HOUSED in a group of old grey buildings, Zhiyuan Primary School cannot easily be identified as a place which has developed some of the biggest names in Chinese football, such as Liu Haiguang, Fan Zhiyi and Shen Si.

A group of students can be seen passing a ball back and forth on the small school playing pitch. They are expected to become future football stars by their schoolmates.

"It is very hard for us to develop good young players now," said Fang Anrong, headmaster of the school and involved in the development of young football players.

With two Shanghai clubs suffering from successive failures in international games and Shanghai football players failing to appear in the national team as they did before, the proper development of young players has become a big challenge for Shanghai, a city boasting two clubs in China's Super League.

For a long time, Shanghai players have been regular choices for China national teams. But none of them can be seen wearing the white shirts of China's national team today.

With Shanghai Shenhua club and Zhongyuan club aiming to build themselves into Asian versions of Manchester United, experts caution that such dreams cannot be realized without the effective development of young players.

Additional scores

A bitter smile crosses Fang's face as he stands in front of many shining trophies. The school established its first football team in 1951 and the U-11 team of the school has won more than 30 championships in China.

There is a football class in each grade and the number of students taking football classes tops 90. But ever fewer students become professional players as they did that before.

"In the past, parents sent their children here to play football with the aim of building them into future football players. But now most of the children play football because it helps them when they apply for a good middle school," said Fang.

According to the Shanghai Education Committee, students who are outstanding in sports, music or other fields can be granted additional scores which help them to get into better schools.

"Most of the good players do very well in their studies too. Although they have the potential to become good professional players in the future, they choose to apply for normal schools with no training facilities or coaches. Such schools offer a better chance of attending a prestigious university," said Fang.

When they give up football in their middle school years, they abandon the possibility of becoming professional players. Parents do not seem to mind.

"The possibility of our child becoming someone on the pitch is very vague. It is like buying a lottery ticket," said one parent.

Zhiyuan Primary School sent 10 students to a famous football school in 2002 but eight were dismissed after two years of training.

They had to face very tough conditions. Afterwards, they wanted to continue their normal education but no school was willing to accept them because of the poor education they had received in the football school.

"I love playing football, but it is hard for me to convince my family to let me play again in middle school. They think it is better for me to get a university degree and be a lawyer," said Shen Yang, a defender in the school team.

Shen chose to apply for Datong Middle School instead of the football school. He thought the chance of becoming a good lawyer was much higher than that of becoming a professional player.

"I hope I can return here at weekends to play football with my teammates," said Shen.

Costly path

What has made parents and students change their attitude towards football?

Fang explained that although professional players can earn a lot of money becoming one was extremely hard.

The development of young football players used to follow a step-by-step process. The players first received training in primary school followed by further training in district youth sports schools.

The best players were selected to play in the city's youth sports schools, becoming candidates for careers in the game. The best of them could move on to local clubs.

But this process has changed. Most sports schools which used to develop football players have been eliminated.

Would-be professional footballers find there is nowhere for them to get further training after primary school.

Football school has proliferated to take the place of the old sports schools, with 25 now existing in the city. The football schools are also established in districts, but they cannot guarantee a clear path to a professional career.

These big changes have meant that many primary schools offering football education have chosen to abandon their young football player development. Half of these eleven primary schools have given up football player training in recent years because of the elimination of the sports schools and a lack of financial support.

At the Zhiyuan Primary School, the 90 football players used to play on a muddy football pitch. Injuries often occurred to players on the crude pitch where they had to kick the ball in the mud if it rained.

The school could not afford good coaches so each coach in the school had a double job. The school fee of 100 yuan (US$12) could not suffice to meet the needs for training equipment and coaches.

An alternative choice is offered by the football schools, but their high fees deter many potential students. On average 1,500 to 2,000 yuan (US$180-240) is charged monthly by these schools and even these charges are expected to rise. According to the Shanghai Football Association, at least 20,000 yuan (US$2,400) will be spent annually by parents, equivalent to the total savings of an ordinary family in China.

"It is money rather than ability that enables a young player to attend a football schools," said a famous football coach who had closely observed Shanghai football over the past four years.

Another worry is that students cannot get a good all-round education in football schools.

"Parents do not want to send their children to football schools even if they have the money. They do not want their children to end up being illiterate," said the coach.