Meizhou Hakka Football Club (; Hakka language: Mòi-Chû Hag-Ga chuk-khiù khî-lo̍k-phu) is a Chinese professional football club based in Wuhua, Meizhou, Guangdong, that competes in . Meizhou Hakka plays its home matches at the Huitang Stadium, located within Wuhua County. Their current majority shareholders are the Meizhou municipal government, Municipal Sports Bureau, Wei Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. and partners.
History Meizhou Hakka F.C. was established in January 2013 by former Guangdong Sunray Cave manager Cao Yang along with the support of the Meizhou municipal government, Municipal Sports Bureau. He would soon go on to gain financial support from the Chairman of Wei Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., Wei Jinping who was persuaded in investing into the team after Cao Yang described his envision of creating a footballing hub in Wuhua County, the home town of former Chinese footballer and coach Lee Wai Tong. The squad was assembled with local Hakka players and players from other teams in Guangdong, including Guangdong Sunray Cave, Guangzhou Evergrande, Shenzhen Ruby and Shenzhen Fengpeng before entering the third tier in the 2013 league season where despite topping the group stages they finished fifth in the knock-out stages.
Former Chinese national team head coach Qi Wusheng was brought in during the 2015 China League Two season. He would go on to help guide the club to win the division title in a penalty shoot-out against Dalian Transcendence and promotion to the second tier for the first time in the club's history. Qi Wusheng would not extend his contract with the club and Dutch football manager Luc Nijholt was brought in on 1 January 2016 as well as 80 million yuan to invest within the team. Luc Nijholt would leave the team on 19 July 2016 as the club sat twelfth within the league and marginally above the relegation zone, a position they would remain in for the rest of the season. After several managerial changes with limited success, Serbian manager Milan Ristić was brought in on 6 February 2021 and he was able to guide the team to promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2021 China League One season.
Name history According to the club's statement: 2013 Meizhou Kejia 梅州客家 2014– Meizhou Wuhua 梅州五华 According to official documents of CFA: 2013–2015 Meizhou Kejia 梅州客家 2016— Meizhou Hakka 梅州客家
Current squad
First-team squad
Reserve squad
Out on loan
Coaching staff
Managerial history
Cao Yang (2013) Tan Ende (2014–26 May 2015) Zhang Jun (26 May 2015 – 3 July 2015) Qi Wusheng (3 July 2015–31 Dec 2015) Luc Nijholt (1 Jan 2016–19 Jul 2016) Cao Yang (interim) (19 Jul 2016–31 Dec 2016) Vjekoslav Lokica (16 Feb 2017–29 Apr 2017) Cao Yang (interim) (29 Apr 2017–23 Jul 2017) Aleksandar Stankov (23 Jul 2017–18 Dec 2017) Rusmir Cviko (18 Dec 2017–28 Aug 2018) Li Weijun (interim) (28 Aug 2018–19 Dec 2018) Zheng Xiaotian (19 Dec 2018–6 Nov 2019) Marcelo Rospide (12 Nov 2019–31 Dec 2020) Milan Ristić (2 Feb 2021–4 Jan 2024) Pablo Villar (5 Jan 2024–20 May 2024) Qu Gang (interim) (20 May 2024–12 Jun 2024) Milan Ristić (12 Jun 2024–30 Jun 2025) Qu Gang (interim) (9 Jul 2025–31 Dec 2025) Gino Lettieri (26 Jan 2026–26 Apr 2026) Zhang Xiaorui (interim) (26 Apr 2026–5 June 2026) Zhu Jiong (8 June 2026–Present)
Honours China League Two (tier-III) Champions (1): 2015
Results All-time league rankings
As of the end of 2024 season.
YearDivPtsPos.FA CupSuper CupAFCAtt./GStadium 2013 3 12 9 3 0 30 6 24 30 5 DNE DNQ DNQ Meixian Tsang Hin-chi StadiumWuhua County Stadium 2014 3 16 14 0 2 45 7 38 42 4 R3 DNQ DNQ Wuhua County Stadium 2015 3 14 9 3 2 39 13 26 30 W R3 DNQ DNQ 4,818 2016 2 30 11 6 13 48 50 −2 39 12 R3 DNQ DNQ 6,450 2017 2 30 8 9 13 33 39 −6 33 12 R2 DNQ DNQ 5,865 2018 2 30 11 7 12 40 44 −4 40 9 R3 DNQ DNQ 3,583 2019 2 30 11 6 13 44 41 3 39 10 R3 DNQ DNQ 5,984 Huitang Stadium 2020 2 15 8 4 3 27 16 11 28 5 R2 DNQ DNQ 2021 2 34 24 3 7 79 35 44 75 RU R3 DNQ DNQ 2022 1 34 14 7 13 43 41 2 49 9 R3 DNQ DNQ 2023 1 30 9 7 14 42 54 −12 34 11 R4 DNQ DNQ 15,004 2024 1 30 6 9 15 29 55 −26 27 15 R4 DNQ DNQ
In group stage.
Key
China top division China second division China third division W Winners RU Runners-up 3 Third place Relegated
Pld = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position
DNQ = Did not qualify DNE = Did not enter NH = Not Held – = Does Not Exist R1 = Round 1 R2 = Round 2 R3 = Round 3 R4 = Round 4
F = Final SF = Semi-finals QF = Quarter-finals R16 = Round of 16 Group = Group stage GS2 = Second Group stage QR1 = First Qualifying Round QR2 = Second Qualifying Round QR3 = Third Qualifying Round
External links Official Weibo page
References