Beijing Guoan

1950s–1992: Early club era

The club's first incarnation came in 1951 when the local government sports body decided to take part in China's first fully national football league tournament. To prepare for the competition they participated in the 1951 North China Football Competition where they officially unveiled the team for the first time on 28 October 1951. After this tournament the relevant parties decided to form a football team with the best players from Beijing and Tianjin to create the North China team who were unveiled on 1 December 1951 for the start of the national football league tournament. The team name was taken from the football team in the 1910 multi-sport event Chinese National Games that also represented the same regions. The team ended up finishing fourth in their debut season and with the football league gradually expanding, the players from Beijing and Tianjin were allowed to separate and the local Beijing government sports body was allowed to reform the club as Beijing Football Club in 1955. The club made its debut appearance in the 1956 season and wore an all-white home kit and all-red away strip. In the 1956 campaign, the club was also allowed to enter their youth team called Beijing Youth B, who actually went on to win the league title while Beijing came sixth that season. The club strengthened their hold on the following seasons when they won the 1957 and 1958 league titles. With these results, the club had become a major force within Chinese football, and with the club's youth team still participating within the top tier, there was a constant supply of players coming into the team to fight for places. Being China's capital city and for their success on the field, the club had become a feeder team for the Chinese national team. This often saw the club unable to complete a full championship schedule and the youth team were often used to represent the club, which did little to diminish Beijing football and actually resulted in the youth team winning the 1963 championship for the second time, showing the strength in depth of the region of Beijing football until 1966, when the Chinese Cultural Revolution halted football within the country. When football returned to China, Beijing won the 1973 league title in the newly re-established footballing league. While Beijing once again re-established themselves as major title contenders, they did not win any major titles until 1982, where they won the league title, followed by the 1984 league title and the 1985 Chinese FA Cup title. After this period, Beijing's performances seemed to have declined and were relegated for the first time in their history to the second tier at the end of the 1988 season. However, their time within the second tier was short-lived and they won the division title and promotion to the first tier at the end of the 1990 season. In total, Beijing had won the league title five times during the old Chinese National Football League era before the club was given full professionalism in 1992.

1992–1999: Professionalism

Beijing Guoan was formed on 29 December 1992, as a result of the Chinese football reform, which was the Chinese Football Association's attempt to professionalize the Chinese football league system. The club was set up by CITIC Guoan of CITIC Group, a state-owned enterprise of China, and the Beijing Municipal Sports Committee. The club then took part in the 1994 Chinese Jia-A League season, making them a founding member of the first fully professional top-tier league in China and changed their home colors to green to symbolize the change. In their first professional season, Beijing finished in a disappointing eighth out of twelve teams and club manager Tang Pengju was relieved of his duties. The club brought in Jin Zhiyang to manage them the following season and the results under his reign improved enough for them to finish the 1995 campaign in the runner-up position. The following season, Jin Zhiyang lead Beijing to their first professional trophy when they beat Jinan Taishan Jiangjun 4–1 to win the 1996 Chinese FA Cup. Jin Zhiyang was able to retain the Cup the following year with a 2–1 victory against Shanghai Shenhua, which impressed the Chinese FA, who lured him away from Beijing when they offered him a position with the Chinese national team. Assistant coach Shen Xiangfu stepped into the managerial role and in his debut season, he guided the club to third within the league. However, in his second season the team slid down to sixth and he left the club.