Wuhan Optics Valley F.C.
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| Full name | Hubei Wuhan Professional F.C. 湖北武汉职业足球俱乐部 |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Jiu Tou Niao (Nine Heads Phoenix), Han Jun (Han Army) |
| Founded | 1954 (Amateur) 1994 (Professional) |
| Dissolved | 2008 |
| Ground |
Xinhua Road Sports Center and Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, Hubei, China |
| Capacity | 36,000 and 60,000 |
Wuhan Optics Valley Football Club (simplified Chinese: 武汉光谷; traditional Chinese: 武漢光谷; pinyin: Wǔhàn Guānggǔ) is a defunct football club which was located in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, China. The club's home stadium was Xinhua Road Sports Center, while the important matches were played at the more modern stadium Wuhan Sports Center in China. Their fans were mainly from Hubei province and the club had supporters from the city of Wuhan, and the surrounding cities of Ezhou, Huangshi and Xiaogan. It was founded in 1954 as the Hubei Football Team, while the professional football team was founded in February 1994. In 2008, Wuhan FC quit the Chinese Super League because of what it believed to be unfair punishment after the club had a dispute with the Chinese Football Association over the club's on-field behaviour against Beijing Guoan in a league game. Some of its players formed a new team called Wuhan Zall Professional F.C. and succeeded in winning a position in the 2013 Chinese Super League.
The club was formed in 1954 by the local Hubei province sports body to take part in China's national football league tournament. They entered the league in the 1955 season and finished tenth. After several years struggling within the division, the club found themselves in the second tier by the 1958 season. After achieving a fourth-place finish they were promoted to the top division. By 1960 the club had renamed themselves the Hubei Football Club and for a short period they adapted better within the league. By the end of the 1963 season the club were relegated to the second division until the Chinese Cultural Revolution saw football in China halted. When football returned in 1973 the club were allowed to enter straight back into the top tier. From then on the club predominantly remained a top division team. They narrowly missed out on winning their first league title to August 1st football club on goal difference in the 1986 league season. They could not improve upon that result and were relegated at the end of the 1988 league season. In response to this failure the local Hubei government pushed for better representation within the league pyramid, and several new teams were formed in the Hubei region.
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