Hangzhou Greentown Football Club was established in 1998 by two real estate companies, as well as Zhejiang University. Initially operating under the name Zhejiang Greentown, the club began as a youth team, before a senior side was founded in January 1999. Billionaire real estate tycoon Song Weiping currently serves as the chairman.
The team started play in the third tier of the Chinese league system. In both the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Hangzhou finished in 5th place. In order to gain promotion to the second tier, the club purchased a club in that division, Jilin Aodong, along with their league position. During their time in the second tier, the club became involved in a match fixing scandal, as it emerged that several members of the team, as well as coaching staff, had accepted bribes to lose games. Those caught up in the scandal were subsequently banned and Hangzhou Greentown successfully re-applied for a license to compete in the league soon after.
In 2006, the team achieved arguably its biggest success to date, as they gained promotion to the Chinese Super League, after finishing in 2nd place in China League One. Their best performance in the Super League came in 2010, when they finished the domestic league campaign in 4th place. Hangzhou's youth team has also developed a promising reputation and in 2008, they won the Under-15s Nike Cup.
Amongst the team's best-known former players are Luis Alfredo Ramírez and the Chinese internationals, Du Wei and Li Yan. The team's current captain is another Chinese international, Wang Song.
Hangzhou Greentown currently play home games at Hangzhou Huanglong Stadium, which is also commonly referred to as Yellow Dragon Stadium. The venue first opened in 2000, hosted several matches during the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2007 and is able to seat up to 51,000 spectators.
