# 2005 Chinese Super League

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 Zobon 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 Zobon
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

| Team | Manager |
| 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 Zobon | |
| Shenyang Ginde | Martin Koopman |
| Shenzhen Jianlibao | Guo Ruilong |
| Sichuan Guangdong | Gao Huichen |
| Tianjin TEDA | Liu Chunming |
| Wuhan Huanghelou | Pei Encai |

## 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 | 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 Zobon | Albert Baning | Didier Njewel | | Ebelio Ordóñez |
| Shenyang Ginde | Sead Bučan | Aldo Olcese | Tomáš Medveď | |
| Shenzhen Jianlibao | Ozeias | Marek Zając | Djima Oyawolé | |
| Sichuan Guangdong | | | | |
| Tianjin TEDA | Émerson | Marko Zorić | Bennett Mnguni | |
| Wuhan Huanghelou | Gilsinho | Vicente | Will | Rafael |

## 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 | Qualification to AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Shandong Luneng | 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 | Gilsinho | Wuhan Huanghelou | 14 |
| 3 | Xie Hui | Shanghai Shenhua | 14 |
| 5 | Zoran Janković | Dalian Shide | 13 |
| 6 | Yu Genwei | Tianjin TEDA | 12 |
| 7 | Xu Liang | Liaoning Zhongyu | 10 |
| 7 | Zheng Zhi | Shandong Luneng | 10 |
| 7 | Ionel Dănciulescu | Shandong Luneng | 10 |

## Attendances
### League

* Total attendance: 1,871,700
* 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 Zobon | 4,885 |
| Qingdao Zhongneng | 4,500 |
| Inter Shanghai | 4,385 |
| Shenzhen Jianlibao | 2,423 |
| Shenyang Ginde | 2,077 |