Fan Jiulin

Fan Jiulin, born August 2, 1947, was from Shanghai, China. In his family background his father had a strong interest in basketball and football, which influenced his upbringing and choice of sports. Fan Jiulin’s early playing career began in the mid-1960s, when he emerged in Shanghai’s football scene. At that time Shanghai had a strong football atmosphere and intense competition; he competed with contemporaries such as Xu Genbao and Zhu Guanghu for a reserve spot on the Shanghai team and ultimately succeeded in being selected.

In 1970, after the Shanghai team disbanded, Fan Jiulin was assigned to work as a coppersmith at Shanghai Cotton Mill No. 17, but because the mill had a football team he continued to play outside of work. In 1972, when the Shanghai team was reformed, he was seconded back to the team to continue playing until his official retirement in 1975.

After retiring, he turned to youth football training and served for many years as a coach at the Shanghai Sports School football team. In 1997, he led the Shanghai Shenhua youth team in training at the Shenhua Jiangwan training base. Because of his understanding of young players, he was able to supplement the first team reasonably according to tactical needs and injury situations, earning recognition from Shenhua’s first-team head coach and foreign coaches. In 2001, as a member of the coaching staff he led the Shanghai Shenhua youth team to the runner-up position in the men’s football competition at the 9th National Games.

In 2008, when the General Administration of Sport of China launched a program to recruit youth talents in the 1993/1994 age groups, Fan Jiulin served as a member of the expert assessment team to help form the squad and select players; his son Fan Zhiyi was appointed head coach of that team. Fan Jiulin also acted as an external consultant, imparting tactical theory and helping the team achieve sixth place in Group B.

During his career, Fan Jiulin also coached the Shanghai Donghua team (veterans); he served as head coach in 2013 and led the team to participate in the 2014 Evergreen Cup World Chinese Veterans Football Tournament. His final group of youth players largely came from the 1981 age cohort, underscoring his important contributions to youth development.

Fan Jiulin passed away on January 29, 2020, from a lung disease at the age of 73. In his personal life, his wife Huang Wei had been a member of the Shanghai athletics team and in 1969 gave birth to their son Fan Zhiyi. Fan Jiulin was strict in his son’s upbringing, emphasizing personal conduct and professional ethics. His son Fan Zhiyi grew into a professional footballer and coach and has had a certain influence on Chinese football development.

In 2018, Fan Jiulin and his son Fan Zhiyi were jointly appointed members of the Shanghai Football Association Expert Committee. He was regarded as the “king of Shanghai youth training” for his outstanding contributions to youth development in Shanghai football.