- Address: Jinan
- Country: China
- Capacity: 56,000
- Opened: 2009
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: Shandong Taishan (football)
Extra stadium info – Jinan Olympic Sports Centre Stadium
The construction of the Jinan Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, which is also used for athletics, started in 2006. Shandong Taishan Football Club, one of the first Chinese sports clubs with a value of at least $100 million, use the venue for home games. In 1995, they won the Chinese cup tournament for the first time in their history. Shandong Taishan won the trophy after beating Shanghai Shenhua in Nanjing. Both football clubs are among the first Chinese sports clubs with 1 million followers on their main social media page.
Kim Jung-nam
Kim Jung-nam, who was born in the Korean city of Seoul, became the first foreign manager of Shandong Taishan. He played numerous matches for the national football team of Korea, nicknamed Taegeuk Warriors. Kim Jung-nam became the manager of the Taegeuk Warriors in 1980. He led the national football team of Korea into the 1986 FIFA World Cup. In 1998, Kim Jung-nam finished ninth place with Shandong Taishan.
The results of Shandong Taishan
In 1999, Shandong Taishan won the Chinese top-flight football league for the first time in their history. The same year, they won the Chinese cup tournament. In 2006, Shandong Taishan won their second top division title and the club drew an average home attendance of 30,000 in their domestic top-flight league matches that year. They gathered 69 points in 28 matches during that Chinese Super League season. Shandong Taishan won 22 of those 28 matches. Three league games ended in a draw and three league games ended in a loss. In 2006, Shanghai Shenhua finished second place in the CSL. They gathered 52 points during that league season.
Graziano Pellè
Shandong Taishan signed the striker Graziano Pellè, who scored various goals for the national football team of the Italian Republic, in 2016. Pellè was born in the Italian region of Apulia in 1985. He scored his first-ever Chinese top-flight league goal in his second league game for Shandong Taishan. Graziano Pellè became one of the highest-paid athletes in the world while under contract with Shandong Taishan. He played for several Italian clubs and also for AZ, Feyenoord and Southampton FC before he joined the Chinese football club. Feyenoord from Rotterdam became the first Dutch football club in a decisive world championship game, followed by Ajax from Amsterdam and PSV from Eindhoven. In 2021, Pellè returned to the Italian side Parma Calcio after he left Shandong Taishan.
