 | |||
| Full name | Xiamen Blue Lions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Blue Lions | ||
| Founded | 1996; 30 years ago (1996) | ||
| Dissolved | 2008; 18 years ago (2008) | ||
| Ground | Xiamen Sports Centre Stadium,Xiamen,Fujian, China | ||
| Capacity | 32,000[1] | ||
| League | Chinese Super League | ||
| 2007 | Chinese Super League, 15th (Relegated) | ||
Xiamen Blue Lions Football Club (simplified Chinese:厦门蓝狮;traditional Chinese:廈門藍獅;pinyin:Xiàmén Lánshī;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:E-mng Na-sai) is a defunct Chinesefootball club, which was located inXiamen,Fujian. It was founded in the 1996 league season and their nickname was the "Blue Lions" while they played in theXiamen Sports Centre Stadium. Throughout their history they would twice win promotion to the top tier of Chinese football and play in theChinese Super League. When the club was relegated at the end of2007 league season they disbanded.
On February 23, 1996, Xiamen FC was created to take part in the recently fully professionalised Chinese football league system where they started in the third division. At the beginning of the 1998 league season the club would take over second-tier football clubFoshan Fosti F.C. and take their position within the division. With their new managerChi Shangbin coming in and the investment fromLai Changxing the club would start to flourish and go on to win the second tier title at the end of the 1999 league season.[2] The following season, however was to prove to be a disaster when Lai Changxing became implicated in corruption and his involvement within the club came under severe scrutiny. While the club wasn't involved within any corruption their performance throughout the season still saw them relegated and the management left. The next several seasons would see the team remain within the second tier and while they would actually go on to win the 2002 division title there wasn't any promotion allowed during that season and they would have to remain within the division.[3] With the introduction of new head coachGao Hongbo at the beginning of the 2004 league season the club would show consistent promotion ambitions and would eventually go on to win the 2005 division title.[4] Now playing in theChinese Super League the team would establish themselves within the division and finish mid-table, eighth within the league. Gao Hongbo would attract the attentions of ambitious clubChangchun Yatai and leave the team at the end of the season. This saw Xiamen slip down the table, finish bottom of the league and then get relegated. The team would decide to disband at the end of the season, though they would wait until March 2008 to officially disband at the beginning of the 2008 league season.[5]
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League rankings before 1993
| Season | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Position | 6[6] | 4 1 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 15 |
