Chengdu Blades

Chengdu Blades
**成都谢菲联**
	Chengdu Blades ; 成都谢菲联
	Template: Infobox Football Club / Maintenance / No picture
Basic data
Seat	Cheng you
founding	1996 (as Chengdu Wuniu)
Website	en.sufc.com.cn
First soccer team
Head coach	Don O'Riordan
Venue	Chengdu Sports Center Stadium
Places	42,000
league	2nd Chinese League ▼
2011	15th place ( Chinese Super League )
home	Away

The Chengdu Blades (also Chengdu Sheffield United FC ) were a football club from Chengdu in China. The club played in the country's highest league, the Chinese Super League , until 2011 . In 2006 the club passed into the possession of the English second division team Sheffield United , which is where the similarity of the club crests comes from. The Chengdu Blades played their home games at the Chengdu Sports Center Stadium .

In 2015 the association was dissolved.

Club history

founding

The association was founded in 1996 as Chengdu Wuniu . The club started in China's third division in 1996. In the first year, the club reached the play-offs for promotion to the 2nd division, but ultimately failed in the semi-finals. In 1997 the club reached the final of the play-offs and rose to the 2nd division. As a climber, the season ended in 8th place. Also in the following year they ended up in the middle of the league.

The manipulation scandal

In the 2001 season, the club was involved in a manipulation scandal. It was about the games of the 21st and 22nd matchday, which were the last two of the season. In the game of the 21st matchday Chengdu won 11-2 against Mianyang and on the 22nd matchday 4-2 against Jiangsu . As it turned out, both games had been rigged. As a result, all players and coaches of the teams involved were suspended for one year. Furthermore, the clubs concerned had to reform the structure of the club within three months and apply for a license in order to be allowed to participate in the competitions of the Chinese Football Association in the following year . As a result of the scandal, the club was renamed Chengdu Taihe in 2002 . The 2002 season ended in the lower midfield. Even moving to the City Stadium in Luzhou during the season did not have the desired effect. In 2003, the club was renamed Chengdu Wuniu - Five Bulls due to changing ownership . Until 2005, the team played in different stadiums. Only then did they return to the old site, the Chengdu Sports Center Stadium, for a whole season. The poor results of the last few years continued this season and at the end of the season the club finished eleventh in the league.

Promotion to the CSL

In 2006 the club was bought by Sheffield United . The club was renamed Chengdu Blades. The blades in the club name reflects the nickname of Sheffield United. The team seemed to be motivated by this, because at the end of the 2006 season, fourth place was the second-best result of the season since the promotion to the 2nd division. A year later, after a 2nd place, the long-awaited promotion to the Chinese Super League followed.

The Blades contested the opening game of the 2008 Chinese Super League season as promoted players. Opponent was Liaoning Hongyun and the game was broadcast nationwide on Chinese television. In May 2008, the region was hit by the Sichuan earthquake . Both the club's officials and the players went to donate blood to help the victims of the quake. The club's players also visited affected schools. The association also donated around £ 11,000 along with tents, water, food and clothing. At the end of the 2008 season they finished 13th. This was enough to keep the class. Since 2008, the club's youth team has been playing in the Hong Kong First Division League under the name Sheffield United Hong Kong .

In February 2010, the club was sentenced to relegation to the second division after it became known that they had bought victories in the 2007 promotion season with cash payments.