Wuhan Optics Valley Football Club () is a defunct football club that was located in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, China. The club's home stadium was Xinhua Road Sports Center, while the important matches were played at the more modern stadium Wuhan Sports Center in China. Their fans were mainly from Hubei province and the club had supporters from the city of Wuhan, and the surrounding cities of Ezhou, Huangshi, and Xiaogan. It was founded in 1954 as the Hubei Football Team, while the professional football team was founded in February 1994. In 2008, the club quit the Chinese Super League because of what it believed to be unfair punishment after the club had a dispute with the Chinese Football Association over the club's on-field behaviour against Beijing Guoan in a league game. Some of its players formed a new team called Hubei Luyin and made a return to Chinese Super League in 2013.

History

Hubei Football Team The club was formed in 1954 by the local Hubei province sports body to take part in China's national football league tournament. They entered the league in the 1955 season and finished 10th.China 1955 at rsssf.org 22 Oct 2009 Retrieved 12 June 2012 After several years struggling within the division, the club found themselves in the second tier by the 1958 season. After achieving a fourth-place finish they were promoted to the top division.China 1958 at rsssf.org 22 Oct 2009 Retrieved 12 June 2012 By 1960 the club had renamed themselves the Hubei Football Team and for a short period they adapted better within the league. By the end of the 1963 season the club were relegated to the second division until the Chinese Cultural Revolution saw football in China halted.China 1960 at rsssf.org 22 Oct 2009 Retrieved 12 June 2012 When football returned in 1973 the club were allowed to enter straight back into the top tier. From then on the club predominantly remained a top division team. They narrowly missed out on winning their first league title to Bayi Football Team on goal difference in the 1986 league season.China 1986 at rsssf.org 22 Oct 2009 Retrieved 12 June 2012 They could not improve upon that result and were relegated at the end of the 1988 league season.China 1988 at rsssf.org 22 Oct 2009 Retrieved 18 June 2012 In response to this failure the local Hubei government pushed for better representation within the league pyramid, and several new teams were formed in the Hubei region.

Professionalism While the club was in the second tier, the Chinese Football Association were starting to demand full professionalism throughout the league. Hubei football team decide to merge with the Wuhan Football Team to form a fully professional unit in February 1994 and be the sole representative of the Hubei region in the Chinese league pyramid.武汉队历史 at whfootball.cnhubei.com 2007-12-26 Retrieved 18 June 2012 With former player Yin Lihua as their manager the club gradually improved their league standings and won the second tier title at the end of the 1997 league season.China 1997 at rsssf.org 21 Jun 2003 Retrieved 18 June 2012

The club's time in the top tier did not last very long and they were soon relegated back into the second tier. They brought in Pei Encai as their new manager in 2004. He won the division title and promotion in his debut season.China 2004 at rsssf.org 7 Apr 2005 Retrieved 18 June 2012 Back within the top tier of the rebranded Chinese Super League, the team were led-out by local players such as Li Hao, Zheng Bin and Zhang Xinxin. Their foreign contingent of Brazilians such as Emerson Roberto Conceicao Aleixo, Gílson Domingos Rezende Agostinho, and Vicente de Paula Neto helped the club to a seven-game winning streak early in the season. Pei Encai was hired away by the Chinese women's football team. Chen Fangping came in as the new manager during the season and carried on Pei Encai's work. Despite several injuries to some key players the club were able to win the 2005 Chinese Super League Cup by beating Shenzhen Jianlibao 3–1 on aggregate after a 1:1 away match and 2:0 home match fixture.

After his brief stint as the Chinese women's team coach, Pei Encai returned to the club. He again promoted local talent by including defenders Ai Zhibo and Cai Xi and midfielders Zhou Yi and Chinese U-23 player Zhou Heng on the team. However, he was unable to achieve the same success upon his return and the club finished tenth. In the following season youngsters Deng Zhuoxiang, Chinese U-23 players Zeng Cheng, Rong Hao and Di You joined the BBC team. Rong Hao and Di You suffered knee injuries during the season. Despite finishing seventh Pei Encai and the club decided to part way s and Chen Fangping was brought back in as a manager at the beginning of the 2008 Chinese Super League. His use of inappropriate tactics led the club quickly into the relegation zone, and he was soon sacked. Former Chinese football team manager Zhu Guanghu was then brought in to change the club's fortunes around. He decided that the club needed to strengthen their defence and brought in Chinese international Li Weifeng for three million yuan.

Disbandment On 27 September 2008 the club were playing the eighteenth league game out of thirty against Beijing Guoan when Li Weifeng and Beijing player Lu Jiang had a scuffle on the field. The Chinese FA decided to issue each player with an eight match ban and a fine of 1,170 USD. Wuhan chairman Shen Liefeng refused to accept the punishment and threatened to quit the Chinese football league and sought legal advice.国安震怒主裁执法不公 高层威胁要退出中国足坛 at sports.sohu.com 2008-09-29 Retrieved 18 June 2012 On 1 October 2008, the club and the Chinese FA could not come to an agreement. The club decided to quit the league.足协维持李玮峰处罚 武汉宣布罢赛正式退出中超 at sports.sohu.com 2008-10-01 Retrieved 18 June 2012 With Wuhan quitting the Chinese Super League, they were fined a further US$44,000 by the Chinese FA, had all their matches awarded 3–0 against them, and were banned from entering any further league seasons in any division.Wuhan ejected from soccer league at english.people.com.cn 10 Nov 2008 Retrieved 18 June 2012 All the senior players were either sold or loaned out. The local Hubei government took over the club's youth team and formed a new club called Hubei Luyin to take part at the bottom of the Chinese league system within the third tier at the beginning of the 2009 league season.武汉确定40名球员集体挂牌 湖北足球火种恐渐熄灭 at sports.sina.com.cn 2009-01-19 Retrieved 18 June 2012

Name history

1954–1993 Hubei () 1994–1995 Hubei WISCO () 1996 Hubei Mailyard () 1997–1998 Wuhan Yaqi () 1999–2000 Wuhan Hongtao K (武汉红桃K) 2001 Wuhan Hongjinlong () 2002 Wuhan Donghu Hi-Tech () 2003 Wuhan Guoce Bluestar () 2004–2005 Wuhan Huanghelou () 2006–2008 Wuhan Optics Valley ().

Managerial history Managers who have coached the team since the club became a professional unit back in 1994.

Ding Sanshi (1994–95) Yin Lihua (1995–98) Park Jong-hwan (1998) Qi Wusheng (1998–99) Hu Zhigang (1999) Zhu Bo (interim) (April 1999 – July 99) Milorad Kosanović (1999) Yin Lihua (2000–01) Liu Wuyi (2001–03) Pei Encai (July 2003 – May 5) Chen Fangping (2005) Pei Encai (Dec 2005 – Sept 07) Chen Fangping (2007–08) Zhu Guanghu (2008)

Honours All-time honours list including semi-professional period.

League Chinese Jia-B League / China League One (Second Tier League) 1980, 1997, 2004

Cups Chinese Super League Cup 2005

Reserve Team Reserve League Champions 2008

Results All-time League Rankings

As of the end of 2008 season.

YearDivPtsPos.FA CupSuper CupAFCAtt./GStadium 1955 1 10 1 1 8 9 39 −30 3 10  –  –  – 1956 1 4 0 1 4 4 14 −10 5 10  –  –  – 1957 1 20 5 2 13 17 40 −23 32 11  –  –  – 1958 2 5 1 3 1 8 9 −1 10 4  –  –  – 1960 1 14 5 4 5 11 15 −4 10 18 R1  –  – 1961 1 9 1 5 3 9 11 −2 2 5  –  – 1962 1 18 4 8 6 22 35 −13 6 11  –  – 1963 1 16 3 9 4 11 13 −2 7 18  –  – 1964 2 3  –  – 1965 2 4  –  – 1973 1 8 6 2 0 22 5 +17 15 8  –  – 1974 1 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 5 25  –  – 1976 1 8 4 3 1 9 3 +6 11 4  –  – 1977 1 18 8 6 4 28 18 +10 6 8  –  – 1978 1 30 6 13 11 26 32 −6 25 11  –  – 1979 1 30 3 11 16 21 45 −24 17 16  –  – 1980 2 30 17 9 4 46 21 +25 43 W  –  – 1981 1 30 11  – 19 22 13  –  – 1982 1 30 21  – 9 41 22 +19 42 RU  –  – 1983 1 14 5  – 9 12 20 −8 10 7  –  – 1984 1 30 9  – 21 32 48 −16 18 15 R1  –  – 1985 1 15 8  – 7  – 9 16 11 R1  – DNQ 1986 1 14 7 7 0 19 7 +12 21 RU R1  – DNQ 1987 1 14 3 4 7 13 20 −7 13 8  – DNQ 1988 1 20 5 7 8 15 22 −7 22 15  – DNQ 1989 2 22 9 6 7 27 25 +2 33 6  – DNQ 1990 2 22 7 9 6 27 25 +2 30 3 DNQ  – DNQ 1991 2 16 4 5 7 15 18 −3 13 9 DNQ  – DNQ 1992 2 8 2 4 2 8 6 +2 8 3 R1  – DNQ 1993 2 5 3 0/1 1 6 6 0 6 3  – DNQ 1994 2 20 9 7 4 41 26 +15 25 5  – DNQ 1995 2 22 10 6 6 35 25 +10 36 3 DNQ DNQ DNQ 1996 2 22 7 7 8 22 25 −3 28 6 R2 DNQ DNQ 1997 2 22 12 6 4 35 21 +14 42 W R2 DNQ DNQ 1998 1 26 8 8 10 26 33 −7 32 8 R2 DNQ DNQ 22,077 1999 1 26 3 8 15 18 53 −35 17 14 R2 DNQ DNQ 12,077 2000 2 22 8 7 7 36 29 +7 31 6 SF DNQ DNQ 2001 2 22 7 6 9 24 28 −4 27 9 QF DNQ DNQ 2002 2 22 8 9 5 31 28 +3 33 3 R2 DNQ DNQ 2003 2 26 11 10 5 39 26 +13 43 5 R2 DNQ DNQ 2004 2 32 19 9 4 54 28 +26 66 W R3 DNQ DNQ 2005 1 26 11 9 6 34 26 +8 42 5 R2 DNQ 15,654 2006 1 28 8 7 13 28 42 −14 31 10 R1 DNQ 10,500 2007 1 28 11 7 10 29 31 −2 40 7 DNQ 13,179 2008 1 30 0 0 30 0 90 −90 0 16 DNQ 12,556 No league games in 1959, 1966–72, 1975; In final group stage. In second group stage. In group stage.

Key   China top division   China second division   China third division W  Winners RU  Runners-up 3  Third place   Relegated

Pld = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position

DNQ = Did not qualify DNE = Did not enter NH = Not Held - = Does Not Exist R1 = Round 1 R2 = Round 2 R3 = Round 3 R4 = Round 4

F = Final SF = Semi-finals QF = Quarter-finals R16 = Round of 16 Group = Group stage GS2 = Second Group stage QR1 = First Qualifying Round QR2 = Second Qualifying Round QR3 = Third Qualifying Round

See also Hubei Luyin F.C.

References

External links Official website Fans Official website