Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard F.C.

Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard F.C. (Chinese: 新疆天山雪豹; pinyin: Xīnjiāng Tiānshān Xuěbào) is a defunct professional Chinese football club that participated in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Ürümqi, Xinjiang. Their majority shareholder was the Ürümqi Juntai Real Estate Co., Ltd. (Juntai Group)

Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard
Xīnjiāng Tiānshān Xuěbào
新疆天山雪豹/شىنجاڭ قار لەيلىسى

Full name	Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard Football Club 新疆天山雪豹足球俱乐部
Founded	2014; 10 years ago (2014)
Dissolved	21 February 2023; 20 months ago (21 February 2023)
Ground	Xinjiang Sports Centre, Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China PR
Capacity	50,000
Owner	Urumqi Juntai Real Estate Co. Ltd.
Chairman	Li Jianzhong (李建忠)

The club dissolved in February 2023.^[1]

History

Hubei China-Kyle was established in December 2011 by the China-Kyle Special Steel Co., Ltd and they brought in Li Jianzhong (李建忠) as their chairman as well as Li Jun (李军) as their first manager.^[2] 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 within the division, nonetheless that position ensured promotion to the China League One division.^[3]

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.^[4] Despite the financial constraints Li Jun was able to avoid relegation on the final day of the season when the team beat Chengdu Tiancheng 2–0 at home.^[5] 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.^[6] This saw speculation grow that the club were going to move to Xi'an, but talks between the city broke down.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9] The club would gain sponsorship from local real estate company Ürümqi Juntai Real Estate Co., Ltd. (Juntai Group) who decided to become the club's main investor throughout the season.^[10]

In the 2018 China League One, Xinjiang suffered a shock as they finished last in the division, but due to the dissolution of Dalian Transcendence and Yanbian Funde, and Zhejiang Yiteng being unable to apply for a League One license, Xinjiang miraculously managed to stay afloat in the League One.

Name history

• 2011–2013 as Hubei China-Kyle F.C. 湖北华凯尔
• 2014–2023 as Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard 新疆天山雪豹

Managerial history

• Li Jun (2012–2018)
• Paul Put (2018)
• Fernando (2019–2020)
• Polat Kutulk (caretaker) (2020)
• Pei Encai (2021–2022)

Results

All-time league rankings

As of the end of 2022 season.^[11][12]

Year	Div	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Pos.	FA Cup	Super Cup	AFC	Att./G	Stadium
2012	3	30	15	7	8	32	22	10	44 1	RU	DNE	DNQ	DNQ	1,645	Huangshi Stadium
2013	2	30	8	6	16	27	41	−14	30	13	R2	DNQ	DNQ	2,206
2014	2	30	8	11	11	29	33	−4	35	10	R2	DNQ	DNQ	3,161	Xinjiang Sports Centre
2015	2	30	10	9	11	43	51	−8	39	8	QF	DNQ	DNQ	4,114
2016	2	30	11	6	13	31	36	−5	39	11	R3	DNQ	DNQ	2,615
2017	2	30	9	8	13	37	52	−15	35	11	R2	DNQ	DNQ	2,450
2018	2	30	3	9	18	24	61	−37	18	16	R3	DNQ	DNQ	1,246	Hongshan Stadium
2019	2	30	9	6	15	39	55	-16	33	13	R3	DNQ	DNQ	3,565	Xinjiang Sports Centre
2020	2	15	0	6	9	10	23	-13	6	18	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
2021	2	34	1	6	27	16	84	-68	9	18	R3	DNQ	DNQ
2022	2	34	6	3	25	31	83	-52	21	17	R1	DNQ	DNQ

• ^1 In group stage.

Key

China top division   China second division   China third division W   Winners RU   Runners-up 3   Third place   Relegated

Pld = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position

DNQ = Did not qualify DNE = Did not enter NH = Not Held  – = Does Not Exist R1 = Round 1 R2 = Round 2 R3 = Round 3 R4 = Round 4

F = Final SF = Semi-finals QF = Quarter-finals R16 = Round of 16 Group = Group stage GS2 = Second Group stage QR1 = First Qualifying Round QR2 = Second Qualifying Round QR3 = Third Qualifying Round

References

1. "官方：新疆天山雪豹拟退出2023赛季职业足球联赛". Dongqiudi (in Chinese). 21 February 2023. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
2. 华凯尔处子赛季杀入中乙决赛 主帅:我负责承担压力 (in Chinese). sports.sina.com.cn. 2012-09-30. Archived from the original on 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
3. 中乙-伊力哈木江导逆转 贵州总比分2–1湖北夺冠 (in Chinese). sports.sohu.com. 2012-11-05. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
4. 湖北华凯尔险困境引援成奢望 主帅微博呼吁谁来拯救? (in Chinese). sports.sina.com.cn. 2013-02-28. Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
5. 中甲收官 毅腾升级华凯尔保级 (in Chinese). sports.dzwww.com. 2013-11-03. Archived from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
6. 保级成功但承诺未兑现 湖北华凯尔可能被迫转场 (in Chinese). sports.sohu.com. 2013-12-09. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
7. 湖北华凯尔否认陕企介入 曾想零转让却无疾而终 (in Chinese). sxdaily.com.cn. 2013-12-18. Archived from the original on 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
8. 新疆博格达男足3月征战中甲 (in Chinese). news.sina.com.cn. 2014-01-11. Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
9. 关于湖北华凯尔工商迁移并更名的公示 (in Chinese). fa.org.cn. 2015-01-14. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
10. "新疆雪豹新赛季目标活下去 从不签要转会费的球员" (in Chinese). sports.sina.com.cn. 2020-02-10. Archived from the original on 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
11. "China – List of Champions". RSSSF. 20 March 2014. Archived from the original on July 4, 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
12. 新疆天山雪豹 (in Chinese). sodasoccer.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-22.