Shandong Luneng Taishan FC

Shandong Luneng FC

Shandong Luneng Taishan FC are based in Jinan, Shandong. They play their home games at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium. The major stakeholder in the club is Luneng Group, a subsidiary of Shandong Electric Power Group Corporation. The club’s predecessor was called Shandong Provincial team in 1956. The club reorganised and became fully professional and competed in China’s first fully professional top tier. Shandong won the 1999 league season. They have followed up their first title with titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010 making them one of China’s most successful teams. According to Forbes, Shandong is China’s 5th most valuable team in China with a team value of $126m. They had an estimated revenue of $24m in 2015.

MANAGER

Felix Magath is one of the most high-profile managers at the helm of a team in China. He managed teams like Bayern Munich, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, two spells at Wolfsburg, a short spell at Fulham and Eintracht Frankfurt. Felix Magath also had a distinguished playing career. He made over 306 appearances for Hamburger SV. He also made 43 appearances for West Germany with whom he won the 1980 European Championship.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

Gil played for Corinthians and made over 100 appearances for them. He moved to Shandong in 2016. He made his debut for Brazil in 2014 and has made 10 appearances for them. His club career also saw him play for Cruzeiro.

Diego Tardelli joined Shandong in 2015. He made over 100 appearances for Atletico Mineiro. He made 90 appearances for Sao Paulo and had loan spells at Real Betis and PSV in Europe. In 2011, he moved to Anzhi Makhachkala. He has made 14 appearances for Brazil.

Former Newcastle player Papiss Cisse joined Shandong in 2016. Ha had a very successful spell at Newcastle United in England. Before joining Newcastle he played for Freiburg in Germany. Cisse is also a full Senegal International and has 35 caps for the National Team.

Graziano Pelle played for AZ and Feyenoord in Netherlands. His consistent performances at the latter earned him a move to Southampton. He played for Parma and Sampdoria in Italy. His switch to China from England made him one of the highest-paid players in the world.

RECORD SCORER

Yangpo Wang is Shandong Luneng’s all-time top scorer with 44 goals. Second on the list is Peng Han with 44 goals. Among the current players, Binbin Liu is highest with 18 goals. Second among the current players is Diego Tardelli with 16.

RIVALRIES

Shandong Luneng are bitter rivals with Beijing Guoan.

HONORS

Chinese Super League/Chinese Jia-A League x4 (1999, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Chinese FA Cup x5 (1995, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2014)
Chinese Super League Cup (2004)
Chinese FA Super Cup (2015)