2005 Chinese Super League

Chinese Super League

Season	2005
Champions	Dalian Shide
Relegated	N/A
AFC Champions League	Dalian Shide Shanghai Shenhua
A3 Champions Cup	Dalian Shide
Matches played	182
Goals scored	465 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	Branko Jelić (Beijing Hyundai), 21 goals
Average attendance	10,284
← 2004 2006 →

The 2005 Chinese Super League season was the second season of China's top-tier football competition. With no relegation the previous season, the league expanded from 12 to 14 clubs with the promotion of Shanghai Zobon and Wuhan Huanghelou. The season was scheduled to start on 5 March 2005, but was postponed until April due to a sponsorship problem and finished on 5 November with Dalian Shide, seven-time champions in the old first division, clinching their eighth title. Defending champions Shenzhen Jianlibao finished third from bottom, the second consecutive year in which the defending champions has done so.

The FA had announced at the start of the season that no teams would be relegated for this season and they kept to this decision.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2004 China League One

• Wuhan Huanghelou
• Shanghai Zobon

Teams relegated after end of 2004 Chinese Super League

• None

The season

The two-year-old league provided a more positive side of football than the previous season, with much fewer drug-abusing, match-fixing and other scandals on and off the pitch. However, the season was criticised for being unexciting with some stating that the only reason that particular clubs did well was because of foreign talents.

Most teams had not invested enough into their squads for the season to compete for the top positions in the CSL. As the decision to cancel relegation had been announced before the start of the season, unlike the previous season where it was decided halfway through. Teams with no chance of winning the league were thus reluctant to spend money in the transfer market.

Nevertheless, there was still strong competition at the top of the table with six teams fighting for the top two AFC Champions League spots. Dalian Shide remained at the top for almost the whole length of the season but there was a constant rotation of second place.

At the lower half of the table, Chongqing Lifan finished at the bottom of the table for two years running while Shenyang Ginde deteriorated to second from bottom.

Early surprises

Among the contenders for the second spot, Wuhan Huanghelou was no doubt the surprise package. The team, promoted to the CSL the previous season, was little known to their opponents; but they started superbly, embarking on a seven match winning streak at one point, which put them hot on the heels of Dalian Shide. However, like many inexperienced sides, their composure failed in the second half of the season but they still finished a remarkable fifth.

Late dash

In the second half of the season, the battle for second was mainly between Shanghai Shenhua and Tianjin TEDA. The gap between the two clubs was tiny and neither could afford slip-ups, although Shandong Luneng and Beijing Hyundai, who were also within striking distance, were eyeing their opponents' performances closely.

Shanghai Shenhua had a late surge of form to secure second with Shandong Luneng finished third to miss the final ACL spot by just one point while Tianjin Teda was happy enough with a fourth place.

Dalian Shide won their eighth top-tier title with a 12 points cushion although they and Shanghai Shenhua had lost the same number of games because they had managed to win 6 games more.

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Former players
Beijing Hyundai	Krisztián Kenesei	Dan Alexa	Branko Jelić
Chongqing Lifan	Ivan Bulat
Dalian Shide	Adilson	Zoran Janković	Miodrag Pantelić
Inter Shanghai	Zé Alcino	Kwame Ayew		Kola Adams
Liaoning Zhongyu	Clément Lebe
Qingdao Zhongneng	Oscar Bazán
Shandong Luneng	Predrag Pažin	Ionel Dănciulescu
Shanghai Shenhua	Saúl Martínez	Goran Trobok
Shanghai Zobon	Albert Baning	Ebelio Ordóñez	Ng Wai Chiu
Sichuan Guangdong
Shenyang Ginde	Sam Ayorinde
Shenzhen Jianlibao	Ozeias	Marek Zając	Djima Oyawolé
Tianjin TEDA	Émerson	Bennett Mnguni
Wuhan Huanghelou	Gilsinho	Will

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Dalian Shide (C)	26	21	2	3	57	18	+39	65	Qualification to AFC Champions League group stage
2	Shanghai Shenhua	26	15	8	3	41	23	+18	53
3	Shandong Luneng	26	15	7	4	47	30	+17	52
4	Tianjin TEDA	26	14	7	5	48	26	+22	49
5	Wuhan Huanghelou	26	11	9	6	34	26	+8	42
6	Beijing Hyundai	26	12	4	10	46	32	+14	40
7	Qingdao Zhongneng	26	8	8	10	25	31	−6	32
8	Inter Shanghai	26	8	7	11	30	32	−2	31
9	Sichuan Guancheng	26	8	5	13	28	45	−17	29
10	Liaoning Zhongyu	26	7	8	11	34	42	−8	29
11	Shanghai Zobon	26	5	7	14	18	35	−17	22
12	Shenzhen Jianlibao	26	4	10	12	22	42	−20	22
13	Shenyang Ginde	26	4	7	15	19	43	−24	19
14	Chongqing Lifan	26	2	7	17	16	41	−25	13

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
(C) Champions

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Branko Jelić	Beijing Hyundai	21
2	Zou Jie	Dalian Shide	15
3	Gilsinho	Wuhan Huanghelou	14
	Xie Hui	Shanghai Shenhua
5	Zoran Janković	Dalian Shide	13
6	Yu Genwei	Tianjin TEDA	12
7	Xu Liang	Liaoning Zhongyu	10
	Zheng Zhi	Shandong Luneng
	Ionel Dănciulescu	Shandong Luneng

Attendances

League

• Total attendance: 1,871,700 ^[1]
• Average attendance: 10,284

Clubs

Football club	Average attendance
Shandong Luneng	26,000
Beijing Hyundai	18,923
Tianjin TEDA	16,462
Wuhan Huanghelou	15,654
Dalian Shide	14,000
Shanghai Shenhua	12,462
Liaoning Zhongyu	11,000
Chongqing Lifan	5,731
Sichuan Guancheng	5,477
Shanghai Zobon	4,885
Qingdao Zhongneng	4,500
Inter Shanghai	4,385
Shenzhen Jianlibao	2,423
Shenyang Ginde	2,077

See also

• Chinese Super League
• Football in China
• Chinese Football Association
• Chinese Football Association Jia League
• Chinese Football Association Yi League
• Chinese FA Cup

References

1. http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/osouthnews/dgtt/ttjd/200511270268.asp ^{[ dead link ‍]}

External links

• Results and table on RSSSF
• 2005 Chinese Super League on Sina (in Chinese)