Nantong Zhiyun
Club · China · League One
Nantong Zhiyun have no derby with a settled name, and the closest thing to one comes down the Yangtze from Nanjing.
There has been no rebrand and no relocation, which in Chinese football counts for something.
The climb ran in two stages. Second place in China League Two in 2018 sent them up; third in China League One in 2022 sent them into the Chinese Super League for the first time. That top-flight spell lasted a single season — relegation followed in 2024, and 2025 has been played back in the second tier.
The ground sits in Rugao rather than in Nantong proper, an hour or so from the city whose name the club carries. The Rugao Olympic Sports Center was rebuilt in 2023, and the Chinese Football Association handed it a Best Match Area award — an unusual honour for a club with nothing in the trophy cabinet, and for now the only silverware of any kind at the place.
Among the players, Zheng Haoqian covered nearly the whole arc: he arrived in 2019, the year of promotion to League One, wore the captain's armband, and left in 2024, the year the Super League adventure ended.
Capacity after the rebuild: 25,000.
Latest results
All matches| 30 Aug | League One |
Dalian Huayi
A
|
||
| 22 Aug | League One |
Shaanxi Union
H
|
4:1 | W |
| 16 Aug | League One |
Suzhou Dongwu
A
|
0:0 | D |
| 8 Aug | League One |
Nanjing City
A
|
1:1 | D |
| 1 Aug | League One |
Heilongjiang Lava Spring
H
|
5:1 | W |
| 25 Jul | League One |
Hebei Kungfu
A
|
1:1 | D |
Standing
League One| # | Team | M | W | D | L | Goals | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |
 Guangxi Hengchen
|
20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 36:24 | 36 |
| 4 |
 Yanbian Longding FC
|
21 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 31:21 | 35 |
| 5 |
Nantong Zhiyun
|
20 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 27:17 | 35 |
| 6 |
Shaanxi Union
|
20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 31:22 | 29 |
| 7 |
 Ningbo Professional
|
20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 26:26 | 26 |
Team statistics
matches counted: 202| Metric | Total | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 202 | 100 | 102 |
| Scored | 276 | 143 | 133 |
| Conceded | 240 | 116 | 124 |
| Scored per game | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| Conceded per game | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Difference | +36 | +27 | +9 |
Key players
by appearances over the last yearSquad of Nantong Zhiyun
by appearances over the last year| Number | Player | Position | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 |  Hu Mingfei |
Defender | 1 |
| 14 |  Efmamjjasond González Palacios |
Forward | 1 |
| 10 |  A. Kalulu |
Forward | 1 |
| 11 |  Yang Ruan |
Forward | 1 |
| 2 |  Xu Hui |
Midfielder | 1 |
| 28 |  An Yifei |
Midfielder | 1 |
| 25 |  Guanxi Li |
Goalkeeper | 1 |
| 4 |  Luo Xin |
Defender | 1 |
| 21 |  Lucas Kal Schenfeld Prigioli |
Defender | 1 |
| 26 |  Deng Yubiao |
Midfielder | 1 |
| 36 |  Dai Yuanzi |
Midfielder | 1 |
| 20 |  Jiang Jiapeng |
Midfielder | 1 |
| 17 |  Jie Ling |
Midfielder | 1 |
| 23 |  Dujardin Remi |
Defender | 1 |
| 8 |  Liu Weicheng |
Midfielder | 1 |
| 15 |  Liu Wei |
Defender | 1 |
| 19 |  Nan Xiaoheng |
Forward | 1 |
| 1 |  Ne Xuan |
Goalkeeper | 1 |
| 27 |  Wu Xingyu |
Defender | 1 |
| 22 |  Zhang Jingzhe |
Defender | 1 |
| 40 |  Zakhar Beshatan |
Forward | 1 |
Fixtures of Nantong Zhiyun
-
30 Aug
Dalian Huayi
A
-
22 Aug
Shaanxi Union
H
4:1
W
-
16 Aug
Suzhou Dongwu
A
0:0
D
-
8 Aug
Nanjing City
A
1:1
D
-
1 Aug
Heilongjiang Lava Spring
H
5:1
W
-
25 Jul
Hebei Kungfu
A
1:1
D
-
17 Jul
Dongguan United
A
2:1
W
-
4 Jul
Shenzhen Juniors
A
0:0
D
Honours of Nantong Zhiyun
- China League Two 2018 1
- China League One 2022 1