Players and children line up during the opening ceremony of the Zhejiang City Football League in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on April 6. [Photo/IC]

The 2026 Zhejiang City Football League, also known as the Wuyue Cup, is drawing strong crowds across the province, with the tournament showcasing not only local passion for the game but also the depth of Zhejiang's long-term investment in soccer.

Running through June, the competition brings together teams from Zhejiang's 11 cities for 62 matches under a format of home-and-away round-robin play followed by knockout rounds.

One of the biggest turnouts so far came on April 10, when 30,219 fans packed Taizhou Sports Center to watch the home side take on Jinhua in the second round, setting a new single-match attendance record for the tournament.

The opening round also drew strong support. Five matches played the same day in Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, and Lishui attracted a combined 100,514 spectators.

The lively scenes are backed by years of steady groundwork in the sport. Data released by the Sport Bureau of Zhejiang Province showed that by the end of 2025, the province had 8,798 soccer pitches covering a total of 22.489 million square meters.

That included 1,679 standard 11-a-side pitches, 2,535 seven-a-side pitches, 4,567 five-a-side pitches, and 17 beach soccer pitches, pointing to a more complete public soccer facility network for different settings and age groups.

Zhejiang is also continuing to build for the future. The Yuhang International Sports Center, now under construction in Hangzhou, will include a professional soccer stadium with 60,000 seats and a total planned floor area of about 300,000 sq m. The venue is expected to be completed and put into use in 2027.