Given that the earliest recorded form of a game where a ball had to be kicked into a net is not in England at all, but 3rd Century BC China, it’s apt that one of the stones has gone to Shanghai. Shanghai Greenland Shenhua Football Club in its various historical guises is one of the oldest professional clubs in China, attracting the likes of Howard Wilkinson, Jean Tigana, Nicolas Anelka, Sergio Batista and Gus Poyet to coach one of the Chinese Super League’s biggest sides. The stone has been installed at the Shanghai Greenland Shenhua training complex, which is at the centre of their impressive program developing a new generation of Chinese players. “As the chairman of the Shanghai Greenland Shenhua Football Club, I am very honoured to have the Cambridge Rules stone at our club,” said Mr Wu. “We believe that through our constant efforts and active progress, we want to let every Shanghai fan feel the infinite charm of football and enjoy a better life.”
These players are the future of football in China, as part of the development squads they pose with the stone describing the first written rules on 1848.
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