2005 Chinese Super League

The 2005 Chinese Super League season was only 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.

Chinese Super League
Season2005
ChampionsDalian Shide
RelegatedN/A
AFC Champions League
  • Dalian Shide
  • Shanghai Shenhua
A3 Champions CupDalian Shide
Matches played182
Goals scored465 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer Branko Jelić (Beijing Hyundai), 21 goals
Average attendance10,284
← 2004
2006 →

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

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 talent.

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 Taishan 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 Taishan finished third to miss the final Champions League 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.

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 Taishan 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:
(C) Champion.

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Branko Jelić Beijing Hyundai 21
2 Zou Jie Dalian Shide 15
3 Xie Hui Shanghai Shenhua 14
Gílson Domingos Rezende Agostinho Wuhan Guanggu 14
4 Zoran Janković Dalian Shide 13
5 Yu Genwei Tianjin Teda F.C. 12
6 Ionel Dănciulescu Shandong Luneng 10
Xu Liang Liaoning Zhongyu 10
Zheng Zhi Shandong Luneng 10

Attendances

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

Clubs
Team Average Attendance
Shandong Luneng Taishan 26,000
Beijing Guo'an 18,923
Tianjin Teda 16,462
Wuhan FC 15,654
Dalian Shide 14,000
Shanghai Shenhua 12,462
Liaoning FC 11,000
Chongqing Lifan 5,731
Sichuan Guancheng 5,477
Shanghai Zobon 4,885
Qingdao Jonoon 4,500
Inter Shanghai 4,385
Shenzhen Jianlibao 2,423
Shenyang Ginde 2,077
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See also

References
  1. http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/osouthnews/dgtt/ttjd/200511270268.asp
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