On the afternoon of June 14, Huai’an played against Nanjing at home. Judging from the broadcast screen, the Huai’an Sports Center Stadium looked full.
Huai’an City is located in northern Jiangsu and is a famous cultural city of the Grand Canal. It was once as famous as Yangzhou, Hangzhou and Suzhou as the “Four Grand Canal Capitals”. It is also the “World Food Capital” and one of the birthplaces of Huaiyang cuisine. In 2024, Huaian City achieved a regional GDP of 541.3 billion yuan, ranking eleventh among the thirteen prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu.
Compared with Nanjing, Suzhou, Nantong and other places, Huai’an has never really owned its own professional league team, but it seems that there has been a fan organization in the east stands of Huai’an Sports Center, and it is very clear. For cities that have never had professional teams, such games attract not only spectators, but also local fans. Previously, I always felt that as the Soviet Super League, whose competitive level is obviously inferior to that of the professional league, can it really attract professional and advanced fans to watch it? Now, I highly encourage professional fans, senior fans, as well as local fans, to appear in the stands. Especially at present, there is still a huge gap between Chinese fans who really watch and love football and spectators who don’t watch football. Fans don’t like spectators to criticize Chinese football without professional thinking, and many spectators don’t understand and disagree with fans’ love. Why is Chinese football so bad and still so concerned and so loyal? But in fact, everyone has a consensus, that is, they all hope that Chinese football can really get better.
Su Chao has allowed many people who don’t usually watch football to enter the stadium, and from this perspective, it has made great contributions. I still remember the excitement of my first step into the stadium. I saw the players running on the green lawn and the flags fluttering in the stands. Football is very charming, but it requires more people to get closer and feel it.