![[FILE] A Chinese player wearing an Argentina jersey plays football at a park in Beijing, China, 07 June 2023. EFE-EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO](https://pre.efe.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/rss-efe95f46e9d3d6b5ac1794def7ef8e5cc77cc5954cbw.webp)
By Guillermo Benavides
Nanjing, China, Sep 8 (EFE).- Packed stadiums, viral memes, and city pride have transformed the Jiangsu Football Super League, an amateur competition, into a nationwide sensation that unites 13 Chinese cities in a mosaic of “Stadium Cities.”
With packed stands and internet humor spilling into real life, the league, known as Su Chao, has turned amateur football into a cultural phenomenon.
Long described as a divided region, Jiangsu has found in football the unity once reserved for ancient Greek city-states facing common foes, only here the cause is not war but the beautiful game.
Beyond the ball, the Su Chao has grown into a digital carnival of memes, a driver of local consumption and a cultural laboratory that celebrates rivalry while fostering solidarity.
Amateurs fill the stands
Though it sits on the sixth tier of China’s football pyramid, the Su Chao draws crowds rivaling elite leagues.
By its ninth round, average attendance soared to 34,600, higher than the Chinese Super League’s 25,420 and second only to the Bundesliga and Premier League worldwide, according to Transfermarkt.
But unlike the professionals, the players are teachers, programmers, delivery drivers and students who swap their uniforms for city jerseys.
Matches are marked by cramps, makeshift stretches and the passion of part-time footballers giving their all.
José Antonio Parreño, coach of Nanjing City and a native of Cuenca, Spain, said his players take the tournament “very seriously” despite 90 percent holding full-time jobs.
“We say we play the Champions League. It feels like a World Cup because people come, enjoy, and respect us. That is real football,” he told EFE.
Rivalry with humor
The unofficial slogan circulating online, “Competition first, friendship fourteenth,” reflects the playful spirit of the tournament.
Memes abound: Nanjing vs. Wuxi was branded “the salted duck against the peach,” boosting sales of both local delicacies.
Even struggling teams benefit. Changzhou’s repeated defeats inspired jokes about its name disappearing stroke by stroke, birthing “Schrödinger football” where the team both wins and loses. Rather than demoralize the city, the humor boosted tourism and cultural visibility.
Cities as stadiums
The Su Chao has drawn more than 23 million TV viewers and nearly 200 million online views, with some channels multiplying their usual audiences by eight. Xinhua Daily dubbed the participants “Stadium Cities,” a label now embraced by fans and local governments alike.
Nanjing has set up 80 fan zones with big screens and street food, Changzhou offers free museum tickets to visiting fans, and other cities are packaging matches with cultural tourism.
The phenomenon recalls last year’s viral “Super League of the Villages” in Guizhou, which has since faded, raising questions about whether the Su Chao can sustain its momentum.
For now, its impact goes well beyond sport.
“It’s no longer just football, it’s family,” Parreño said. “Parents bring children, they eat out, they visit places. That’s culture. If culture is created, football follows.” EFE
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