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 United 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 United
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
TeamManager Beijing Hyundai Shen Xiangfu Chongqing Lifan Ma Lin Dalian Shide Vladimir Petrović Inter Shanghai Cheng Yaodong Liaoning Zhongyu Tang Yaodong Qingdao Zhongneng Yin Tiesheng Shandong Luneng Ljubiša Tumbaković Shanghai Shenhua Valery Nepomnyashchy Shanghai United Shenyang Ginde Bob Houghton Shenzhen Jianlibao Guo Ruilong Sichuan Guangdong Gao Huichen Tianjin TEDA Liu Chunming Wuhan Huanghelou 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 Krisztián Kenesei Dan Alexa Branko Jelić Chongqing Lifan Ivan Bulat Dalian Shide Adilson Zoran Janković Miodrag Pantelić Inter Shanghai Zé Alcino Ivan Bulat Kwame Ayew Kola Adams Liaoning Zhongyu Clément Lebe Qingdao Zhongneng Oscar Bazán Shandong Luneng Predrag Pažin Ionel Dănciulescu Branimir Petrović Shanghai Shenhua Saúl Martínez Goran Trobok Shanghai United Albert Baning Christian Pouga Didier Njewel Shenyang Ginde Sead Bučan Aldo Olcese Tomáš Medveď Shenzhen Jianlibao Nelson Simões Marek Zając Djima Oyawolé Sichuan Guangdong Tianjin TEDA Marko Zorić Bennett Mnguni Wuhan Huanghelou Gilsinho Vicente Will Anderson Bill Rafael
Hong Kong/Chinese Taipei/Macau players (doesn't count on the foreign player slot) Club Player 1Shanghai United Ng Wai Chiu
League table
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Branko JelićBeijing Hyundai212 Zou JieDalian Shide153 GilsinhoWuhan Huanghelou14 Xie HuiShanghai Shenhua5 Zoran JankovićDalian Shide136 Yu GenweiTianjin TEDA127 Xu LiangLiaoning Zhongyu10 Zheng ZhiShandong Luneng Ionel DănciulescuShandong Luneng
Attendances
League Total attendance: 1,871,700 http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/osouthnews/dgtt/ttjd/200511270268.asp 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 United 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
External links Results and table on RSSSF 2005 Chinese Super League on Sina