Taizhou players celebrate after winning the maiden "Suchao" football league on Saturday in Nanjing. Photo: Courtesy of organizers

The Jiangsu City Football League, more often referred to as "Suchao," reached its finale on Saturday, with the Taizhou team defeating their Nantong counterparts 4-3 on penalty shootout.

The league, which has often made headlines beyond the region since the beginning of this summer, has served as a model for many other provinces and regions such as Hunan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan as a way to boost their sports and tourism sectors.

Taizhou was not considered the favorite ahead of the final, as Nantong had been the more dominant side throughout the season. 

But they stunned the favorite Nantong after a scoreless draw under the gaze of a new record of 62,329 people at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Nanjing, the capital city of East China's Jiangsu Province.

Taizhou's head coach, Zhou Gaoping, a former Chinese women's national team player, is the only female head coach among the 13 teams in Suchao.