John Hou Sæter

In this Chinese name, the family name is Hou.

John Hou Sæter
Personal information
Full name Hou Yongyong
Birth name John Hou Sæter
Date of birth (1998-01-13) 13 January 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Trondheim, Norway
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Ranheim
Number 10
Youth career
2007–2012 IL Trond
2013–2017 Rosenborg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Rosenborg 4 (0)
2016 → Ranheim (loan) 9 (3)
2017–2019 Stabæk 32 (1)
2019–2022 Beijing Guoan 25 (3)
2023– Ranheim 44 (20)
International career‡
2013–2014 Norway U16 23 (8)
2014–2015 Norway U17 8 (3)
2014–2016 Norway U18 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 1 December 2019

John Hou Sæter (Chinese: 侯永永; pinyin: Hóu Yǒngyǒng; born 13 January 1998), known as Hou Yongyong in China, is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Norwegian First Division club Ranheim. Born in Norway, he renounced his Norwegian passport in 2019 to receive the Chinese citizenship.[1]

Club career

Early career

John Hou Sæter started his football career when he joined Rosenborg's youth academy in 2013. He made his debut for the club on 24 April 2014 in a 3–0 win against Orkla FK in the 2014 Norwegian Football Cup, becoming the youngest player ever to make his debut for Rosenborg aged 16 years and 101 days. He made his league debut on 28 September 2014 in a 3–0 win against Aalesund, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute. He became the youngest player ever to make his league debut for the club aged 16 years and 258 days.[2]

In August 2016, Hou Sæter signed a new two-year contract with Rosenborg before being loaned to Norwegian First Division side Ranheim until the end of the 2016 season.[3] In July 2017, Hou Sæter transferred to fellow Tippeligaen side Stabæk.[4]

Beijing Guoan

In January 2019, Hou Sæter obtained Chinese citizenship and joined Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan.[5] He made his debut for the club on 23 February 2019 in a 2–0 loss against Shanghai SIPG in the 2019 Chinese FA Super Cup, coming on as a substitute for Chi Zhongguo in the 71st minute. This made Hou Sæter the first naturalised Chinese player in China's professional leagues.[6] On 29 May 2019, Hou scored his first goal for Guoan in a 3-1 home win against Changchun Yatai in a Chinese FA Cup fifth round match.

On 12 August 2020, Hou scored his first Chinese Super League goal in a 3-1 win against Hebei China Fortune.

Hou Sæter left the club at the end of the 2022 season and returned to Ranheim, after his contract with Guoan had ended.[7]

Personal life

Born to a Norwegian father and a Chinese mother from Luoyang, Henan, Hou Sæter's Chinese name is Hou Yongyong.[8]

When Hou Sæter was 10 years old, he participated in an international football competition arranged by Manchester United. He was chosen as one of 37 from a group of about 20,000 participants to come attend the finale in Manchester. He finished second in the competition and received an award from Bobby Charlton, only beaten by a boy who was a year older than him.[9][10]

He was naturalised as a Chinese citizen in 2019.

Career statistics

As of 9 November 2024.[11]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rosenborg 2014 Tippeligaen 1 0 1 0 – – 2 0
2015 3 0 4 0 3 0 – 10 0
Total 4 0 5 0 3 0 – 12 0
Ranheim (loan) 2016 Norwegian First Division 9 3 0 0 – – 9 3
Stabæk 2017 Eliteserien 9 1 2 1 – – 11 2
2018 23 0 2 0 – – 25 0
Total 32 1 4 1 – – 36 2
Beijing Guoan 2019 Chinese Super League 16 1 2 1 0 0 1[a] 0 19 2
2020 8 2 0 0 0 0 – 8 2
2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 0
2022 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 0
Total 25 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 28 4
Ranheim 2023 OBOS-ligaen 15 1 0 0 – – 15 1
2024 29 19 2 0 – – 31 19
Total 44 20 2 0 – – 46 20
Career total 114 27 13 2 3 0 1 0 131 29
  1. ^ Appearances in Chinese FA Super Cup

Honours

Rosenborg

See also

References

  1. ^ "The foreign footballers giving up their passports to become Chinese". CNN Sports. 29 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Nyheter | Rosenborg". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Nyheter | Rosenborg". Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Sæter solgt til Stabæk".
  5. ^ "中赫国安官宣三人加盟 侯永永邹德海李可来投" (in Chinese). 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  6. ^ "创造历史!归化球员登上中国足球舞台 侯永永亮相". Sina Sports (in Chinese). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  7. ^ Eriksen, Fredrik R (1 February 2023). "- Har savnet kulteren og klubben". Ranheim (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  8. ^ 独家重磅!国安引归化球员取实质进展 签2人创历史. Sina. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. ^ Chronicle, Evening (5 November 2008). "Tyneside lad makes world football camp final".
  10. ^ "John (10) hylles av Sir Bobby | byavisa.no | Tar deg tettere på Trondheim". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  11. ^ John Hou Sæter at Soccerway
  • Profile at RBK.no (archived 21 February 2015)