Li Fenglou (Chinese: 李凤楼; June 15, 1912 – July 31, 1988) was a Chinese footballer and coach. As a player, he represented Zixing Football Team and North China, however he is predominantly remembered for being the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

's first football coach as well as being the Chairman of the

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the country's ...

Playing career

Li Fenglou was born in Tongzhou,

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th-century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

(now part of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

) and would graduate from the

Fu Jen Catholic University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private Catholic university in Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and re-established in Taiwan in 1961 at ...

where he would become a sports teacher. While he was at the university he would take part in the football at the Chinese 5th national games. After he finished University he would play for the Zixing Football Team and then in 1936 he would get noticed to play for the recently formed North China team, which saw the Beijing and Tianjin team to play in a series of friendlies against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Management career

When the friendlies finished Li would return to teaching at Fu Jen Catholic University where he grew a reputation as an excellent coach. He would soon attract the attentions of the top Chinese army football team

Bayi Football Team The Bayi or August First Football Team () or its full name the People's Liberation Army Bayi Football Club () was a football team under the sport branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that played in China's football league system between 1 ...

in 1950. His work with the army team would soon see him offered the

Chinese national football team The China national football team (, recognised as China PR by FIFA) represents the People's Republic of China in international association football and is governed by the Chinese Football Association. China won the EAFF East Asian Cup in 2005 ...

position. China were allowed entry for the Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Unfortunately the Chinese delegation was delayed and they missed the entire competition, nevertheless the

Finland national football team The Finland national football team ( fi, Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, sv, Finlands fotbollslandslag) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body ...

would still greet Li and the Chinese team with a friendly game on August 4, 1952 making it

's official first game, which ended in a 4-0 defeat. His reign as manager for the national team would soon end in 1952, however by 1955 he would be coaching the Central Sports Institute in their successful title winning campaign. By 1956 Li would start to move away from management so he could concentrate working for the Chinese government in helping develop sports within China. He took a position with the

All-China Sports Federation The All-China Sports Federation () is a national non-governmental, non-profit sports organization in China. It oversees a wide array of sports associations in the country. It is responsible to the State General Administration of Sports and the M ...

and served as deputy director for them before taking on the Chairmen position within the

in 1979 until 1985 when he was fired after China were

knocked out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

of qualifying for the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

. On July 31, 1988 after several years out of football Li died of illness in Beijing at the age of seventy-six.

References

External links

Profile
at Sodasoccer.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Fenglou 1912 births 1988 deaths Chinese football managers Chinese footballers Footballers from Beijing Catholic University of Peking alumni Association footballers not categorized by position China national football team managers