Xiamen Blue Lions Football Club () is a defunct Chinese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club, which was located in Xiamen, Fujian. It was founded in the 1996 league season and their nickname was the "Blue Lions" while they played in the

Xiamen Stadium The Xiamen Sports Centre Stadium () is a multi-use stadium in Xiamen, China. It is currently used mostly for football matches and athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve ...

. Throughout their history they would twice win promotion to the top tier of Chinese football and also play in the Chinese Super League. When the club was relegated at the end of 2007 league season they disbanded.

History

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 club

Foshan Fosti F.C. Foshan Fosti Football Club () was a Chinese football club, established on 1994. It was one of the earliest professional football clubs in China. The club was dissolved in 1997. Name changes * 1988–1995 Foshan F.C. 佛山 * 1996–1997 Foshan ...

and take their position within the division. With their new manager

Chi Shangbin Chi Shangbin (; 19 September 1949 – 6 March 2021) was a Chinese football player and coach. As player, he spent his whole career playing for Liaoning, and also represented China at international level. As manager, he was best known for his re ...

coming in and the investment from

Lai Changxing Lai Changxing (born September 15, 1958) is a former Chinese businessman and entrepreneur. He was the founder and Chairman of Yuanhua Group, based in the Special Economic Zone of Xiamen. He imported foreign products like cars, cigarettes and ...

the club would start to flourish and go on to win the second tier title at the end of the 1999 league season. 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. With the introduction of new head coach Gao 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. Now playing in the Chinese 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 club

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadi ...

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.

Name history

*1996–97: Xiamen Yincheng () *1998: Xiamen Fairwiell () *1999: Xiamen FC () *2000: Xiamen Xiaxin () *2001–03: Xiamen Hongshi () *2003.10.2 – 2004: Xiamen Jixiang Shishi () *2004.5.18 – 2008: Xiamen Blue Lions ()

Honours

* Chinese Jia B League/ Chinese League One **Champions (3): 1999, 2002, 2005

Results

*As of the end of 2008 season League rankings before 1993 * in group stage

References

{{reflist Defunct football clubs in China Football clubs in China Association football clubs established in 1996 Association football clubs disestablished in 2008 Sport in Xiamen 1996 establishments in China 2008 disestablishments in China