On March 29th, Beijing time, China's Football Association officially unveiled the list of teams for the new season of the three-tier professional league, among which, Nanjing City Football Team was honored to be on the list of the Central League. Tracing back to 2014, the team was first called "Nanjing Fengfan", and in just three years it has achieved the feat of "three-level jump" in the professional league.
In the 2019 Chinese Championship League, Nanjing Fengfan won the laurels by a landslide and managed to make it to the Chinese B League.
Since its establishment in 2014, Nanjing Fengfan Soccer Salon has initially been active as an amateur team in the Nanjing City League, Jiangsu City Amateur Soccer League, and the Nanjing Football Association Super League.
In 2019, Nanjing Fengfan joined the Chinese Football Association Member Association Champions League (CCAA Champions League), and was ranked first in the North Zone with a brilliant record of 7 wins in the Finals Divisional Competition, finishing with a perfect score of 21 points, and gained preferential access to the CCAA B League.
In that year's championship final, Maple Sail defeated Shenzhen Pok Gang by a two-round aggregate score of 5:3, advancing to the next season's Second Division League as champions of the Chinese Champions League and officially becoming a member of the professional league.
Going into 2020, Nanjing Maple Sail has set out its ambitions to make an impact on the Central League in the second division.
In the fierce competition of 21 teams, Nanjing Fengfan led the Luxi Region with an undefeated record of 10 wins and 1 draw, and successfully broke into the quarterfinals. However, in the semi-final, the team lost to Zibo Cuju with a total score of 0:2, and eventually lost the battle for the top spot, but its strong strength shown in the league was impressive.
On January 17, 2021, Nanjing Fengfan Soccer Salon officially changed its name to Nanjing City Soccer Salon, and the team said in the name change announcement that it will continue to fight for the city's glory with its love for soccer and loyalty to Nanjing.
Due to the Cangzhou Lions' replacement into the Chinese Super League in the Central League, Taizhou Yuanda, Inner Mongolia Zhongyou and Beijing Renhe's withdrawal, Xinjiang Tianshan Xuebao, Nanjing City and Beijing Institute of Technology have been replaced into the Central League, Nanjing City team ushered in a new challenge and opportunity.
