Meizhou Hakka

Meizhou Hakka F.C. was established in January 2013 by former Guangdong Sunray Cave manager Cao Yang along with the support of the Meizhou municipal government, Municipal Sports Bureau. He would soon go on to gain financial support from the Chairman of Wei Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., Wei Jinping who was persuaded in investing into the team after Cao Yang described his envision of creating a footballing hub in Wuhua County, the home town of former Chinese footballer and coach Lee Wai Tong. The squad was assembled with local Hakka players and players from other teams in Guangdong, including Guangdong Sunray Cave, Guangzhou Evergrande, Shenzhen Ruby and Shenzhen Fengpeng before entering the third tier in the 2013 league season where despite topping the group stages they finished fifth in the knock-out stages.

Former Chinese national team head coach Qi Wusheng was brought in during the 2015 China League Two season. He would go on to help guide the club to win the division title in a penalty shoot-out against Dalian Transcendence and promotion to the second tier for the first time in the clubs history. Qi Wusheng would not extend his contract with the club and Dutch football manager Luc Nijholt was brought in on 1 January 2016 as well as 80 million yuan to invest within the team. Luc Nijholt would leave the team on 19 July 2016 as the club sat twelfth within the league and marginally above the relegation zone, a position they would remain in for the rest of the season. After several managerial changes with limited success, Serbian manager Milan Ristić was brought in on 6 February 2021 and he was able to guide the team to promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2021 China League One season.