Chengdu Tiancheng F.C.

Formation and promotion

The club was formed on 26 February 1996 under the name Chengdu F.C. and entered into China's Yi League with Wang Fengzhu as their first manager. In their inaugural year the team topped both their second round group as well as their final round group and progressed to the semi-finals before losing to Shenzhen Kinspar 2–1 on aggregate. Their second season in 1997 season saw them rise into China's Jia B League, this time coming second in the 2nd round group but again topping the final round group. They went on to win both their legs of the quarter-finals 1–0 against Beijing Kuanli and after brushing aside Shaanxi National Power 2–0 they progressed through to the final but lost 1–0 however they were still promoted along with the winners Jiangsu Gige as well as both semi-final losers. After gaining promotion to the second tier Chengdu started the 1998 campaign well losing only two of their first nine matches in the higher division however in round 10 they were well beaten 8–0 away to Liaoning F.C. Their best win came in their penultimate match of the season when they beat Jiangsu Gige 4–1 and the team ended the season mid-table in eighth out of 12. Chengdu's second year in Jia B once again started well with the team losing just 1 of their first 13th games before succumbing to Beijing Kuanli away 4–0. At the end of the season after 22 matches Chengdu finished 6th with 9 wins and 8 draws. The start of the millennium season saw the team proceed with a…