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Hunan Football League

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hunan Football League
Founded2016; 10 years ago (2016)
First season2016
CountryChina
Divisions1
Number of clubs14
Current championsYongzhou (2025)
Current: 2026

The Hunan Football League (simplified Chinese: 湖南省足球联赛; traditional Chinese: 湖南省足球聯賽; pinyin: Húnán Shěng Zúqiú Liánsài), commonly known as the Xiang Super League or Xiang Chao (simplified Chinese: 湘超联赛; traditional Chinese: 湘超聯賽; pinyin: Xiāng Chāo Liánsài), is a provincial football league organized by the Hunan Provincial Sports Bureau and administered by the Hunan Football Association. The league was officially launched in 2016.[1]

History

[edit]

Club-based era (2016–2023)

[edit]

The inaugural 2016 season was held from June to September, with eight teams competing.[1] Changsha Sihai Louxiaoer won the championship after defeating Hengyang Runfeng 4–0 on 17 September 2016.[1] The team finished the season with 11 wins and 3 draws.[1]

The 2017 season concluded with Hunan Sports Lottery winning the championship, followed by Changsha Sihai as runners-up and Hunan Broadcasting System Mango Ba in third place.[2]

The 2021 season was held from December 2021 to January 2022, with Xiangtan Lingdian winning its first championship after defeating Hunan Muming Junyao 4–3 on penalties following a 1–1 draw in regular time.[3] In the third-place match, Hunan Sports Lottery defeated Hunan Broadcasting System Mango Ba 5–1.[3]

The 2022 season was held from November 2022 to March 2023, with six teams competing in a single round-robin format.[4] Changsha Xiaoxiang Xingcheng won the title with five wins from five matches, earning 15 points.[4]

The 2023 season was held from 30 December 2023 to 20 January 2024, with eight teams competing.[5] Zhongnan Pingjiang Zhixing won the championship after defeating Zhongnan Yaoji 2–0 in the final on 20 January 2024, with Gao Xiang scoring both goals.[5] The team achieved five wins from five matches.[6]

City-based era (2025–present)

[edit]

In 2025, the league was restructured to feature teams representing all 14 prefecture-level cities in Hunan Province.[7] According to the competition regulations issued by the Hunan Provincial Sports Bureau, the league's English name is Hunan Football League, abbreviated as HNFL.[7]

On the evening of 7 September 2025, the opening ceremony of the 2025 Hunan Football League was held at Changsha Stadium. Mao Weiming, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Governor, declared the league open.[8] Provincial leaders Wu Guiying, Zhang Yingchun, Zhang Jianfei, Jiang Difei, Li Min, and Provincial Government Secretary-General Qu Hai attended.[8]

The opening match was between Changsha and Loudi, with Changsha winning 2–0.[9] In the 60th minute, Li Zhangyu of Changsha scored the first goal of the league with a header from a corner kick taken by Yang Ke. In the 87th minute, Yang Ke converted a penalty to seal the victory.[10]

The 2025 season ran from September to December, lasting 17 weeks, with 98 matches played across stadiums in all 14 prefecture-level cities of Hunan.[11] Matches were held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.[11]

On 27 December 2025, the final was held at Changsha Helong Stadium. Yongzhou defeated Changde 1–0 to win the 2025 Hunan Football League championship.[12] In the 58th minute of the second half, Yongzhou defender Gu Wenjie (#46) scored the winning goal with a header from a corner kick scramble.[13][14] He Baoxiang, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, attended the match, and Governor Mao Weiming presented the championship trophy to Yongzhou.[14] A total of 43,695 spectators attended the final.[13]

According to data released by the organizing committee, the 2025 season covered 4.47 billion person-times of internet users before the final, with over 2.31 million spectators attending matches on-site.[12] The 98 matches of the 2025 season attracted 2.4135 million spectators on-site and directly drove Hunan's cultural and tourism consumption of 136.79 billion yuan.[15]

The 2026 season commenced on 25 July 2026, with Changsha defeating defending champions Yongzhou 4–0 in the opening match at Changsha Helong Stadium.[16] Governor Mao Weiming attended the match.[16]

Format

[edit]

2025 season

[edit]

The 2025 season adopted a two-stage format of "Regular Season + Knockout Stage".[17] The regular season used a single round-robin format, with 14 teams playing 13 rounds.[18] Each team played either 7 home and 6 away matches or 6 home and 7 away matches, determined by draw.[19] The top eight teams from the regular season advanced to the knockout stage.[20]

The competition regulations stipulated that all registered athletes must be older than 16 and not exceed 40 years of age, with each team allowed to register 1 to 2 overage players.[21] Each team was required to have at least 3 high school student players on the field simultaneously during each match.[21]

2026 season

[edit]

The 2026 season maintained the regular season plus knockout stage format.[22] The quarterfinals and semi-finals were changed to a two-legged format.[22] If the aggregate score was tied, the match would proceed directly to a penalty shootout.[23] The final remained a single-match format.[24]

The 2026 season features 104 matches, with 91 regular season matches and 13 knockout matches.[22] Each team continued to use the "3+1" substitution rule, but the number of substitutes allowed was reduced from 12 to 7.[22] Red and yellow cards accumulated during the regular season did not carry over into the knockout stage.[22]

The league required each team to have at least 20 high school student players and at least 3 high school student players on the field simultaneously during each match.[25]

Seasons

[edit]

Club-based era

[edit]
Hunan Football Association Super League seasons (club-based era)
Season Teams Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
2016 8 Changsha Sihai Louxiaoer Hunan Sports Lottery Hunan Broadcasting System Mango Ba Chenzhou Shenghe
2017 8 Hunan Sports Lottery Changsha Sihai Hunan Broadcasting System Mango Ba Hunan Boyi Lvyin
2018 8 Hunan Broadcasting System Mango Ba Changsha Sihai Hunan Boyi Lvyin Hunan Sports Lottery
2021 7 Xiangtan Lingdian Hunan Muming Junyao Hunan Sports Lottery Hunan Broadcasting System Mango Ba
2022 6 Changsha Xiaoxiang Xingcheng Hunan Tianyue Yong Pingjiang Zhixing Hunan Sports Lottery Muming Group – Changsha University of Science and Technology
2023 8 Zhongnan Pingjiang Zhixing Zhongnan Yaoji Changsha Xiaohe Xingchen Liling Yuesheng

City-based era

[edit]
Hunan Football League seasons (city-based era)
Season Teams Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
2025 14 Yongzhou Changde Changsha Zhuzhou
2026 14 In progress

Media coverage and impact

[edit]

The 2025 season covered 4.47 billion person-times of internet users before the final, with over 2.31 million spectators attending matches on-site.[12] The league became a nationally renowned mass football event benchmark and a phenomenon-level sports IP.[26]

During the 2025 season, Yongzhou's home stadium gained attention for its limited seating capacity, with fans climbing trees or standing on bricks to watch matches.[27]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 "元年湘超落幕四海楼小二首夺冠军". 凤凰网 (in Chinese). 18 September 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "2017年度湖南足球工作会议不忘初心砥砺前行". 新浪体育 (in Chinese). 12 February 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 "2021湖南省大众足球赛暨湘超联赛决赛 湘潭灵点首夺冠 湖南体彩逆转芒果巴获第三". 湖南省足球协会 (in Chinese). 16 January 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 "潇湘星城五战全胜获湘超冠军 贾宏：2023要更上一层楼". 红网 (in Chinese). 11 March 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  5. 1 2 "中南平江之星夺冠！2023年湖南省足球协会超级联赛完赛". 凤凰网 (in Chinese). 22 January 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "2023湘超落幕，这些瞬间让人津津乐道". 红网 (in Chinese). 21 January 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  7. 1 2 ""湘超"竞赛规程来了！9月开踢，每场每队不少于3名中学生同时上场". 红网 (in Chinese). 30 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  8. 1 2 "2025湘超联赛热血开赛毛伟明宣布开幕长沙队拿下首胜". 中国日报 (in Chinese). 8 September 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  9. ↑ "2025湘超联赛热血开赛毛伟明宣布开幕长沙队拿下首胜". 新浪财经 (in Chinese). 7 September 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "快讯". 搜狐 (in Chinese). 7 September 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  11. 1 2 "2025湖南省足球联赛热血开赛 毛伟明宣布开幕 长沙队拿下首胜". 湖南省足球协会 (in Chinese). 8 September 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 ""永冲锋"永州队获2025"湘超"冠军". 新华网 (in Chinese). 28 December 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  13. 1 2 "头球制胜！永州队加冕湘超总冠军". 央广网 (in Chinese). 28 December 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  14. 1 2 "永州队夺取2025湘超联赛冠军 何报翔到场观赛 毛伟明颁奖". 搜狐 (in Chinese). 28 December 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "2026湘超联赛7月将启 104场赛事燃动三湘足坛". 人民网 (in Chinese). 24 June 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  16. 1 2 "2026湖南省足球联赛火热启幕". 新华网湖南频道 (in Chinese). 26 July 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "2025湘超联赛热血开赛毛伟明宣布开幕长沙队拿下首胜". 红网 (in Chinese). 7 September 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  18. ↑ "2025湘超联赛热血开赛 毛伟明宣布开幕 长沙队拿下首胜". 湖南省人民政府门户网站 (in Chinese). 7 September 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "2025"湘超"联赛竞赛规程发布！九月份鸣哨开战". 腾讯新闻 (in Chinese). 30 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  20. ↑ ""湘超"常规赛8强出炉淘汰赛对阵图揭晓". 央视网 (in Chinese). 6 December 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  21. 1 2 ""湘超"竞赛规程来了！9月开踢，每场每队不少于3名中学生同时上场". 红网 (in Chinese). 30 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 "2026湘超联赛7月将启 104场赛事燃动三湘足坛". 人民网 (in Chinese). 24 June 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "2026湘超规程出炉，赛制+青训+本土化全面升级". 腾讯新闻 (in Chinese). 21 March 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  24. ↑ "2026年湘超规程优化焕新，新阵容赛场待检验". 新浪财经 (in Chinese). 26 July 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  25. ↑ "2026湖南省足球联赛火热启幕". 新华网湖南频道 (in Chinese). 26 July 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "2026湖南省足球联赛火热启幕". 新华网湖南频道 (in Chinese). 26 July 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "记者手记：在"湘超"，看见"不要灰心"的理由". 人民网 (in Chinese). 26 December 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
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