A Guangzhou Team Fan Looks Back on Xu Jiayin’s Complex Decade in Chinese Football

The sky in August seemed to be covered by a layer of gloom. The news that Xu Jiayin had been sentenced to life imprisonment came as a major shock to a Guangzhou Team fan. The former builder of a football powerhouse has reached such an ending, leaving many people with mixed emotions. Perhaps this was a turn of fate, or perhaps everything had its own causes. I acknowledge that he committed crimes and that many people were harmed as a result, which cannot be denied. But as a fan who witnessed that glorious era, I still want to express a view that may not align with common opinion: even though he disappointed many people, his impact on Chinese football cannot simply be dismissed.

Opening the door to memories, I return to the period around 2010. At that time, Chinese football was at a low point, with frequent problems involving match-fixing and poor officiating, widespread wage arrears, empty stadiums, and disappointed fans. Against this backdrop, Xu Jiayin entered football with ambition and substantial financial investment.

The first thing he did was gather outstanding domestic players from different places and add several foreign players who were considered strong at the time, quickly building a competitive team. After that, the club won multiple Chinese Super League titles and made breakthroughs in the AFC Champions League, winning the tournament twice and allowing many Chinese fans to once again experience the passion and pride brought by club football. The article argues that these achievements also encouraged grassroots youth development and inspired more football dreams. Regarding the view that Guangzhou Evergrande started the era of big-spending football, the author believes the issue is more complicated, arguing that later waves of capital entering the market and sharply increasing player values and foreign player salaries caused the model to become excessive.

However, reality proved more complicated than expected. Despite major investment, Chinese football as a whole did not achieve the expected improvement. High salaries affected some players’ competitive drive, management systems showed problems, and some youth development programs failed to meet expectations. The impact of foreign players and naturalized players was limited, while the national team’s results also declined. The article argues that these issues should not be attributed entirely to Xu Jiayin and Guangzhou Evergrande. At the same time, it emphasizes that Xu Jiayin’s legal violations, harm caused to relevant parties, and loss of trust required legal consequences. From a football history perspective, however, the article states that his investment during that period improved club competitiveness and brought AFC Champions League titles and memorable matches. The end of the Xu Jiayin era marked the conclusion of a chapter, while his influence on Chinese football will continue to be discussed by history.