Beijing Institute of Technology Football Club (Simplified Chinese: 北京理工大学足球俱乐部) or simply BIT is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Haidian, Beijing and their home stadium is the 5,000 capacity BIT Eastern Athletic Field. Their current majority shareholders are Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and Joan Oliver, who acquired a 29% stake on 5 December 2016. The club was founded in 2000 by the Beijing Institute of Technology initially as a college football team, where they experienced significant success by winning four Chinese Collegiate Championships before deciding to enter the 2006 league campaign at the bottom of the professional Chinese football league pyramid in the third tier. After winning the 2006 division championship the club complied with the requirements of full professionalism by having their full-time students register as professionals, increasing player wages and gaining sponsorship. On 11 April 2017, the club announced a permanent separation between their University team and professional team. History College football In 2000 Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), a co-educational public university, established an amateur football team to participate in the Chinese University Football League (CUFL, Simplified Chinese: 中国大学生足球联赛) after they separated from high school football team Beijing Sangao. The club would have an annual budget of 100,000 Yuan, with financial support coming from school grants, donations and corporate sponsorship. The players were paid 400 Yuan per month as a nominal allowance while continuing their studies. The club's recruitment policy saw them, particularly scout youth players, wishing to continue their education; however, Beijing Sangao would ultimately be the main source of their first roster. After their debut in the 2001 Chinese Collegiate championship, the club went on to win the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 championships. With this success, the team were invited by the Chinese Football Association to represent China in the 2003 Summer Universiade Games, where they placed seventh. Professional coach Jin Zhiyang was initially brought in for the tournament, however once the championship ended, he decided to stay on and publicly declared that this club should be participating within the Chinese national leagues. After participating in the 2005 Summer Universiade Games, BIT decided to participate at the bottom of the Chinese league pyramid in the third tier. In their debut season of the 2006 China League Two division, their roster consisted of