 The following season Zhou Sui'an left the team after having twice guided the club to a runners-up position within the league and a runners up spot against Shanghai in the 1991 Chinese FA Cup.After his exit, the club were unable to replicate the same results.When influential international footballers Peng Weiguo and Hu Zhijun left the club, the team went into free fall and were relegated at the end of the 1998 league season.