Bao Jiaping

Bao Jiaping made his début in the Hong Kong League for St. Joseph’s. When many players left the South China Athletic Association (SCAA) after the Chinese Athletic Association had been founded, he was called as a goalkeeper, leading the team to the Second Division title. He was selected for the national squad for the first time at the 1927 Far Eastern Games, where China defeated the Philippines and Japan and Bao played in both games. In the 1930-31 season he won the National Championship with the SCAA.

In 1932 Bao quit football for personal reasons, missing several seasons, although he played a few games as a striker when the team was short of players. He made his official comeback in March 1935 with the SCAA, winning the National Championship in October. After another break Bao returned again as South China’s goalkeeper in the 1938-39 season.

After a Southeast Asia tour with the SCAA he did not return but stayed in Singapore. There, Bao Jiaping initially worked as a secretary for a rubber factory and declined offers to return to the soccer field. Instead, he became honorary coach of the Singapore Chinese Football Association in 1941 and he later coached local teams. His last public appearance was also in Singapore, in 1948, with a Chinese team against a British veteran team in a fundraising game, in which he scored two goals. Bao was a talented goalkeeper and, as a part time striker, well acquainted with the behavior of attacking players. He is considered China’s best goalkeeper of the first half of the 20th century.