Zhou Liao (; born 2 February 1989) is a Chinese footballer who currently plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Club career

Zhou was deemed as a high potential player when he was in Wuhan youth team system. In 2006, he was invited to a one-month trial at

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

with his teammate

Yang Changpeng Yang Changpeng (; born May 1, 1989) is a Chinese footballer. Club career Yang Changpeng was scouted by Xiao Duyin, by-then youth coach of Wuhan Optics Valley youth team, when he was coaching his team for pre-season at Hainan Province. By then 1 ...

. Zhou started his professional career with Wuhan Optics Valley in 2007. On 17 April, he made his senior debut and scored the winning goal in a

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 ...

match which Wuhan beat Shandong Luneng Taishan 3–2. In October 2008, Wuhan Optics Valley withdrew from the top tier for what it claimed was unfair punishment by 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 ...

. He joined

Hubei Greenery Wuhan Yangtze River Football Club, formerly Wuhan Zall 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 ...

which used the Wuhan U-19 team as well as Hubei youth team as the foundation for the squad in 2009 and made an impression within the team as Hubei Greenery won promotion to

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

in 2009 season. Zhou refused to extend his contract in 2011 when Hubei Greenery was purchased and renamed as Hubei Wuhan Zhongbo. He was linked with Super League club Shandong Luneng, Tianjin Teda and Henan Construction in the summer of 2011. However, Zhou eventually decided to stay in Hubei and extend his contract for half year. Zhou made a free transfer to Tianjin Teda in November 2011. On 20 March 2012, he made his debut for Tianjin Teda in a

2012 AFC Champions League group stage The 2012 AFC Champions League group stage was contested by a total of 32 teams (16 from West Zone and 16 from East Zone). They included: *28 teams which directly entered the 2012 AFC Cup group stage (14 from West Zone and 14 from East Zone) *4 winne ...

match which Tianjin draw with

K League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...

side Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 1–1. On 25 February 2016, Zhou was loaned to China League One club

Wuhan Zall Wuhan Yangtze River Football Club, formerly Wuhan Zall 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 ...

until 31 December 2016. On 23 June 2017, Zhou moved to

China League Two The Chinese Football Association Division Two League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会乙级联赛), or China League Two, is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football As ...

side

Yinchuan Helanshan Yinchuan Helanshan Football Club was an association football club based in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China. The Helan Mountain Stadium was their home venue. History Yinchuan Helanshan F.C. was established on 17 July 2013 by Yinchuan Sports Federation ...

on a half season loan deal. On 8 August 2020, he signed with Wuhan Three Towns. In his first season with the club he would go on to aid them in winning the division title and promotion into the second tier. This would be followed by another division title win and promotion as the club entered the top tier for the first tine in their history.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 January 2023.''周燎
at sodasoccer Retrieved 2015-11-01

Honours

Club

Wuhan Three Towns *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Liao 1989 births Living people Chinese footballers Footballers from Wuhan Wuhan Optics Valley F.C. players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Wuhan Yangtze River F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players Association football forwards