Special correspondent Jiang Hai reports On January 1, Nantong Zhiyun Club officially announced that Yoshiyuki Shinoda was appointed as the head coach of the first team. The club, which was relegated from the Chinese Super League last year, announced the arrival of a new coach on the first day of the new year, "starting all over again".

Born on June 18, 1971 in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, Shinoda played as a defender (mainly as a midfielder) and played for Kofu Wind Forest, Chukyo University and Fukuoka Hornets, and was known for his accurate passing and flexible running.

After retiring in 2005, Shinoda started his career as a publicity ambassador for the Fukuoka Hornets, and later served as the coach of the Under-18 youth team and an assistant coach of the first team. In 2008, at the age of 37, Yoshiyuki Shinoda succeeded Litbarski as Fukuoka Hornets coach, and in the same year, he received his S-level coaching certificate from the Japan Football Association.

In 2010, Yoshiyuki Shinoda led the team to win the third place in J2 and was promoted to J1. But in August 2011, he was dismissed due to poor results.

For more than ten years, Shinoda Yoshiyuki traveled to Tokyo FC, Shimizu Heartbeat and Kofu Wind Forest, and served as an assistant coach and firefighting instructor many times. In 2023, Yoshiyuki Shinoda will serve as the coach of Kofu Wind Forest, replacing Daruma Yoshida, who led the team to win the Emperor's Cup, and led the team to the AFC Champions League knockout round. He left office in July this year.

Shinoda emphasises possession and fast-paced passing and receiving of the ball, and is tactically disciplined, with a particular focus on control in midfield and attacking ability on the wings.

It is worth mentioning that on November 28, 2024, Nantong Zhiyun Club signed a football business development cooperation framework agreement with Kofu Wind Forest to establish a long-term strategic partnership. At that time, the two sides agreed that in the future, they would carry out in-depth cooperation and exchanges on the construction of the first team, youth training echelon, market development, and football club operation data sharing.

Kofu Wind Forest is a professional club located in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, as one of the 10 participating teams in the first year of the J2 League in 1999, they are one of the few civilian teams in the Japanese league that are not supported by large corporations. The average attendance of the team has been stable at more than 10,000 per game, and nearly 300 small and medium-sized enterprises in the area are sponsors of Kofu Wind Forest.

Regarding the arrival of Shinoda Yoshiyuki, Nantong Zhiyun officially wrote: "As a coach who has been in the Japanese J League for many years, Shinoda Yoshiyuki has a relatively advanced football concept, and has unique insights and ideas on the team's technical and tactical layout and player management. Nantong Zhiyun welcomed the arrival of Yoshiyuki Shinoda and looked forward to the two sides working together to inject new energy into the team in the new season. ”

So far, Shinoda Yoshiyuki has also become another Japanese coach to land in the Chinese League after the new coach of the Guangzhou team, Koji Maeda, in addition, there are two Japanese coaches in the national name, Toshitoshi Ukishima and Kenichi Uemura.