2005 Chinese Super League

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

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 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

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,

deteriorated to second from bottom.

Early surprises

Among the contenders for the second spot,

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

, 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

Top scorers

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

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

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 (in Chinese)