Chinese Super League 2004

This article details the Chinese Super League 2004 season.

Overview

The first Chinese Super League (CSL) season was greeted with great enthusiasm by the media and the FA, with the decision to create a new top tier league in China made in order to freshen up Chinese football. The previous ten seasons of the old Chinese first division had been successful and had improved the quality of play in China, however, the Chinese FA felt that a change was needed to give Chinese Football a further boost.

The decision to create the Chinese Super League was made before the 2003 Chinese season and of the 15 First Division teams competing in the 2003 season, it was decided that 3 would be relegated with no promotion at all from the second tier league. The remaining 12 teams would compete in the inaugural Super League season.

It was planned that one team would be relegated with two teams to be promoted into the CSL at the end of the season but the relegation was cancelled halfway through and so for the second season the Super League had 14 teams.

Controversy

There were many controversial events during the season including the discovery that some players were betting against their own teams and losing games deliberately. Some referees were also suspected of fixing matches by awarding dubious penalty kicks and handing out cards freely. The most notorious incidents happened during two matches, one game involving Beijing Hyundai and the other Dalian Shide. In their respective matches, the players were unhappy about the referee's decisions and they protested by abandoning the match halfway. The CFA took both incidents seriously and handed out punishments by docking points off the two guilty teams.

Upsets

The season produced one of the biggest upset in Chinese football history. Shenzhen Jianlibao, coached by Zhu Guanghu, was facing financial problems and owed its players several months of salary. However, motivated by their coach, they still managed to finish Champions and even more remarkably, their defence only conceded 13 goals in 22 matches, the least in the league.

Another team causing an upset at the wrong end of the table was Shanghai Shenhua who had been Champions in the previous season and during the 2004 season had played in the prestigious AFC Champions League. However, they played poorly in the 2004 season and finished 3rd from bottom, only 1 point above bottom placed team, Chongqing Lifan. If there had been relegation in the season, Shanghai would have found themselves battling against the drop.

Promoted for 2004 Season

None

Relegated after 2004 Season

None

Final League Table

P = Games Played; W = Games Won; D = Games Drawn; L = Games Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points

* Deduct 6 points for abandoning a match in protest of a referee's call
# Deduct 3 points for abandoning a match in protest of a referee's call

ee also

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