Shenzhen F.C.
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| Full name | Shenzhen Football Club 深圳市足球俱乐部 |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Youth Army, Phoenix, International Arms |
| Founded | 26 January 1994 |
| Ground |
Shenzhen Stadium,Shenzhen, Guangdong, China |
| Capacity | 32,500 |
| Owner | Kaisa Group |
| Manager | Sven-Göran Eriksson |
| League | China League One |
| 2016 | League One, 9th |
| Website | Club home page |
Shenzhen Football Club (simplified Chinese: 深圳市足球俱乐部; traditional Chinese: 深圳市足球俱樂部; pinyin: Shēnzhènshì Zúqiú Jùlèbù) is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong and their home stadium is the Shenzhen Stadium that has a seating capacity of 32,500. Their current majority shareholder is Property Development company the Kaisa Group who took over the club on April 12, 2016.
The club was founded on January 26, 1994 and was known as Shenzhen FC while they started at the bottom of the Chinese football pyramid in the third tier. After successive league title wins in the third and second tier of the professional football leagues, they were promoted to the top tier in the 1996 Chinese Jia-A League season. After only one season they were relegated, however they quickly regained promotion and started to establish themselves within the league before they won the rebranded 2004 Chinese Super League title, making them the first club to win all three divisions within the Chinese league pyramid. Since this achievement the club have struggled to match the same success and after 14 years experienced relegation to the second tier at the end of 2011 Chinese Super League season.
Shenzhen Football Club was founded on 26 January 1994 by former Chinese players that included Rong Zhixing and Zeng Xuelin after the Chinese Football Association had allowed full professionalism and private ownership throughout their football league system. In an attempt for the City of Shenzhen to gain their first professional football team the club decided that the best way to gain funding was through memberships that included 100 corporate members and 300 individuals before changing the ownership into shareholdings. With Hu Zhigang as their first ever head coach and with players from all over the country, the club won two consecutive promotions and championships before entering the top tier of Chinese football after only two seasons, a remarkable feat named "Shenzhen speed" by the locals.
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