General Manager of Zhejiang Team, Jiao Fengbo: Enhancing Self-Sustaining Capabilities to Foster a Healthy Ecosystem

Special Contributor / Xu Yi 36,996 people. The big screen at Huanglong Sports Center showed this figure, commemorating an unusual night — on August 16th, Zhejiang team secured a draw at home to push Shanghai Shenhua down from the top spot of the CSL table. This game also established a new highest attendance record in Zhejiang’s CSL history.

This season, Zhejiang’s booming fanbase often surprises with attendance figures, regularly breaking the club’s CSL attendance records: on June 14th, the home match against Shanghai Port drew 33,955 fans, setting a club record; on August 10th, the 34,175 attendees against Beijing Guoan broke that record again; and just six days later, the match against Shenhua rewrote the record once more…

In July 2017, when Jiao Fengbo first became Zhejiang FC’s general manager, I spoke with him in his office about concerns over the underwhelming fan market. At that time, Jiao was also focused on maintaining stable team performance and continuing to prioritize youth development. Currently, Zhejiang ranks sixth in the CSL; the successful summer signings of new foreign players have brightened the squad, and all three youth teams reaching the National Games final rounds gives hope for Zhejiang FC’s future.

At the end of an exclusive interview in his office, with the first leg of the 4th China Youth U13 semifinals about to start, Jiao Fengbo kept glancing at the court downstairs where Zhejiang’s U13 players were warming up: “Let’s see if the players can show what they’ve practiced in this match.”

Shortly after this interview, Zhejiang’s U13 team won both legs 3-2 against Changsha Lushan International, reaching the U13 finals of the China Youth Cup for the first time ever. Surely, Jiao Fengbo and his colleagues are already dreaming of the championship.

Zhejiang FC’s improvements and transformations over recent years are obvious, but what drives these visible changes is the unseen professional management team’s focus on every detail of the pitch, stands, and youth training — and their commitment to turning observations into actions.

On the evening of August 16th at Huanglong Sports Center, Zhejiang team brought a football carnival atmosphere. Fans came with friends and family, making the Zhejiang vs. Shanghai Shenhua CSL match the highlight of that weekend across Hangzhou and Zhejiang. A fan proposed on the stands, and when the east stand formed the “ZHEJIANG” mosaic, many fans were moved to tears — “Together, we are Zhejiang.”

This record-breaking attendance night is actually a snapshot of Zhejiang’s vibrant home matches this season. The CSL attendance records keep being broken. Jiao Fengbo said, “After the Shenhua game, the club reviewed the fan market. While the random factors influencing attendance are hard to control, the essential factors require continuous refinement, strengthening, and effort from our team. Our goal is to ‘fill’ our home stadium consistently, enabling sustainable club development. That’s the purpose and significance of our periodic reviews.”

“The primary reason, I believe, is the players’ appeal. We have young national team player Wang Yudong and outstanding foreign players, whom fans really like,” Jiao Fengbo said. “The second reason is the enriched matchday experience. We have focused on building a stadium culture — from pre-game carnival events to live band performances, halftime ‘Most Beautiful Twelve’ honors, veterans invited on Army Day, and labor models on Labor Day. The club strives to diversify on-site activities so fans enjoy more than just the game and want to come back.”

According to Jiao Fengbo, media promotion of the CSL and Zhejiang’s home games has greatly enhanced the atmosphere. For example, Hangzhou government’s online platform “Hangzhou Release” mentioned Zhejiang’s matches multiple times this year; Hangzhou TV’s Youth & Sports Channel broadcast Zhejiang’s entire CSL season live for the first time, with a pre-game show “Zhejiang Football Night.” On the day Zhejiang hosted Shanghai Shenhua, the Hangzhou Media Group’s new media network coordinated a 6-hour live broadcast.

“This year, official media, traditional outlets, and some social media have all significantly promoted Zhejiang team. Their comprehensive coverage generated far more buzz than previous years, enhancing the home atmosphere and markedly increasing attention to home matches,” Jiao Fengbo said.

Beyond this, Jiao Fengbo believes a professional team attracts fans through its “product strength”: “For a pro team, results and the quality of gameplay are the ‘product.’ The club must build a solid structure to achieve good results; meanwhile, matches showcase sportsmanship and a positive spirit. The CSL’s growing fanbase this year is largely due to more intense competition, increased suspense in every game, and faster pace, which draws more fans to the stadium.”

As a former CSL player and an eight-year veteran club general manager, Jiao Fengbo credits the booming fan markets of village and Suzhou leagues: “Village leagues started gaining popularity years ago; now Suzhou’s league is very hot. Our pro league owes thanks to these grassroots leagues. Football atmosphere requires collective effort — when village and Suzhou leagues thrive, more fans come to watch games, more people pay attention to football, and that naturally benefits the pro leagues and national teams.”

In Jiao Fengbo’s view, football is highly inclusive: “Football is diverse, with many formats and styles. Amateur competitions, professional leagues, and national teams are like different parts of one big ship. Only when each part is well-built, empowering each other and working together, can the ship sail steadily and far, ultimately reaching its dream destination.”

Jiao Fengbo gave an example: “Professional football needs more talented young players. In a family, whether a child chooses football heavily depends on the mother’s opinion. If a mother never watches football, she might not agree to let the child play. We now encourage more families to come watch games at Huanglong, hoping mothers watch and support football. In leagues like Suzhou’s, mothers might initially come just for fun, but gradually fall in love with football and then willingly support their kids playing.”

The rapid rise in attendance at Huanglong Sports Center this year comforts the club and boosts confidence, showing hope for Zhejiang’s fan market. With expectations comes the need for greater effort, so Jiao Fengbo is not complacent: “We have set new CSL attendance records this season. However, I know that historically, four other matches in different periods (like Jia B and China League One) had higher attendance than our current CSL records. We have achieved a milestone in fan engagement but there is still much room for growth. The club must keep working to attract more fans to the stadium and create a ‘fan time’ experience for supporters.”

Some CSL clubs that had high attendance during the era of heavy investment disappeared later because ticket revenue never made up a significant part of their income, preventing true self-sufficiency. Jiao Fengbo has always understood the importance of self-sustaining financial health: “Ideally, ticket income should cover about 30% of club expenses. Currently, most CSL clubs fall far short of this. But failing to reach this now doesn’t mean we won’t try. It depends on effort. We will further improve our product and fan services to enhance self-sustaining ability and promote the healthy ecology of professional football.”

In Jiao Fengbo’s opinion, one reason Zhejiang’s attendance records keep being broken this season is the influence of players and the team. This Zhejiang team, by prioritizing young players, has several youth called up to the national and U22 teams. These players have become idols not only for Zhejiang fans but have fans nationwide. “Zhejiang has continuously upgraded and optimized its youth development system in recent years. Players like Liu Haofan, Wang Yudong, and Bao Shengxin have consistently had playing opportunities,” Jiao Fengbo said. “Besides establishing a solid development mechanism and providing platforms for youth, the coaching staff’s recognition of the club’s ‘youth training foundation’ philosophy is crucial. The management team prioritizes this in coach selection, ultimately choosing compatible coaching staff.”

For Zhejiang FC, an important task this year is assembling teams to compete in the National Games football tournament. The three Zhejiang National Games teams represented by Zhejiang FC’s youth squads (U20, U18, U16) all successfully advanced to the final rounds. On September 4th, Zhejiang U16 will begin their first match of the finals in Wuhua, Meizhou, Guangdong.

“This is the club’s seventh National Games participation, and Zhejiang FC has always had a ‘National Games sentiment,’” Jiao Fengbo said. “The National Games teams are a vital part of the club’s youth training. Since we also compete in various national tournaments, we must balance and prioritize accordingly. This year, we set the National Games as a key focus in our annual plan. Relying on experience from the past six editions, we aim to unite all forces to achieve good results in the finals.”

In Jiao Fengbo’s view, youth training is embedded in the club’s DNA. Zhejiang FC is fortunate that after its shareholding reform last October, both shareholders and provincial and municipal leaders have highly valued and strongly supported youth development. This has allowed the club to continue its long-standing youth training philosophy and operational approach. “Sustained focus on youth training is crucial for the club’s work. We will keep summarizing and reflecting, continuously enhancing and upgrading the youth system to contribute to the development of Chinese football youth training,” Jiao Fengbo said.