 | |
| Season | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Shenzhen Jianlibao |
| Relegated | N/A |
| AFC Champions League | |
| A3 Champions Cup | Shenzhen Jianlibao |
| Matches | 132 |
| Goals | 363 (2.75 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |  Kwame Ayew (Inter Shanghai), 17 goals |
| Average attendance | 10,838 |
2005 → | |
The2004 Chinese Super League was the debut season of the establishment of the Chinese Football Association Super League (中国足球协会超级联赛 or 中超), also known as theChinese Super League. Sponsored bySiemens Mobile, it is the eleventh season of professional association football league and the 43rd top-tier league season in China. The premierfootball league in China under the auspices of theChinese Football Association, the season started on May 15 and ended December 4 where it was planned that no teams would be relegated at the end of the season.
Teams promoted from 2003 Jia-B League
Teams relegated after end of2003 Jia-A League
The firstChinese 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 inChina. However, theChinese Football Association 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 three teams 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, which sawChongqing Qiche remain within the league despite being relegated after they merged with seventh place teamYunnan Hongta.[1]
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.
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 involvingBeijing Hyundai and the otherDalian 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.
The season produced one of the biggest upset in Chinese football history.Shenzhen Jianlibao, coached byZhu Guanghu, was facing financial problems and owed its players several months of salary. However, they still managed to finish as 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 wasShanghai Shenhua who had been Champions in the previous season and during the 2004 season had played in the prestigiousAFC Champions League. However, they played poorly in the 2004 season and finished 3rd from bottom, only 1 point above bottom placed team,Chongqing Qiche. If there had been relegation in the season, Shanghai would have found themselves battling against the drop.
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 fromHong Kong,Macau andChinese Taipei are deemed to be native players in CSL.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenzhen Jianlibao(C) | 22 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 30 | 13 | +17 | 42 | Qualification toAFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Shandong Luneng | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 36 | |
| 3 | Inter Shanghai | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 39 | 31 | +8 | 32 | |
| 4 | Liaoning Zhongyu | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 32 | |
| 5 | Dalian Shide[a] | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 33 | 29 | +4 | 30 | |
| 6 | Tianjin TEDA | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 28 | 29 | −1 | 29 | |
| 7 | Beijing Hyundai[b] | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 35 | 33 | +2 | 28 | |
| 8 | Shenyang Ginde | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 29 | −6 | 26 | |
| 9 | Sichuan Guancheng | 22 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 29 | 37 | −8 | 23 | |
| 10 | Shanghai Shenhua | 22 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 22 | |
| 11 | Qingdao Beilaite | 22 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 21 | 28 | −7 | 21 | |
| 12 | Chongqing Qiche | 22 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 31 | −17 | 21 |
| Football club | Average attendance |
|---|---|
| Shandong Luneng | 23,636 |
| Chongqing Qiche | 15,727 |
| Shanghai Shenhua | 13,636 |
| Tianjin TEDA | 13,182 |
| Dalian Shide | 11,273 |
| Shenzhen Jianlibao | 10,364 |
| Beijing Hyundai | 10,864 |
| Inter Shanghai | 8,455 |
| Liaoning Zhongyu | 7,727 |
| Sichuan Guancheng | 5,545 |
| Shenyang Ginde | 5,000 |
| Qingdao Beilaite | 4,645 |
