At an early age Cai Jinbiao would be accepted in a specialist sports school within Xingning, Guangdong before he started his career playing for the Guangdong youth team where he would soon be promoted to the senior team in 1974. Despite his relatively short height for a defender he would go on to establish himself as an extremely effective defender and receive the nickname "Steel head" by the local fans.[1] He would soon receive his first call-up to the Chinese national team by the manager Nian Weisi while back at his club Cai's free-kick skills and jumping ability would then go on to see Guangdong FC win their first ever Chinese league title at the end of the 1979 league season.[2]
