Fan Zhiyi (; born 6 November 1969) is a Chinese coach and former international footballer. He played as a defender for

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Shanghai COSCO Huili,

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, Buler Rangers and Shanghai Zobon. He was considered a trailblazer in his native homeland when Sun Jihai and he became the first two Chinese footballers to play in the English leagues, joining Crystal Palace in 1998. Internationally, he would go on to play with the Chinese national team in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. He has since gone on to become a football coach and had his first stint as manager at

Shanghai East Asia Shanghai Port FC (), previously named Shanghai SIPG, is a professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Pudong, Shanghai, and their home s ...

Club career

Fan Zhiyi was considered a talented youngster and integrated into the Chinese National B Team which was allowed to take part in the Chinese football league system for a season. His time with them was extremely successful and he was even able to win the Chinese league title with the team in the 1989 league season before he had to return to

. After returning to Shanghai and playing in his first season as a professional, Fan's best was brought out of him due to the improved level of play. His superb fitness and hardworking ethics as well as his excellent positional play as a central defender would see him become a regular within the team. By the 1995 league season, he had already gained a reputation as tough tackler who had superb aerial ability especially from set-piece plays, however he would also show his versatility as a player when he played in several positions including a provisional striker when he was the league's top goalscorer with fifteen goals as he guided Shanghai Shenhua towards the league title in the 1995 season. After several seasons he had now settled into central defense as a sweeper and would captain his side as they won

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. Its current holders are Shandong Taishan, having beaten Shanghai Port in 2021 for a record seventh title ...

in 1998. In the 1998–99 season, Fan made national headlines when he left Shanghai to join First Division side

where he and Sun Jihai became the first Chinese footballers in the English leagues. Fan soon established himself as an important player at Crystal Palace and was very popular with the fans and staff as well as winning the club many new fans back in China. He was also the captain of Crystal Palace for a while and scored several important goals for the club. As he played for Crystal Palace, Fan would also play in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup for the Chinese national team before personally winning

Asian Footballer of the Year The Asian Footballer of the Year is an annual prize awarded to the best Asian player in a calendar year, organized by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). History The origin of ...

in 2001. After helping China qualify for the

in October 2001, Fan transferred to

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

side

for £350,000. He managed to score against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

in a 3–1 loss with a good long-distance shot after positioning himself well after he received a pass from Nacho Novo. After returning from the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Fan decided not to return to Dundee and decided to return to China to join top-tier club

Shanghai International Beijing Chengfeng Football Club () was a professional Chinese football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Fengtai District, Beijing and their hom ...

for a brief period. He would soon return to the United Kingdom where he had a trial with Gillingham F.C., however Fan decided to join

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side

in November 2002. In October 2003, he signed a one-year contract to become player-coach of

Hong Kong First Division League The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia. The league was formerly the highest division in Hong Kong until the formation ...

side Buler Rangers. However, his stay in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

lasted only a few months when, in early 2004, he moved back to Shanghai to become the captain of

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 ...

side Zhuhai Zobon. He led the club to promotion to the

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 ...

one year later and the club renamed to Shanghai Zobon after it moved to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

. Fan left the club after the 2005 season and joined Buler Rangers for a second stint but after five games, he decided to end his playing career and retired.

International career

Fan was a key veteran of the Chinese national team that qualified for the

, their first time qualifying for the tournament. After returning from the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Fan announced his retirement from the national team after ten years where he was an anchor in the defense and was capped 106 times for his country.

Management career

Fan often stated that his desire was to move into management and had brief spells as an assistant coach with Buler Rangers and Shanghai Zobon while he was still playing. Once he retired from playing football, he became a technical director and assistant coach at

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 Suzhou Trips. Fan became manager of

side

in 2010, but he was sacked at the end of the 2010 season.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Results list China's goal tally first.''

Honours

Player

Club

Chinese National B Team *

Chinese Jia-A League The National Football Jia A League ( simplified Chinese, commonly known as Jia-A, was the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, during 1994 through 2003, operating under the auspices of the Chinese Football Asso ...

: 1989

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

: 1998

Individual

: 2001 *

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' ...

Player of the Year:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

Team of the Year:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Top goalscorer:

Player of the Year: 2001

Filmography

Variety shows

References

External links

Fifa World Cup 2002
at bbc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fan, Zhiyi 1969 births Living people Chinese footballers Footballers from Shanghai Chinese football managers China international footballers FIFA Century Club Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players English Football League players Chinese expatriate footballers Chinese expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Expatriate footballers in England Cardiff City F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Wales 2002 FIFA World Cup players 1992 AFC Asian Cup players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players Dundee F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Scottish Premier League players Beijing Renhe F.C. players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Hong Kong First Division League players Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Asian Footballer of the Year winners Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Association football defenders Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Association football coaches Shanghai Shenhua F.C. non-playing staff

Club career

International career

Management career

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Player

Club

Individual

Filmography

Variety shows

See also

References

External links