2005 Chinese Super League

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

Season review

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.

Personnel

Team	Manager
Beijing Hyundai	Template:Flagicon Shen Xiangfu
Chongqing Lifan	Template:Flagicon Ma Lin
Dalian Shide	Template:Flagicon Vladimir Petrović
Inter Shanghai	Template:Flagicon Cheng Yaodong
Liaoning Zhongyu	Template:Flagicon Tang Yaodong
Qingdao Zhongneng	Template:Flagicon Yin Tiesheng
Shandong Luneng	Template:Flagicon Ljubiša Tumbaković
Shanghai Shenhua	Template:Flagicon Valery Nepomnyashchy
Shanghai Zobon
Shenyang Ginde	Template:Flagicon Bob Houghton
Shenzhen Jianlibao	Template:Flagicon Guo Ruilong
Sichuan Guangdong	Template:Flagicon Gao Huichen
Tianjin TEDA	Template:Flagicon Liu Chunming
Wuhan Huanghelou	Template:Flagicon Chen Fangping

Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to three, but all teams can only use two foreign players on the field in each game. Players from Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese Taipei are deemed to be native players in CSL.

• Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
• Players in italics were out of the squad or left the club within the season, after the pre-season transfer window, or in the mid-season transfer window, and at least had one appearance.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Former players
Beijing Hyundai	Template:Flagicon Krisztián Kenesei	Template:Flagicon Dan Alexa	Template:Flagicon Branko Jelić
Chongqing Lifan	Template:Flagicon Ivan Bulat
Dalian Shide	Template:Flagicon Adilson	Template:Flagicon Zoran Janković	Template:Flagicon Miodrag Pantelić
Inter Shanghai	Template:Flagicon Zé Alcino	Template:Flagicon Kwame Ayew		Template:Flagicon Kola Adams
Liaoning Zhongyu	Template:Flagicon Clément Lebe
Qingdao Zhongneng	Template:Flagicon Oscar Bazán
Shandong Luneng	Template:Flagicon Predrag Pažin	Template:Flagicon Ionel Dănciulescu	Template:Flagicon Branimir Petrović
Shanghai Shenhua	Template:Flagicon Saúl Martínez	Template:Flagicon Flavio Maestri	Template:Flagicon Goran Trobok
Shanghai Zobon	Template:Flagicon Albert Baning	Template:Flagicon Didier Njewel	Template:Flagicon Robert Lima	Template:Flagicon Ebelio Ordóñez
Shenyang Ginde	Template:Flagicon Sead Bučan	Template:Flagicon Aldo Olcese	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Medveď
Shenzhen Jianlibao	Template:Flagicon Ozeias	Template:Flagicon Marek Zając	Template:Flagicon Djima Oyawolé
Sichuan Guangdong
Tianjin TEDA	Template:Flagicon Émerson	Template:Flagicon Marko Zorić	Template:Flagicon Bennett Mnguni
Wuhan Huanghelou	Template:Flagicon Gilsinho	Template:Flagicon Vicente	Template:Flagicon Will	Template:Flagicon Rafael

Top scorers

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

Attendances

League

• Total attendance: 1,871,700
• 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

External links

• Results and table on RSSSF
• 2005 Chinese Super League on Sina Template:In lang