Football was introduced to China in the late Qing Dynasty and was developed in universities in the early years of the Republic of China. In the south, Shanghai's Nanyang University (now Jiao Tong University), Saint John's University and Hujiang University have the strongest teams. They joined forces with Nanjing Jinling University, Suzhou Soochow University, and Hangzhou Zhijiang University to form the Donghua Football Club to compete with the Western Football Team of the Shanghai Public Concession. They won many times and attracted the attention of the Chinese and foreign sports circles.

In 1916, the Overseas Chinese Organization of the Philippines telegraphed six universities to form a college football team to compete in Africa. The Donghua football team selected 12 players to form the Nanyang, John, Jinling and Soochow University football leagues. Among them, Nanyang University has 7 players. Coach Ma Lisen and captain Liang Zhenmin are both from Nanyang University.

The team left Shanghai by boat on February 9, 1916, the first time a Chinese football team had ever traveled abroad. The team played two games in Manila, the Philippines, which was a sports powerhouse in Asia at the time. The first game was lost to Valorra 0-4, and the second game was lost to Pu Ximing 0-3. The result was a big disappointment to the overseas Chinese. The Chinese college football team could only quietly return to Shanghai by boat.