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| Full name | Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club 天津津门虎足球俱乐部 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | 津门虎 (Jinmen Tigers) | ||
| Founded | 1951; 74 years ago (1951) (as North China) 1956; 69 years ago (1956) (as Tianjin F.C.) 16 February 1998; 27 years ago (1998-02-16) (as Tianjin TEDA) | ||
| Ground | TEDA Soccer Stadium,Tianjin | ||
| Capacity | 36,390 | ||
| Owner | Tianjin Sports Bureau | ||
| Manager | Yu Genwei | ||
| League | Chinese Super League | ||
| 2024 | Chinese Super League, 6th of 16 | ||
| Website | https://jmtfc.com.cn/ | ||
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club (Chinese:天津津门虎足球俱乐部;pinyin:Tiānjīn Jīnmén Hǔ Zúqiú Jùlèbù), previouslyTianjin TEDA (Chinese:天津泰达;pinyin:Tiānjīn Tàidá), is a Chinese professionalfootball club based inTianjin, that competes in theChinese Super League, the top tier ofChinese football. Tianjin Jinmen Tiger plays its home matches at theTEDA Soccer Stadium, located withinBinhai. The founding owners of the team wereTEDA Holding (the sponsorship name was derived from the initials ofTianjin Economic-Technological Development Area), astate-ownedconglomerate ofChina.[1] Tianjin Jinmen Tiger is one of the four clubs to have never been relegated from the Chinese top-flight since theChinese Super League's foundation in 2004.
The club's predecessor was called Tianjin Football Club and they predominantly played in the top tier, where they won several domestic league and cup titles. In 1993, the club was reorganized to become a completely professional football club. Since then, they have won the2011 Chinese FA Cup and were runners-up in the2010 Chinese Super League season. Notable players of the team includeYu Genwei andLi Weifeng.
According to Forbes, Tianjin is the 8th most valuable football team in China, with a team value of $84 million, and an estimated revenue of $15 million in 2015.[2]
The club's first incarnation came in 1951 when the local government sports body decided to take part in China's first fully nationalized football league tournament and decided to merge the best players from Beijing and Tianjin to create theNorth China Football Team.[3] The team name was taken from the football team in the 1910 multi-sport eventChinese National Games that also represented the same regions.[4] The team ended up finishing fourth in their debut season and with the football league gradually expanding, the team was allowed to separate themselves from Beijing and the local government sports body were allowed to reformed the club asTianjin Football Team in 1956. The players were mainly from the United White team that lost to the United Red team in the finals of the1956 Chinese National Olympic Football Trial.[5] The club took part in the expanding 1957 Chinese national football league tournament where they ended the campaign as runners-up at the end of the season.[6] By 1959, the club would hire from within and promoted former team captainZeng Xuelin as their manager, who would return this good faith by winning the 1960 league title as well as theChinese FA Cup.[7] For the next several seasons, Tianjin would now become regular title contenders. However, theCultural Revolution halted football within the country and when it returned, Zeng Xuelin had already left to join theBeijing Football Team.[8]
The club brought inSun Xiafeng to manage the team and he would make sure Tianjin was still a force within the league when he guided the club to the runners-up spot at the end of the 1974 league season, where they narrowly lost the league title toBayi Football Team on goal difference. His reign at the club was, however, short-lived, and it wasn't until Tianjin brought inYan Dejun in 1977 that the club would taste any further success. While his first few seasons were not particularly eventful, he would go on to assemble a team built-up of young local players such asLü Hongxiang,Zuo Shusheng, andChen Jingang. The players he assembled would go on to mature in the 1980 league season, when Tianjin won the league title at the end of the campaign after a twenty-year wait.[9] With Tianjin allowed to field a B team within the second tier, the club would now have a steady supply of youngsters coming into the team to fight for places, which made sure the 1980 title win wasn't a one-off, when the club won the 1983 North League title.[10] This would, however, be Yan Dejun's last piece of silverware with the club and despite coming close on several occasions, he would leave the team in 1987. It was also during this period that theChinese Football Association was demanding more professionalism from all the Chinese teams. Unfortunately for the club, this was a transitional period for the team and they were relegated to the second tier at the end of the 1991 league season.[11] Strangely enough, the club's management decided to miss the 1992 league season and spent the whole year in the Netherlands preparing the squad for full professionalism, which the club converted to in 1993.[12]
With the Chinese football leagues fully professional by 1994, Tianjin brought inLin Xinjiang to manage the club, where he guided them to a runners-up position and promotion back into the top tier at the end of the season.[13] With the club back in the top tier, they soon gained their first sponsorship deal withSamsung in 1995. On the field, they achieved enough to remain within the league until Lin Xinjiang left the club, and they were soon relegated to the second tier once again at the end of the 1997 league season.[14] On February 16, 1998, theTEDA Group (derived from the initials of Tianjin Economic – Technological Development Area) took over the club for 50 million yuan, along with lower league local rivalsTianjin Vanke, to formTianjin TEDA F.C. for the start of the 1998 Chinese league season.[15] The club would bring in their first-ever foreign coach and immediately win promotion back to the top tier by winning the division title.[16] The club struggled to remain within the top division and often found themselves in the lower half of the league. While this may have been enough to avoid relegation for the previous seasons, theChinese Football Association decided to employ an averaging system for the 2003 league campaign, which would also take into account the 2002 league results. It seemed like the club would be relegated once again unless they beat title chasersShanghai COSCO Sanlin on the final league game of the season, which they unexpectedly did, winning the game 2–1.It was discovered that the result was too good to be true and that the general manager Yang Yifeng bribed the Shanghai COSCO Sanlin playersShen Si,Qi Hong,Jiang Jin, andLi Ming to forfeit the game.[17]With the Chinese FA attempting to clean up its image over match-fixing, they decided that despite the incidents taking place over 10 years ago, it would retroactively punish the club on February 18, 2013, with a 1 million Yuan fine and a 6-point deduction at the beginning of the2013 Chinese Super League season.[18]
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Tianjin remained in the Chinese top tier while it re-branded itself as theChinese Super League. They also affiliated themselves with AustralianA-League ClubMelbourne Victory in 2007.[19] They achieved little until the club brought in former player Zuo Shusheng to manage the team during the 2008 league season, when he revitalised the team and guided the club to their first-ever entry to theAFC Champions League.[20] At the beginning of the 2009 league season, the club brought in Li Guangyi as their new general manager. However, on August 18, the players went on strike during a training session after it was discovered he wanted to change the club's pay system, which would have shrunken the players' wages, and it was not until the club's owner, Liu Huiwen, heard the players' representatives that the strike ended.[21] After the strike, its leaders, such as Chinese internationalsYang Jun andHan Yanming and Chinese U-23 playerTan Wangsong, would be frozen out of the team and eventually released, while back on the field the club's results declined as they were unable to replicate the previous season's achievements.[22] By the following season, the club would bring in former Chinese international managerArie Haan, where he guided the club to a runners-up spot at the end of the 2010 league season. He would then guide the club to a last 16 position within the2011 AFC Champions League and then lead the club to win their first piece of professional silverware when they won the2011 Chinese FA Cup.[23] In subsequent seasons, they struggled and declined in the ranks, coming within one rank of relegation in the2018 Chinese Super League. After a short comeback of 7th place in the2019 season, their situation continued to get worse. Despite the efforts of firing GermanUli Stielike and replacing him withWang Baoshan to attempt for positive changes midway of the season, TEDA was placed last in finishing the regular portion of the2020 season, with a winless league season of only 3 draws. TEDA also became the first team in CSL history to suffer a winless season (excluding specialized playoffs in 2020 due to the occurrence ofCOVID-19). Additionally, this season was the worst season in terms of points for both TEDA and any team in CSL history. As an outcome, TEDA sparked the public anger of many of its fans. Plenty of them went on social media such asWeibo to criticize the team and expressed their deep dissatisfaction towards the players, the coach, as well as the club officials. Nevertheless, they won two matches out of six relegation playoffs, which eventually earned them a surprising tenth place as their final position.[24]
Since the end of the 2020 season, a series of reports revealed the fact that the team would be discontinued by the TEDA group.[25][26][27] The team did not regroup for winter training, while players began to terminate their contracts and move to other teams.[28] Many claimed that their salaries were unpaid.[29] On 28 February 2021, Tianjin Jinmen Tiger failed to submit entrance files for the 2020 season, when it came to a consensus that the team would possibly not participate in the 2021 CSL, although the team constantly remained silent about the issue.[30] Then on 23 March, the day when the CFA was supposed to publish the entry list for the 2021 season, sources claimed that Tianjin Jinmen Tiger would re-submit necessary files for participation,[31] while the publication was actually postponed.[32] A few days later, Tianjin Tigers was officially listed among other 2021 CSL teams, indicating a dramatic revive.[33]
TheTEDA Football Stadium (Chinese:泰达足球场), with a capacity of 36,390 people, is a football stadium inTianjin, China. It is the current home of Tianjin Jinmen Tiger and was built in 2004. The stadium is located in theTianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA), and was designed byPeddle Thorp, an Australian architecture firm.
The Jing-Jin derby is a local rivalry between Tianjin Jinmen Tiger and neighboringBeijing Guoan.[35] Both teams can trace their histories to the North China Football Team before it split to form Tianjin and Beijing.[36] Since then, both clubs have predominantly remained within the top tier of Chinese football, providing a constant rivalry fixture which has led to intense matches that have spilled out away from the stadiums and onto the streets that have led to property destruction as well as further intensifying their relationship.Also,Tianjin Tianhai was considered their rival and developed during recent years due to the separation of some Tianjinese fans. The two teams usedthe same ground in the 2019 season. Nevertheless, this rivalry came to an end following the dissolution of Tianhai in 2020.[37]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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12 –Club Supporters (the 12th Man) The number was retired in January 2016.[39]
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Yu Genwei |
| General Coordinator | Wang Jun |
| Assistant Coach | Zhang Chaosong |
| Assistant Coach | Sun Jianjun |
| Assistant Coach |  Alejandro Esteve |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Wang Lüe |
| Fitness Coach | Ignacio Gonzalo |
| Coach | Tan Wangsong |
Semi-pro seasons:
Liu Shifan(caretaker) (1951)Li Chaogui (first official head coach) (1956)Shao Xiankai (1957–59)Zeng Xuelin (1959–72)Sun Xiafeng (1973–75)Shen Furu (1975–77)Yan Dejun (1977–87) Shen Furu (1988–90)Zhang Yanan (1991)Zuo Shusheng (Jan 1, 1992 – Dec 31, 1992) Shen Furu (1993)Professional seasons:[40]
Lin Xinjiang (1994–96) Zuo Shusheng (1996–1997)Chen Jingang (1997) Lin Xinjiang (1998)
Osvaldo Giménez (1998)Jin Zhiyang (1999–00)Liu Junhong(caretaker) (2000)Nelson Agresta (2000–02)
Giuseppe Materazzi (2003)Liu Junhong(caretaker) (2003)Qi Wusheng (2004)Liu Chunming (2004–06)
Jozef Jarabinský (2007–08) Zuo Shusheng (May 14, 2008 – Dec 1, 2009)
Arie Haan (Dec 1, 2009 – Dec 31, 2011)
Josip Kuže (Jan 1, 2012 – May 27, 2012)
Alexandre Guimarães (June 1, 2012 – Dec 31, 2013)Arie Haan (Jan 12, 2014 – Dec 18, 2015)
Dragan Okuka (Dec 18, 2015 – Aug 1, 2016)
Jaime Pacheco (Aug 2, 2016 – May 30, 2017)
Lee Lim-saeng (May 30, 2017 – August 14, 2017)Chi Rongliang(caretaker) (August 14, 2017 – September 10, 2017)
Uli Stielike (September 11, 2017 – August 19, 2020)Wang Baoshan (August 19, 2020 – 2021)Yu Genwei (April 2021 – Present)All-time honours list, including semi-professional Tianjin Football Club period.[41][42]
U-19 Team
U-15 Team
As of the end of 2023 season.[43][44]
| Year | Div | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pos. | FA Cup | Super Cup | League Cup | AFC | Other | Att./G | Stadium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | RU | – | – | |||||
| 1957 | 1 | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 48 | 18 | 30 | 53 | RU | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1958 | 1 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 20 | 14 | 44 | 3 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1960 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 10 | 15 | 91 | W | W | – | – | |||||
| 1961 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 101 | 3 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1962 | 1 | 19 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 31 | 16 | 15 | 121 | 4 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1963 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 18 | −2 | 31 | 3 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1964 | 1 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 24 | 5 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1965 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 7 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1973 | 1 | 24 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 35 | 18 | 17 | 161 | 5 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1974 | 1 | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 13 | 26 | 151 | RU | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1976 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 12 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1977 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 6 | NH | – | – | ||||||
| 1978 | 1 | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 39 | 29 | 10 | 37 | 4 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1979 | 1 | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 36 | 24 | 12 | 34 | 6 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1980 | 1 | 29 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 34 | 14 | 20 | 41 | W | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1981 | 1 | 30 | 17 | – | 13 | 34 | 7 | NH | – | – | ||||||||
| 1982 | 1 | 30 | – | 19 | 11 | 47 | 27 | 20 | 38 | 3 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1983 | 1 | 16 | 12 | – | 4 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 24 | W3 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1984 | 1 | 30 | 21 | – | 9 | 47 | 28 | 19 | 42 | RU | 4 | – | – | |||||
| 1985 | 1 | 15 | 8 | – | 7 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 5 | – | – | |||||||
| 1986 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 19 | 4 | 6 | – | – | |||||
| 1987 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 24 | RU | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1988 | 1 | 25 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 48.5 | 3 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1989 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 19 | 5 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1990 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 22 | 5 | Group | – | – | |||||
| 1991 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 22 | −14 | 6 | 8 | Group | – | – | |||||
| 1992 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | R2 | – | – | |||||
| 1993 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 1/0 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 41 | 3 | NH | – | – | |||||
| 1994 | 2 | 20 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 32 | 22 | 10 | 28 | RU | NH | – | – | DNE | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 1995 | 1 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 20 | 40 | −20 | 24 | 8 | R1 | DNQ | – | 19,173 | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 1996 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 26 | 8 | R2 | DNQ | – | 20,345 | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 1997 | 1 | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 20 | 28 | −8 | 23 | 11 | R2 | DNQ | – | 17,091 | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 1998 | 2 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 42 | 20 | 22 | 44 | W | R2 | DNQ | – | Minyuan Stadium | ||||
| 1999 | 1 | 26 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 32 | 28 | 4 | 35 | 7 | R1 | DNQ | – | 13,692 | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 2000 | 1 | 26 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 31 | 10 | R2 | DNQ | – | 13,692 | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 2001 | 1 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 38 | 31 | 7 | 36 | 7 | QF | DNQ | – | 10,154 | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 2002 | 1 | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 36 | 1 | 34 | 10 | QF | DNQ | – | 9,250 | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 2003 | 1 | 28 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 32 | 33 | −1 | 36 | 10 | R16 | DNQ | – | 13,000 | Minyuan Stadium | |||
| 2004 | 1 | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 28 | 29 | −1 | 29 | 6 | R2 | NH | SF | 13,182 | Minyuan Stadium TEDA Soccer Stadium | |||
| 2005 | 1 | 26 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 48 | 26 | 22 | 49 | 4 | R1 | NH | R1 | 16,462 | ||||
| 2006 | 1 | 28 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 40 | 38 | 2 | 40 | 6 | QF | NH | NH | 18,071 | ||||
| 2007 | 1 | 28 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 31 | 22 | 9 | 44 | 6 | NH | NH | NH | 15,429 | TEDA Soccer Stadium | |||
| 2008 | 1 | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 54 | 29 | 25 | 57 | 4 | NH | NH | NH | 14,007 | ||||
| 2009 | 1 | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 36 | 29 | 7 | 45 | 6 | NH | NH | NH | Group | 14,554 | |||
| 2010 | 1 | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 37 | 29 | 8 | 50 | RU | NH | NH | NH | 14,757 | ||||
| 2011 | 1 | 30 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 37 | 41 | −4 | 37 | 10 | W | NH | NH | R16 | 18,242 | TEDA Soccer Stadium Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium | ||
| 2012 | 1 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 29 | 30 | −1 | 40 | 8 | R4 | RU | NH | Group | 14,175 | TEDA Soccer Stadium | ||
| 2013 | 1 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 344 | 11 | R4 | DNQ | NH | 16,577 | Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium TEDA Soccer Stadium | |||
| 2014 | 1 | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 39 | 7 | R3 | DNQ | NH | 17,190 | ||||
| 2015 | 1 | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 39 | 46 | −7 | 31 | 13 | R4 | DNQ | NH | 19,661 | Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium | |||
| 2016 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 50 | −12 | 36 | 10 | R4 | DNQ | NH | 22,081 | ||||
| 2017 | 1 | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 30 | 49 | −19 | 31 | 13 | R4 | DNQ | NH | 14,531 | Tianjin Tuanbo Football Stadium | |||
| 2018 | 1 | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 41 | 54 | −13 | 32 | 14 | R16 | DNQ | NH | 18,487 | Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium | |||
| 2019 | 1 | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 41 | 7 | QF | DNQ | NH | 19,037 | ||||
| 2020 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 35 | −20 | 3 | 10 | SF | DNQ | NH | Suzhou andDalian | ||||
| 2021 | 1 | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 18 | 35 | -17 | 21 | 12 | R16 | DNQ | NH | Suzhou | ||||
| 2022 | 1 | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 45 | 42 | 3 | 49 | 8 | R3 | DNQ | NH | Haikou | ||||
| 2023 | 1 | 30 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 40 | 29 | 11 | 48 | 8 | QF | DNQ | NH | 30,395 | Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium TEDA Soccer Stadium | |||
Key
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| Season | Competition | Round | Opposition | Home | Away | Rank /Agg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | AFC Champions League | Group stage |  Kawasaki Frontale | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3rd |
 Central Coast Mariners | 2–2 | 1–0 | ||||
| Pohang Steelers | 0–0 | 0–1 | ||||
| 2011 | AFC Champions League | Group stage | Jeju United | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2nd |
| Gamba Osaka | 2–1 | 0–2 | ||||
| Melbourne Victory | 1–1 | 1–2 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | — | 0–3 | — | ||
| 2012 | AFC Champions League | Group stage | Central Coast Mariners | 0–0 | 1–5 | 4th |
| Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 0–3 | 1–1 | ||||
| Nagoya Grampus | 0–3 | 0–0 |
