| Full name | Yunnan Hongta 云南红塔 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1996; 29 years ago (1996) | ||
| Dissolved | 2003; 22 years ago (2003) Merged withChongqing Lifan F.C. | ||
| Ground | Kunming Tuodong Sports Center, Kunming,China | ||
| Capacity | 40,000 | ||
Yunnan Hongta (Chinese:云南红塔, lit. Yunnan Red Tower) was a football club who played in theChinese Jia-A League who were founded by theShenzhen Kinspar Group in 1996 and namedShenzhen Kinspar (Chinese:深圳金鹏). The club predominantly played within the lower leagues until they were sold to theYunnan Hongta Group, a tobacco producer who renamed the team Yunnan Hongta and moved the club toKunming to play in theTuodong Stadium. Yunnan Hongta would win promotion to the Chinese Jia-A League in the 1999 league season where they remained untilChongqing Lifan bought then merged the teams in 2003.
Founded as Shenzhen Kinspar (Chinese:深圳金鹏) by theShenzhen Kinspar Group in 1996, the club won the membership of the second division (Chinese Football Association Jia League Group B) by defeatingXiamen in the final of the third and the lowest divisionChinese Football Association Yi League. In the following year, Shenzhen Kinspar lost the bid to the championship and sold the club toYunnan Hongta Group, a tobacco producer. The team was renamed Yunnan Hongta. They played inTuodong Stadium.
Yunnan Hongta made huge investment in the club. First,Qi Wusheng, who failed to lead China to qualify for the1998 FIFA World Cup 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, the goalkeeper of the national team, was transferred fromShanghai Shenhua. Qi Wusheng's coaching in the national team made the team attractive to many national footballers. In 2002, another national team regular playerWei 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 leading in the first half, they end up with the seventh. In the same year, they hostedReal Madrid during their offseason.
See alsoChongqing 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 relegatedChongqing Lifan. The merger 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 reserve team of Yunnan Hongta was not sold, however. They formed a new club namedLijiang Dongba and had played in theChina League Two for three seasons.
All-time League rankings
| Season | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Position | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 7 |
