Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard F.C.


Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard F.C. is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association. The team is based in Ürümqi, Xinjiang and their home stadium is the Xinjiang Sports Centre that has a seating capacity of 50,000. Their majority shareholder is the Urumqi Juntai Real Estate Co., Ltd.

History

Hubei China-Kyle was established in December 2011 by the China-Kyle Special Steel Co., Ltd and they brought in Li Jianzhong as their chairman as well as Li Jun as their first manager. With the aid from the Hubei Football Association they formed a team and registered to play within the third tier of the Chinese football league system in the 2012 league season. Their home location was the Huangshi Stadium and all blue was chosen as their home uniform. In their debut season they finished fourth place in the South Group and advanced into the play-offs where after beating Hebei Zhongji and Shenzhen Fengpeng they ultimately came runners-up to Guizhou Zhicheng F.C. within the division, nonetheless that position ensured promotion to the China League One division.
In their first appearance within the second division the club would struggle with the higher level of finance and professionalism required within the division. Before the start of the season the team could not afford the plane tickets required to go their training camp set in Dongguan, Guangdong and had to go there by coach. Despite the financial constraints Li Jun was able to avoid relegation on the final day of the season when the team beat Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. 2–0 at home. At the start of the 2014 league season the club would publicly declare they were looking for investment and were willing to leave Hubei Province to obtain it. This saw speculation grow that the club were going to move to Xi'an, but talks between the city broke down. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, however would express interest in investing into the club, which initially saw them take over their Under-20 team. On 14 February 2014 the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Sports Bureau followed through with their investment by providing the Xinjiang Sports Centre, training facilities and sponsorship, which saw Hubei China-Kyle moved to Xinjiang's capital city Ürümqi and changed their name to Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard. The club would gain sponsorship from local real estate company Urumqi Juntai Real Estate Co., Ltd. who decided to become the clubs main investor throughout the season.
In the 2018 China League One, Xinjiang suffered a shock as they finished last in the division, but due to Yanbian Funde owing taxes, Zhejiang Yiteng being unable to apply for a League One license, and Dalian Transcendence falling to the amateur level, Xinjiang miraculously managed to stay afloat in the League One.

Name history

As of 7 March 2019

Reserve squad

Coaching staff

Managerial history

All-time league rankings
As of the end of 2018 season.
YearDivPtsPos.FA CupSuper CupAFCAtt./GStadium
2012330157832221044RUDNEDNQDNQ1,645Huangshi Stadium
201323086162741−143013R2DNQDNQ2,206Huangshi Stadium
2014230811112933−43510R2DNQDNQ3,161Xinjiang Sports Centre
2015230109114351−8398QFDNQDNQ4,114Xinjiang Sports Centre
2016230116133136−53911R3DNQDNQ2,615Xinjiang Sports Centre
201723098133752−153511R2DNQDNQ2,450Xinjiang Sports Centre
201823039182461−371816R3DNQDNQ1,246Hongshan Stadium
20192DNQDNQ

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