Changchun Yatai

China

Founded

1996

Arena

Changchun City Stadium · 25,000 cap

Changchun Yatai Football Club (simplified Chinese: 长春亚泰; traditional Chinese: 長春亞泰; pinyin: Chángchūn Yàtài) is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadium is the Changchun Stadium that has a seating capacity of 25,000. The club's founder and main investor is the private Chinese conglomerate Jilin Yatai Group. The club was formed on June 6, 1996 before making their debut in the third tier of China's football league pyramid in the 1997 league season. In 2000 they bought a position into the second division after they merged with Bayi Chaoneng. In 2001 they finished runners-up within their division, however they were denied promotion after they were embroiled in a match-fixing scandal. The club would reform and re-apply for a CFA playing license before they eventually gained promotion to China's top flight at the end of the 2005 league campaign. In the 2007 Chinese Super League they won the league title and participated in the 2008 AFC Champions League for the first time. They have since gone on to come second within 2009 Chinese Super League and also participated in the 2010 AFC Champions League.

Shanghai Shenhua

China

Founded

1951

Arena

Shanghai Stadium · 33,060 cap

Shanghai Shenhua Football Club (Chinese: 上海申花足球俱乐部; pinyin: Shànghǎi Shēnhuā Zúqiú Jùlèbù) is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in the Chinese Super League, the top tier of Chinese football. Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua F.C. is Shanghai Jiushi Group, a state-owned cultural and sports operation company in Shanghai. Shanghai Shenhua is one of the four clubs to have never been relegated from the Chinese top-flight since the Chinese Super League's foundation in 2004. The term shen hua literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in English – shen is one of the alternative names for Shanghai and hua means flower in Chinese. The club's predecessor was the municipal-run semi-pro club Shanghai F.C.. The team predominantly played in the top tier, where they won several domestic league and cup titles. On 10 December 1993, the club was reorganized to become a completely professional football club so they could play in the 1994 Chinese Jia-A League season, making them one of the founding members of the first fully professional top-tier leagues in China. Since then, they have won one league title and four Chinese FA Cups. According to Forbes, Shenhua was the 6th most valuable football team in China, with a team value of $106 million, and an estimated revenue of $29 million in 2015.