Born in Wuhan in 1977, Chang had a respectable playing career as a midfielder - starting his career with Chengdu Wuniu in 1998, a team he spent three years with before moving to play for Chongqing Lifan.

In 2003, Chang joined his hometown club Hubei Wuhan FC but only played a season there where he helped the club win China League Two to gain promotion to the Chinese Super League before making a decision to hang up his boots due to injury at the age of only 26.

A keen student of the game, Chang didn’t take long to seek another path in football as he turned his attention towards coaching starting with the assistant coach role with Hubei Wuhan, learning the ropes from Pei Encai and Chen Fangping.

Chang broadened his horizon when he accepted the assistant coach role with the China PR women’s national team in 2013, supporting Hao Wei as the team made the quarter-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada.

Moving back to club football in 2015, Chang took up the assistant coach role with Guangzhou Evergrande where he received further education working alongside Brazilian Luis Felipe Scolari and Italian Fabio Cannavaro in what were trophy-laden years for the club.

After six years with Guangzhou, Chang took up the responsibility of Wuhan Jiangda head coach in the Chinese Women’s Super League, leading the team to back-to-back league and cup doubles in 2022 and 2023.

Throughout Wuhan Jiangda’s campaign in the AFC Women’s Champions League, Chang has shown a propensity to adapt his tactics where needed, solidifying the defence against Urawa before a more expansive attacking performance against Ho Chi Minh City - one thing is for sure, the 47-year-old will leave no stone unturned in their bid to be Asian champions.