Two decades after his last journey to Suzhou, former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has returned to the Chinese mainland city that holds a special place in his heart. This time, he's not here on a diplomatic mission, but to explore an unexpected phenomenon: the rise of the Suchao grassroots football league.
Founded by a group of university friends, Suchao – also known as the Jiangsu Football City League – has grown from a handful of teams to a thriving network of more than a hundred amateur clubs. Each weekend, matches spill onto community fields, where students, families and young professionals gather to cheer, trade tactics and celebrate their shared love of the game.
Leterme toured neighborhood pitches, joined a post-match huddle and saw firsthand how an easy-to-use mobile app lets any team register, schedule games and track live scores. He noted how local businesses have sprung up around the league: cafes, sports shops and grassroots sponsorships, all fueled by a surge in social-media buzz and a digital audience reaching tens of thousands of viewers each weekend.
Beyond the numbers, Suchao tells a bigger story about the Chinese mainland's deepening football fever. Communities are taking the sport into their own hands, building fields, coaching youth squads and dreaming of lifting standards from the grassroots to the national level. For Leterme, the league offers a blueprint: when passion meets people, even the most amateur competition can become a cultural movement.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
