Changchun Yatai F.C.

Changchun Yatai was founded on 6 June 1996, by local conglomerate Jilin Yatai Group in Changchun, Jilin, to take part in the league system that was fully professionalized recently, which allowed private enterprises to own their own clubs.[3] The club would select a dragon kicking a ball as their crest while assembling the club's senior team. And to make sure they had a competitive youth system, they also brought in the best youth players from Shenyang before moving them into their recently created football training base at a cost of two million yuan, while the total cost of starting the whole enterprise would end up being 20 million yuan.[4] For the next several seasons, the club achieved very little until they bought a position into the second tier when the club took over Huizhou PLA Saonon at the beginning of the 2000 league season for fifteen million yuan, while during the season the team maintained an unbeaten home record but still finished in a disappointing fifth at the end of the season.[5] The following season, the club's manager, Yin Tiesheng, looked like he could improve upon last years results when he guided the club to a runners-up position and what looked like promotion to the top tier for the first time. However, it was soon discovered that the 6 October 2001, game that Changchun won 6–0 against Zhejiang Green Town was fixed. This saw the club denied promotion and had all offending participants banned for a year, while the club had three months to reform and re-apply for a CFA playing license.[6] Despite this, Yin Tiesheng stayed on and promoted future Chinese internationals Du Zhenyu, Zhang Xiaofei, and Cao Tianbao from the club's youth team, which was assembled from Shenyang, into the senior team.[7] These players in 2003 would go on to win the Jia B (second level) title, but the club was not promoted due to the creation of the Super League.[8]

Yin Tiesheng would leave the club in 2004 to take the Chinese U20 head coach position and Chen Jingang was brought in as the new manager.[9] Within his reign, Chen Jingang guided the club to a runner-up spot in the China League One division in 2005 and promotion to the Super League.[10] In the club's debut season, they finished fourth. However, Chen Jingang was relieved of his duties after he lost it in the dressing room by threatening to dock player wagers if he was unsatisfied with their performances.[11] In 2007, Gao Hongbo was brought in as the new manager and in his debut season, he won the Chinese Super League title with them.[12] This would see Changchun allowed entry to the 2008 AFC Champions League for the first time, along with Beijing Guoan, and played their first game against Vietnamese football club Bình Dương on 12 March 2008, in a 2–1 victory[13] While the club finished the group runners-up only, one team was allowed to go through the knock out stages and the club crashed out of the tournament. This, unfortunately, affected the club's league performance and Gao Hongbo was fired during the season.[14]

In September 2008, Li Shubin was brought in to manage the club and to see out the remainder of the 2008 league season. However, under his leadership, results improved and the club went on to have an industrious following campaign that saw them come runners-up at the end of the 2009 Chinese Super League campaign.[15] Despite achieving consistently good performances for the team, the club decided that they wanted Shen Xiangfu to manage the team for the following season and within one of his first games for the club in the 2010 AFC Champions League, on 9 March 2010, Changchun beat Indonesian side Persipura Jayapura 9–0, making the victory the largest ever within the AFC Champions League for a Chinese side.[16] Shen Xiangfu was, however, unable to guide Changchun into the knockout stages despite there being two places up for grabs and his league performances were not impressive. Despite this, the club held on to him for another season where he fared little better and at the beginning of the 2012 Chinese Super League season, the club brought in Svetozar Šapurić as the club's new manager.[17]

In the 2018 Chinese Super League, Changchun underperformed in the last third of the season, finishing 15th. The team was relegated to the China League One. The 2019 season saw Changchun come close to earning promotion immediately back into the top tier, with a ten-game unbeaten streak in the middle of the season. Ultimately, though, the club slipped towards the end of the season and finished the campaign in fifth place. However, Changchun won the 2020 China League One title and returned to the Chinese Super League after a two-year absence.

• 
  Changchun Yatai logo in 1996
• 
  Changchun Yatai logo in 1997 and 1998
• 
  Changchun Yatai logo between 1999 and 2001
• 
  Changchun Yatai logo between 2002 and 2006
• 
  Changchun Yatai logo used in 2007

All-time League rankings

As of the end of the 2022 season.[25][26]

• Did not enter in the 1998 campaign.
• ^1 In group stages. ^2 Promotion to Jia-A league was cancelled due to match fixing. ^3 No promotion.

Key

Continental results

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Home	Away	Rank /Agg.
2008	AFC Champions League	Group stage	Bình Dương	2–1	5–0	2nd
			Adelaide United	0–0	0–0
			Pohang Steelers	1–0	2–2
2010	AFC Champions League	Group stage	Kashima Antlers	0–1	0–1	3rd
			Persipura Jayapura	9–0	0–2
			Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1–2	0–1

• Official Site (in Chinese)