The players then presented to the guests gifts including a football with players’ signatures, an album of the team’s seven championships in 10 years, as well as coffee cups which are the club’s product.

The Main Coach and two players, Liming and Hu Zhaojun, gave speeches in the meeting. Renewal of the field in Jinzhou Stadium has been started, and it was a piece of good news for the Main Coach. The Main Coach thanked Ms. Dong Wenjie and Mr. Haoming for bringing about the renewal. He said that the renewal would help the team to win more victories and keep a leading position. He also mentioned that a successful team could not be created without the support from the society. Liming has been serving the team for 17 years and the guests were not only his fans, but also very familiar with him because of their previous work on sports.

Mr. Yu Xuexiang witnesses the growth of Dalian football. He was responsible for sports when he first came to work in the city in 1983. He then witnessed the success of the team in Wuhan. The team was then upgraded step by step: from entering the first 3 places, to champion, to winning 55 matches, to 3 consecutive championships. All these achievements concealed the support from Mr. Yu and the officials. Mr. Yu mentioned that football was a leading item in Dalian’s sports traditionally and Shide Football Club should focus on solving four main problems: strengthening the team, paying attention to the team’s cooperation and spirit, handling complex situations and adjusting. Also, the team should set a target to make it become a world-class club, not just a local-class one of Shide and Dalian.

Mr. Fan Yongchang gave many concrete requirements to the players. He said that the team was reformed this year and each player should strive for excellence and help could not attend the meeting due to preoccupation. Firstly, she thanked the officials for their care for football and wished that Shide Football Club would achieve good results this year. Secondly, Mr. Yang Shuhuai, Dalian Communist Advanced Education Director, passed a message that Liaoling football placed its hope on Dalian, thus Shide Football Club must strive for brilliant achievements.

Ms. Dong Wenjie and Mr. Haoming came to visit the players many times this year. They visited the team in the lounge when they first won the league, giving a deep impression to the coaches and players. Ms. Dong said that the officials showed more concerns for the players after their retirements and came to visit the players despite their health; therefore the team should strengthen their management and training, and equip themselves for the coming matches.