Chinese Super League
| Chinese Super League | |
|---|---|
 Chinese Super League 2007 |
|
 |
|
| Sport | Football |
| Founded | 2004 |
| No. of teams | 15 |
| Country/ Countries |
 People's Republic of
China |
| Most recent champion(s) | Shandong Luneng |
| Official website | http://csl.sports.cn/ |
The Chinese Football Association Super League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会超级联赛), commonly known as Chinese Super League (中超联赛) or CSL, is the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, operating under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association.
The Super League was created by the rebranding of the former top division Chinese Football Association Jia A League (Not to be confused with Chinese Football Association Jia League, which is the current second tier league.) in 2004.
Originally contested by 12 teams in the inaugural year, the league has been expanding. There are 15 teams in the current season. The title has been won by three teams: Shenzhen Jianlibao, Dalian Shide and Shandong Luneng. The current Super League champions are Shandong Luneng.
Promotion and relegation take place between the Super League and the second tier Chinese Football Association Jia League (Jia means first or 'A' in Chinese). There were no relegation in the first 2 seasons of the league in a bid to expand the league. Chongqing Lifan became the first team to be relegated in 2006 after finishing bottom of the table for 3 consecutive seasons.
Overview
Competition format
In each season, each club plays each of the other clubs twice, once at home and another away. In 2004, there were 12 clubs in the Super League, so the teams played 22 games each for a total of 132 games in the season. In 2005, there were 14 clubs in the league, so the teams played 26 games each for a total of 182 games in the season. With 15 teams in the league in 2006 and, each team had to play 28 games in the season for 210 games in total. [1]
From 2008 onwards, at the end of each season the two lowest placed teams are relegated into the Chinese Football Association Jia League and the top two teams from the Jia League are promoted in their place.
The champions of the League, as well as the winner of the Chinese FA Cup, qualify for the AFC Champions League of the next year. If a team won the league and cup double, the runner-up of the league will take the Champions League spot.
Sponsorship
The first title sponsor of the league was Siemens. Following a controversial first season, Siemens did not renew its multi-million dollars sponsorship of the league. The start of the second season in 2005 had to be delayed a month in order to find new sponsors. When no title sponsor was found the League was simply called Chinese Football Association Super League.
- 2004 Season: Siemens (Siemens Chinese Super League)
- 2005 Season: No sponsor (Chinese Football Association Super League)
- 2006 Season: iPhox (iPhox Chinese Super League)
- 2007 Season: Kingway (Kingway Chinese Super League)
Foreign Players
Professional footballers in China receive relatively high salaries both when compared to other Chinese sports leagues and football leagues in other countries. As a result, numerous players from Serbia, Brazil and other Latin American regions make up the foreign players in the Chinese league. The league has rules, however, restricting the number of foreign players strictly to three per team.
History
The CSL was founded in 2004 as a replacement for the previous Division I (Jia A, or 甲A) league, with 12 teams in the league. The inaugural season was plagued with grave controversy.
The original plan was to have one relegation and two promotions for the 2004 season and 2005 season, thus increasing the number of teams in 2006 to 14. But the FA's decisions caused the relegations to be cancelled for these 2 years.
For the 2005 season, the league expanded to 14 teams after Wuhan Huanghelou and Zhuhai Zhongbang won promotion from the Jia League. The Zhuhai team, formerly Zhuhai Anping, had been bought by the Shanghai Zhongbang real estate company and relocated to Shanghai for the 2005 season, and subsequently renamed to Shanghai Zobon.
In 2006, the league was planned to expand to 16 teams with the newly promoted Xiamen Lanshi and Changchun Yatai, however, Sichuan Guancheng withdrew before the start of the season, leaving only 15 teams when the season started on March 11th. Shanghai Liancheng Zobon after another change of ownership was renamed Shanghai United F.C.
In 2007, the league was planned to be expanded to 16 teams as well but once again, it found itself 1 team short. Shanghai United F.C.'s owner, Zhu Jun bought a major share from local rival Shanghai Shenhua and merged the 2 teams. As a result, Shanghai Shenhua retained its name as it already had a strong fanbase in the city, while Shanghai United F.C. was pulled out from the league.
Super League Clubs 2007
| Club | Chinese name | Seasons in CSL | Best finish, Season | Worst finish, Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing Guo'an | 北京国安 | 2004 to 2007 | 3rd, 2006 | 7th, 2004 |
| Changchun Yatai | 长春亚泰 | 2006 & 2007 | 4th, 2006 | 4th, 2006 |
| Dalian Shide | 大连实德 | 2004 to 2007 | 1st, 2005 | 5th, 2004 & 2006 |
| Liaoning F.C. | 辽宁足球俱乐部 | 2004 to 2007 | 4th, 2004 | 12th, 2006 |
| Qingdao Zhongneng | 青岛中能 | 2004 to 2007 | 7th, 2005 | 14th, 2006 |
| Shandong Luneng | 山东鲁能 | 2004 to 2007 | 1st, 2006 | 3rd, 2005 |
| Shanghai Shenhua | 上海申花 | 2004 to 2007 | 2nd, 2005 & 2006 | 10th, 2004 |
| Changsha Ginde | 长沙金德 | 2004 to 2007 | 8th, 2004 | 13th, 2005 & 2006 |
| Shenzhen Shangqingyin | 深圳上清饮 | 2004 to 2007 | 1st, 2004 | 12th, 2005 |
| Tianjin Teda | 天津泰达 | 2004 to 2007 | 4th, 2005 | 6th, 2004 & 2006 |
| Wuhan Guanggu | 武汉光谷 | 2005 to 2007 | 5th, 2005 | 10th, 2006 |
| Xiamen Lanshi | 厦门蓝狮 | 2006 & 2007 | 8th, 2006 | 8th, 2006 |
| Shaanxi Baorong | 陕西宝荣 | 2004 to 2007 | 3rd, 2004 | 8th, 2005 |
| Zhejiang Lücheng | 浙江绿城 | 2007 | ||
| Henan Jianye | 河南建业 | 2007 |
Former Super League Clubs
| Club | Chinese name | Seasons in CSL | Best finish, Season | Worst finish, Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sichuan Guancheng | 四川冠城 | 2004 to 2005 | 9th, 2004 & 2005 | 9th, 2004 & 2005 |
| Chongqing Lifan | 重庆力帆 | 2004 to 2006 | 12th, 2004 | 15th, 2006 |
| Shanghai United F.C. | 上海联城 | 2005 to 2007 | 7th, 2006 | 11th, 2005 |
For a list of all clubs past and present see List of Chinese Super League clubs.
Super League champions
| Season | Winner | Total wins | Runner-up | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Shenzhen Jianlibao | 1 | Shandong Luneng | Inter Shanghai |
| 2005 | Dalian Shide | 1 | Shanghai Shenhua | Shandong Luneng |
| 2006 | Shandong Luneng | 1 | Shanghai Shenhua | Beijing Guoan |
For a list of Champions in Chinese Professional Football see Chinese football champions
Top scorers
| Season | Top scorer | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Kwame Ayew | Inter Shanghai | 17 |
| 2005 | Branko Jelic | Beijing Hyundai | 21 |
| 2006 | Li Jinyu | Shandong Luneng | 26 |
See also
- Football in China
- Chinese Football Association
- Chinese Football Association Jia League
- Chinese Football Association Yi League
- Chinese FA Cup
References
External links
- Official site of the Chinese Super League (In Chinese)
- Official site of the Chinese Football Association (In Chinese)
- Sinosoc (In English)
- Football Asia
- AFC Asian Football Confederation
- AFC Champions League
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