# 2008 Chinese Super League

The 2008 Chinese Super League (known as the Kingway 2008 Chinese Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League and the 15th season of the professional football league in China. This season was the first which featured 16 clubs. Shandong Luneng won their 3rd title at the end of this season.

## Promotion and relegation

* At the end of the 2007 season, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and Chengdu Blades were promoted to Super League.
* At the end of the 2007 season, Xiamen Lanshi were relegated to League One.
* Wuhan Optics Valley withdrew from the league and folded.
* At the end of the season, Liaoning Whowin were relegated to League One.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Shandong Luneng (C) | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 54 | 25 | +29 | 63 | 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage |
| 2 | Shanghai Shenhua | 30 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 58 | 29 | +29 | 61 | 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage |
| 3 | Beijing Guoan | 30 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 58 | 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage |
| 4 | Tianjin TEDA | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 54 | 29 | +25 | 57 | 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage |
| 5 | Shaanxi Chanba | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 41 | 29 | +12 | 52 | |
| 6 | Changchun Yatai | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 45 | |
| 7 | Guangzhou Pharmaceutical | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 40 | |
| 8 | Qingdao Jonoon | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 39 | 36 | +3 | 39 | |
| 9 | Zhejiang Greentown | 30 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 39 | |
| 10 | Henan Construction | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 36 | |
| 11 | Changsha Ginde | 30 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 28 | 36 | −8 | 34 | |
| 12 | Shenzhen Xiangxue | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 33 | |
| 13 | Chengdu Blades | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 32 | |
| 14 | Dalian Shide | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 30 | 40 | −10 | 30 | |
| 15 | Liaoning Whowin (R) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 27 | Relegated to China League One |
| 16 | Wuhan Optics Valley | 30 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 90 | −90 | 0 | Withdrew from the league and folded |
* 1 2 Qingdao: 6 pts, 4–1; Zhejiang: 0 pts, 1–4
* ↑ Wuhan Optics Valley withdrew from the league and folded; all of their matches were scratched and counted as 3–0 wins to their opponents.

## Results table

| Home \ Away | BJ | CC | CS | CD | DL | GZ | HN | LN | QD | PD | SD | SH | SZ | TJ | WH | ZJ |
| Beijing Guoan | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Changchun Yatai | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| Changsha Ginde | 1–1 | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Chengdu Blades | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| Dalian Shide | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| Guangzhou Pharmaceutical | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Henan Construction | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 3–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Liaoning Whowin | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Qingdao Jonoon | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Shaanxi Chanba | 2–1 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| Shandong Luneng | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Shanghai Shenhua | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| Shenzhen Xiangxue | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Tianjin TEDA | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 4–0 |
| Wuhan Optics Valley | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 | | 0–3 |
| Zhejiang Greentown | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Éber Luís | Tianjin TEDA | 14 |
| 2 | Johnson Macaba | Shenzhen Xiangxue | 13 |
| 3 | Luis Ramírez | Guangzhou Pharmaceutical | 12 |
| 3 | Emmanuel Olisadebe | Henan Construction | 12 |
| 5 | Valdo | Zhejiang Greentown | 10 |
| 5 | Du Zhenyu | Changchun Yatai | 10 |
| 7 | Cao Tianbao | Changchun Yatai | 9 |
| 7 | Hámilton Ricard | Shanghai Shenhua | 9 |
| 7 | Guillaume Dah Zadi | Changchun Yatai | 9 |
| 10 | Vicente | Shaanxi Chanba | 8 |
| 10 | Gao Lin | Shanghai Shenhua | 8 |
| 10 | Han Peng | Shandong Luneng | 8 |
| 10 | Emil Martínez | Shanghai Shenhua | 8 |
| 10 | Miljan Mrdaković | Shandong Luneng | 8 |

## Stadiums

| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Average attendance |
| Beijing Guoan | Beijing Fengtai Stadium | 31,000 | 14,641 |
| Changchun Yatai | Changchun Stadium | 41,638 | 5,797 |
| Changsha Ginde | Helong Sports Center Stadium | 55,000 | 6,645 |
| Chengdu Blades | Chengdu Sports Centre | 42,000 | 12,378 |
| Dalian Shide | Jinzhou Stadium | 30,000 | 7,900 |
| Guangzhou Pharmaceutical | Yuexiushan Stadium | 22,000 | 19,624 |
| Henan Construction | Hanghai Stadium | 30,000 | 16,267 |
| Liaoning Whowin | Tiexi New District Sports Center | 26,800 | 11,733 |
| Qingdao Jonoon | Qingdao Tiantai Stadium | 30,000 | 6,600 |
| Shaanxi Chanba | Shaanxi Province Stadium | 57,000 | 24,625 |
| Shandong Luneng | Shandong Provincial Stadium | 43,700 | 26,501 |
| Shanghai Shenhua | Hongkou Football Stadium | 35,000 | 11,510 |
| Shenzhen Xiangxue | Shenzhen Stadium | 32,500 | 6,400 |
| Tianjin TEDA | TEDA Soccer Stadium | 37,500 | 14,007 |
| Wuhan Optics Valley | Xinhua Road Sports Center | 36,000 | 12,556 |
| Zhejiang Greentown | Huanglong Sports Center | 51,000 | 12,188 |
| Total | | | 13,444 |

## Managers

| Team | Manager | 2nd Manager | 3rd Manager |
| Beijing Guoan | Lee Jang-soo | | |
| Changchun Yatai | Gao Hongbo (Sacked after round 10) | Ernst Middendorp (Resigned after round 24) | Li Shubin |
| Changsha Ginde | Slobodan Santrač (Sacked after round 9) | Zhu Bo | |
| Chengdu Blades | Li Bing | | |
| Dalian Shide | Ratko Dostanić (Sacked after round 8) | Milorad Kosanović | |
| Guangzhou Pharmaceutical | Shen Xiangfu | | |
| Henan Construction | Jia Xiuquan (Resigned after round 8) | Acácio Casimiro (Sacked after round 16) | Tang Yaodong |
| Liaoning Whowin | Werner Lorant (Sacked after round 10) | Ma Lin | |
| Qingdao Jonoon | Guo Kanfeng | | |
| Shaanxi Chanba | Cheng Yaodong | | |
| Shandong Luneng | Ljubiša Tumbaković | | |
| Shanghai Shenhua | Wu Jingui (Sacked after round 14) | Jia Xiuquan | |
| Shenzhen Xiangxue | Mai Chao (Resigned after round 1) | Zhang Zengqun (Sacked after round 13) | Wang Baoshan |
| Tianjin TEDA | Jozef Jarabinský (Sacked after round 7) | Zuo Shusheng | |
| Wuhan Optics Valley | Chen Fangping (Sacked after round 4) | Zhu Guanghu | |
| Zhejiang Greentown | Sun Wei (Sacked after round 4) | Zhou Sui'an | |

## Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to four, but all teams can only use three 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 | Player 4 | Former players |
| Beijing Guoan | Tiago | Elvis Scott | Walter Martínez | Ovidiu Burcă | Stojan Ignatov |
| Changchun Yatai | Samuel Caballero | Guillaume Dah Zadi | Gabriel Melkam | Dumitru Mitu | |
| Changsha Ginde | Nevil Dede | Sandro | Tales | Aboubakar Oumarou | Milan Nikolić |
| Chengdu Blades | Neres | Demar Stewart | Kim Yong-jun | | Igor Tkalčević Sékou Tidiane Souaré |
| Dalian Shide | Georgi Chilikov | Dragan Vukmir | James Chamanga | | Kaloyan Karadzhinov Vedran Celiščak |
| Guangzhou Pharmaceutical | Diego Barcelos | José Duarte | Luis Ramírez | Ismael Alvarado | |
| Henan Construction | Douglas | Obi Emmanuel Moneke | Emmanuel Olisadebe | Hichem Ben Khaled | |
| Liaoning Whowin | Ryan Griffiths | Raman Kirenkin | Jefferson Feijão | Zé Roberto | |
| Qingdao Jonoon | Jean-Paul Ndeki | Mitchel Brown | Dragan Stančić | Lee Jae-won | Luis Santamaría |
| Shaanxi Chanba | Ronny | Vicente | | | |
| Shandong Luneng | Luciano Ratinho | Aleksandar Živković | Miljan Mrdaković | Alejandro Cichero | |
| Shanghai Shenhua | Hámilton Ricard | Erick Scott | Emil Martínez | Justo Meza | Matías Marchesini |
| Shenzhen Xiangxue | Johnson Macaba | Felipe Menegon | Michael Valenzuela | Marek Zając | |
| Tianjin TEDA | Éber Luís | Darko Matić | Mariko Daouda | Marius Radu | |
| Wuhan Optics Valley | | | | | César La Paglia Danilo Gustavo Papa Pablo Munhoz |
| Zhejiang Greentown | Karim Benounes | Valdo | Yordan Varbanov | Mohsen Abo Gresha | Slavčo Georgievski |