The "Northeast Super League" comes to an end: What is left to the black soil is not just a trophy

China News Service, Shenyang, October 8 (Yang Qianqian) On the evening of October 5, in Dalian Barracuda Bay, the Changchun team defeated the Dalian team 1:0 in an away game and won the first "Northeast Super League" championship trophy.

63,259 spectators witnessed this moment on site, breaking the single-game attendance record at Barracuda Bay Football Stadium and setting a new record for the number of spectators at a Chinese amateur football match. Previously, this record was also set by the "Northeast Super League" - Dalian team played against Shenyang team, 62,826 people entered the venue.

On October 5, the Northeast City Football League final was held at the Barracuda Bay Football Stadium in Dalian, Liaoning. Pictured is the award ceremony. Photo by Yu Haiyang

From its simultaneous opening in Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin, and Hohhot on May 23 to the end of the National Day holiday in Dalian, the first "Northeast Super League" spanned summer and autumn. The whistle blew, and the 34-game, nearly five-month schedule came to an end.

What is "Northeast Super League"? The 390 players are grassroots players selected from tens of thousands of applicants. They come from all walks of life, including students, couriers, and corporate employees; 8 city representative teams cover nearly 120 million people in three provinces and one region of Northeast China; a ticket does not exceed 20 yuan...

This event, co-sponsored by the sports bureaus of the four provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia, is about football on the surface, but it is a test of regional coordination capabilities on the inside. It is not common to jointly organize a grassroots event across provinces and regions. It involves competition system arrangement, broadcast coordination, cultural tourism linkage, consumption settlement and other links. If any link is "missed", the heat may cool down. The "Northeast Super League" can hold 34 home and away games together, which has completed a practical test of the regional cooperation mechanism. For Northeast China, which is in a critical period of revitalization, this kind of collaborative drill is more meaningful than a victory.

At the scene of the third round of the Northeast City Football League in 2026, Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium displays a giant TIFO (large banner or puzzle that can cover the stands). Photo by Yu Haiyang

The popularity of the first edition is fueled by a sense of freshness. What really needs to be answered is "what to do next": whether the schedule can be sustained, whether the operation can be successful, whether the fans can change from "coming here" to "frequently coming", and whether supporting services can capture this enthusiasm.

Fortunately, the "Northeast Super League" has taken the most difficult first step. It proves that games can be held without grand ostentation, sincerity and enthusiasm are contagious in themselves; mass sports can also unite people, activate cities, and promote regional coordination. When the grassroots love is taken seriously, the black soil will have a long-lasting and vivid confidence.

I look forward to seeing the opening whistle sound again next season. What I will see is not only an increasingly mature event, but also a Northeast that is lighter and more confident and tells stories to more people. For this black land, what is more important than a championship trophy is this love that is taken seriously - it is the "winner" who stays on the field and in people's hearts. (over)