Yongzhou, Champion City of the “Xiang Super”: Host of the Inaugural CMG Mass Football Invitationa

2026 CMG Mass Football Invitational Tournament (Hunan·Yongzhou)

Photo by CMG Hunan Station

On January 18, the CMG Mass Football Invitational Tournament kicked off in Yongzhou, where football dreams and passion from six provinces across the country came together.

Why was Yongzhou chosen as the host city for this football event? This is closely related to the nature of the tournament itself—a mass football invitational.

Yongzhou secured an upset championship victory in the 2025 Hunan Provincial Football League (the “Xiang Super”), becoming Hunan’s first-ever Xiang Super champion city. Through the strong interaction between the people and the city, this achievement also paved the way for Yongzhou to host the inaugural CMG Mass Football Invitational.

The popularity of the “Xiang Super” was unlocked through extensive public participation.

The composition of the championship team was notably grassroots-oriented: the head coach is a physical education teacher working in primary schools, the team captain is engaged in rural revitalization work, and most of the players are high school students who attend classes during the day and train in the evenings.

Yongzhou’s breakout moment in the “Xiang Super” was also driven by the online spread of the so-called “Beggar Stadium,” a nickname coined by netizens. The venue featured grass growing higher than spectators and stands without adequate seating, leading many online users to jokingly label it a “wild stadium.” Yongzhou responded with openness, launching an online livestream supervision initiative that publicly displayed the entire renovation process. Netizens gradually shifted from “online spectators” to “online supervisors,” actively offering suggestions for stadium improvements.

This grassroots football carnival, originating from the public, is now releasing broader and deeper development potential, benefiting an even wider population.

At 11:00 a.m. on January 16, tickets for the opening match of the CMG Mass Football Invitational went on sale, with more than 10,000 tickets selling out within minutes—once again demonstrating strong public support for Yongzhou and football events.

At 2:00 p.m. on January 18, Yongzhou of Hunan Province and Taian of Shandong Province officially kicked off the opening match of the CMG Mass Football Invitational. A broader wave of public enthusiasm is continuing to spread across Yongzhou.