Guangzhou City F.C.

History before moving to Guangzhou

The club was founded in 1986 by the local Shenyang government sports body to take part in the Chinese football league system, and was named Shenyang. The team started at the bottom of the league system by playing in the second division. They were promoted to the 1988 Chinese Jia-A League quickly after the league expanded and Liaoning FC was ineligible to field their reserve team in the same division. The club was relegated after only one season. With the following campaigns the club mostly remained within the second tier, except for a short foray in the 1992 Chinese Jia-A League campaign; however, they were again relegated after only one season. By the 1994 league season, the entire Chinese football league system had become professional. The team were allowed to gather sponsorship and renamed as Shenyang Liuyao, and were allowed to join the top tier due to their 1992 membership. When the club were relegated again at the end of the season, it was renamed Shenyang Huayang and then Shenyang Sealion in 1996. The club again won promotion to the top tier; however, this time they were able to avoid relegation. This was to be the beginning of the club's establishment within the league, though the team benefitted from several seasons where there was no relegation while the league expanded. In 2001, the club was taken over by Ginde Plastic Pipe Industry Group, a subsidiary of the Hongyuan Group and changed its name to Shenyang Ginde. In 2007,…

1986–1993: Shenyang (沈阳) 1994: Shenyang Liuyao (沈阳东北六药) 1995: Shenyang Huayang (沈阳华阳) 1996–2001: Shenyang Sealion (沈阳海狮) 2001–2006: Shenyang Ginde (沈阳金德) 2007–2010: Changsha Ginde (长沙金德) 2011: Shenzhen Phoenix (深圳凤凰) 2011–2020: Guangzhou R&F (广州富力) 2020–2023: Guangzhou City (广州城)

As of 7 December 2022

League

Jia B Champions/China League One Runners-up (2): 1991, 2011