Yunnan Hongta
Encyclopedia
Yunnan Hongta was a football club who played in the Chinese Jia-A League
Chinese Jia-A League
The National Football Jia A League , commonly known as Jia-A , was the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, during 1994 through 2003, operating under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association.The Chinese Professional Football League was established in 1994...

 who were originally founded by the Shenzhen Jinpeng Group in 1996 and named Shenzhen Jinpeng (Simplefied Chinese: 深圳金鹏). The club predominantly played within the lower leagues until they were sold to the Yunnan Hongta Group, a tobacco producer who renamed the team Yunnan Hongta and moved the club to Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...

 to play in the Tuodong Stadium
Tuodong Stadium
Kunming Tuodong Sports Center is a multi-purpose stadium in Kunming, China. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 40,000 people...

. Yunnan Hongta would win promotion to the Chinese Jia-A League in the 1999 league season where they remained until Chongqing Lifan
Chongqing Lifan
Chongqing Lifan, are a professional Chinese football club who currently plays in the Chinese League One division. They play their home games at the 58,680 seater Chongqing Olympic Sports Center in Chongqing and are owned by the Chongqing based Lifan Group, which manufactures motorcycles, cars and...

 bought then merged the teams in 2003.

History

Found as Shenzhen Jinpeng (Simplefied Chinese: 深圳金鹏) by the Shenzhen Jinpeng Group in 1996, the club won the membership of the second division (Chinese Football Association Jia League Group B) by defeating Xiamen
Xiamen Lanshi
Xiamen Lanshi is a defunct Chinese football club, which was located in Xiamen, Fujian. They were founded in the 1996 league season and their nickname was the "Blue Lions" while they played in the Xiamen Stadium. Throughout their history they would twice win promotion to the top tier of Chinese...

 in the final of the third and the lowest division Chinese Football Association Yi League
Chinese Football Association Yi League
China League Two is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association. Above the League Two is the premier league - the Chinese Super League and the League One.League Two has two groups, northern and southern...

. In the following year, Shenzhen Jinpeng lost the bid to the championship and sold the club to Yunnan Hongta Group, a tobacco producer. The team was renamed Yunnan Hongta. They played in Tuodong Stadium
Tuodong Stadium
Kunming Tuodong Sports Center is a multi-purpose stadium in Kunming, China. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 40,000 people...

.

Yunnan Hongta made huge investment in the club. First, Qi Wusheng
Qi Wusheng
Qi Wusheng is a Chinese football coach and a former international player.-Playing career:Despite being born in Shandong, Wusheng would go on to play for teams within Liaoning before he would be selected for the Chinese national team. As a footballer, he played as a centre back and was known for...

, who failed to lead China to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

 was introduced in 1999. Next, the club bought a lot of young players from the upper division (Group A). Under Qi Wusheng the team won the runner up position of Group B and was promoted to Group A.

In the next year, Ou Chuliang
Ou Chuliang
Ou Chuliang (; born August 26, 1968 in Guangzhou, Guangdong)is an assistant coach and former international Chinese football goalkeeper. He was also a participant of the Chinese football team that took part in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.-Club career:...

, the goalkeeper of the national team, was transferred from Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua is a professional Chinese football club currently playing in Chinese Super League. The club is currently owned by Zhu Jun , Shanghai SVA Group, SMEG and Huangpu Investment Ltd. . The current head coach is Dražen Besek...

. Qi Wusheng's coaching in the national team made the team attractive to many national footballers. In 2002, another national team regular player Wei Qun followed Ou Chuliang and joined the team.

After settled down in Group A, Yunnan Hongta began to chase the championship in 2002. However, despite of leading in the first half, they end up with the seventh. In the same year, they hosted Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 during their offseason.

Merger with Chongqing Lifan F.C.

See also Chongqing Lifan F.C.

After ranked the seventh in the following year, the Yunnan Hongta Group lost the patience for the national title and sold the team to the relegated Chongqing Lifan
Chongqing Lifan
Chongqing Lifan, are a professional Chinese football club who currently plays in the Chinese League One division. They play their home games at the 58,680 seater Chongqing Olympic Sports Center in Chongqing and are owned by the Chongqing based Lifan Group, which manufactures motorcycles, cars and...

. The merge essentially ended Yunnan Hongta's hope of championship. Without the huge investment from the Yunnan Hongta Group, the new team end with the last spot in two years.

The researve team of Yunnan Hongta was not sold, however. They formed a new club named Lijiang Dongba and have been playing in the Yi division since then.

Results

  • As of the end of 2003 season


All-time League rankings
Season 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Chinese Jia-A League 2000
-Overview:It was performed in 14 teams, and Dalian Shide won the championship.-League standings:-References:*...

2001
Chinese Jia-A League 2001
-Overview:It was performed in 14 teams, and Dalian Shide won the championship.-League standings:-References:*...

2002
Chinese Jia-A League 2002
-Overview:It was performed in 15 teams, and Dalian Shide won the championship.-League standings:-References:*...

2003
Chinese Jia-A League 2003
-League standings:-References:*...

Division 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1
Position 2 7 9 2 12 10 7 7
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