Zhang Xiaobin (; born February 14, 1985 in
Zhangjiakou
Zhangjiakou (; ; ) also known as Kalgan and by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the southw ...
,
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
) is a Chinese
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
.
Club career
Zhang Xiaobin began his career as an attacking midfielder for the various
Shaanxi Guoli
Harbin Guoli Football Club () is a defunct football club who played in Harbin, Heilongjiang and their home stadium was the 50,100 seater Jiaodaruisun Stadium. Founded on February 28, 1996 as Shaanxi National Power F.C. in Xi’an, Shaanxi, they ...
youth teams. In 2001, when Shaanxi Guoli sent its youth team to train in Stockport, England, the club
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...
would be impressed by the 16-year-old Zhang and take him on loan. While at Stockport Zhang spent three years rising through the youth and then reserve teams, however he was unable to break into the first team. After being unable to obtain a position on the first team of Stockport County, Zhang moved to the Australian league to start his professional senior career with
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
side
New Zealand Knights
New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-League ...
where he made his debut against
Queensland Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record ...
on August 28, 2005 in the first game of the
2005–06 A-League
The 2005–06 A-League was the 29th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the inaugural season of the A-League. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition since the close of the 2003–04 National Soccer L ...
season, which ended in a 2-0 defeat. Throughout the season the club would struggle within the league and Zhang was unable to establish himself as regular within the team, however during his time with the club he would go on to score his first goal against
Adelaide United
Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...
in a 1-1 draw before he left to join
Kingston City FC
Kingston City Football Club is an Australian, professional soccer club from Clayton South, Victoria (within the local government area of Kingston), whose home ground is The Grange Reserve. Kingston club is competing in 2020 in the National Pre ...
for a short period until he finally moved back to
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 ...
to play for top tier side
Changsha Ginde
Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional Association football, football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdon ...
.
At the beginning of the
2007 Chinese Super League
The 2007 Chinese Super League (CSL 2007) season or the Kingway brewery Chinese Super League as it was known for sponsorship reasons was the fourth edition since its establishment, the 14th season of professional football as well as being the 46th ...
Zhang joined Changsha Ginde where he would be gradually converted to a defensive midfielder and would eventually establish himself as vital member of the team while he aided the club to a tenth league standing at the end of the season. For the next several seasons Zhang was a vital player as Changsha continued to be a mid-table team; however, because of his consistency fellow top-tier team
Tianjin Teda
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Tianjin, and their home stadium is t ...
became interested in him and he transferred to them on 2 April 2010. His move was initially a big success and he was a vital member of the team that came second within the league; however, the next season saw the introduction of
Song Chong-Gug and Zhang saw his playing significantly drop. When Tianjin Teda reached the final of the
2011 Chinese FA Cup
The TOSHIBA 2011 Chinese FA Cup (Chinese language, Chinese: 东芝2011中国足球协会杯) was the 13th edition of Chinese FA Cup.
The match of first round began on 4 May 2011, and the final took place on 19 November 2011. Tianjin Teda F.C., Ti ...
, club manager
Arie Haan
Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national team of the 1970s. At club level, he enjoyed a successful career ...
dropped Zhang from the cup-winning team and Zhang left the club once
Beijing Guoan
Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their ho ...
showed an interest in him.
On 23 June 2015, Zhang was loaned to
Chinese Super League
The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...
side
Chongqing Lifan
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic () is a defunct Chinese football club. The team was based in Chongqing.
The club was founded in 1995 as Wuhan Qianwei before making their debut in the newly developed fully professional Chinese football league system ...
until 31 December 2015.
国安后腰成功租借重庆力帆
at sports.sohu.com 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2015-06-23
References
External links
Player Profile
at 7m.cn
Player stats
at sohu.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Xiaobin
1985 births
Living people
People from Zhangjiakou
Chinese footballers
Footballers from Hebei
Chinese expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in England
A-League Men players
Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand
New Zealand Knights FC players
Chinese Super League players
Changsha Ginde players
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players
Beijing Guoan F.C. players
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. players
Association football midfielders