Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard F.C.

Hubei China-Kyle was established in December 2011 by the China-Kyle Special Steel Co., Ltd and they brought in Li Jianzhong (李建忠) as their chairman as well as Li Jun (李军) as their first manager.[1] With the aid from the Hubei Football Association they formed a team and registered to play within the third tier of the Chinese football league system in the 2012 league season. Their home location was the Huangshi Stadium and all blue was chosen as their home uniform. In their debut season they finished fourth place in the South Group and advanced into the play-offs where after beating Hebei Zhongji and Shenzhen Fengpeng they ultimately came runners-up to Guizhou Zhicheng F.C. within the division, nonetheless that position ensured promotion to the China League One division.[2]

In their first appearance within the second division the club would struggle with the higher level of finance and professionalism required within the division. Before the start of the season the team could not afford the plane tickets required to go their training camp set in Dongguan, Guangdong and had to go there by coach.[3] Despite the financial constraints Li Jun was able to avoid relegation on the final day of the season when the team beat Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. 2–0 at home.[4] At the start of the 2014 league season the club would publicly declare they were looking for investment and were willing to leave Hubei Province to obtain it.[5] This saw speculation grow that the club were going to move to Xi'an, but talks between the city broke down.[6] The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, however would express interest in investing into the club, which initially saw them take over their Under-20 team.[7] On 14 February 2014 the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Sports Bureau followed through with their investment by providing the Xinjiang Sports Centre, training facilities and sponsorship, which saw Hubei China-Kyle moved to Xinjiang's capital city Ürümqi and changed their name to Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard.[8] The club would gain sponsorship from local real estate company Urumqi Juntai Real Estate Co., Ltd. (Juntai Group) who decided to become the clubs main investor throughout the season.[9]

In the 2018 China League One, Xinjiang suffered a shock as they finished last in the division, but due to Yanbian Funde owing taxes, Zhejiang Yiteng being unable to apply for a League One license, and Dalian Transcendence falling to the amateur level, Xinjiang miraculously managed to stay afloat in the League One.

• 2011–2013 Hubei China-Kyle F.C. 湖北华凯尔
• 2014– Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard 新疆天山雪豹

As of 7 March 2019[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Nurmemet Tursun 3 DF Ekremjan Eniwar 4 DF Ritus Krjauklis 5 MF Mirza'ekber Almjan 6 DF Arpati Mijiti 7 FW Shewket Yalqun (on loan from Guangzhou Evergrande) 8 MF Huang Long 9 FW Yehya Ablikim 10 MF Sabit Abdusalam 11 FW Stefano Pinho 12 GK Gu Junjie 13 GK Yusup'Ali Wahaf 14 DF Mehmud Abdukerem 15 MF Dilyimit Tudi 16 DF Zhang Ao

No. Position Player 17 MF Ermek Talaphan 18 MF Xiang Jiachi 19 MF Hairula Eshanjan 20 MF Ulam'ali Amet 21 MF Erpanjan Aniwar 22 DF Bebet Murat 23 DF Liu Ruicheng (on loan from Guangzhou Evergrande) 24 GK Ding Runshan 25 DF Abdurahman Yusufkadir 28 MF Dilxat Ablimit 29 FW Ibraim Keyum 30 MF Abbas'haji Awut 37 MF Danyar Musajan 39 FW Naldinho

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 40 DF Diyar Hani 41 DF Almas Azat 42 MF Argin Kongelbek 44 DF Mukaddas Musaip 46 DF Liu Dongyang 50 MF Yasin

No. Position Player 52 MF Hudaberdi Bekri 53 GK Ekramjan Sirajidin 58 DF Ilyas Ilhar 65 DF Mehmudjan Minem 67 MF Abudunabi Adiljan

• Li Jun (2012–2018)
• Paul Put (2018)
• Fernando (2019–)

All-time league rankings

As of the end of 2018 season.[11][12]

• ^1 In group stage.

Key