2004 Chinese Super League

{{Infobox football league season | image = 2004 Chinese Super League.jpg | pixels = 170px | competition = [[Chinese Super League]] | season = 2004 | winners = [[Shenzhen F.C.|Shenzhen Jianlibao]] | relegated = N/A | continentalcup1 = [[2005 AFC Champions League|AFC Champions League]] | continentalcup1 qualifiers = {{ubl|[[Shenzhen F.C.|Shenzhen Jianlibao]] | [[Shandong Taishan F.C.|Shandong Luneng]]}} | continentalcup2 = [[2005 A3 Champions Cup|A3 Champions Cup]] | continentalcup2 qualifiers = [[Shenzhen F.C.|Shenzhen Jianlibao]] | league topscorer = [[Kwame Ayew]] (17 goals) | matches = 132 | total goals = 363 | average attendance = 10,838 | prevseason = [[2003 Chinese Jia-A League]] | nextseason = [[2005 Chinese Super League|2005]] }}

The '''2004 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 the [[Chinese Super League]]. Sponsored by [[Siemens Mobile]], it is the eleventh season of professional association football league and the 43rd top-tier league season in China. The premier [[Association football|football]] league in China under the auspices of the [[Chinese 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.

==Promotion and relegation== '''Teams promoted from 2003 Jia-B League''' *None

'''Teams relegated after end of [[2003 Chinese Jia-A League|2003 Jia-A League]]''' *[[Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C.|Chongqing Qiche]] (Merged with [[Yunnan Hongta F.C.|Yunnan Hongta]]) *[[Bayi Football Team|August 1st]] *[[Harbin Guoli F.C.|Shaanxi Guoli]]

==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 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 saw [[Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C.|Chongqing Qiche]] remain within the league despite being relegated after they merged with seventh place team [[Yunnan Hongta F.C.|Yunnan Hongta]].<ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesc/china04.html China 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929192436/http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/china04.html |date=2012-09-29 }} at rsssf.com 7 Apr 2005 Retrieved 2013-01-08</ref>

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 deliberately losing games. Some referees were also suspected of fixing matches by awarding dubious penalties and handing out cards freely.

The most notorious incidents happened during two matches, a Round 14 game involving [[Beijing Guoan F.C.|Beijing Hyundai]] and a Round 17 game involving [[Dalian Shide F.C.|Dalian Shide]]: in the respective matches, the players were unhappy about the refereeing, and they protested by walking off and abandoning the match. The CFA handed out punishments with a three-point deduction for Beijing Hyundai and a six-point deduction for Dalian Shide: their opponents were also awarded a 3-0 victory.

==Upsets==

The season produced one of the biggest upset in Chinese football history. [[Shenzhen F.C.|Shenzhen Jianlibao]], coached by [[Zhu 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 was [[Shanghai Shenhua F.C.|Shanghai Shenhua]] who had been Champions in the previous season and during the 2004 season had played in the prestigious [[AFC Champions League Elite|AFC Champions League]]. However, they played poorly in the 2004 season and finished 3rd from bottom, only 1 point above bottom placed team, [[Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C.|Chongqing Qiche]]. If there had been relegation in the season, Shanghai would have found themselves battling against the drop.

==Personnel==  {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%" |- !Team !Manager |- | [[Beijing Guoan F.C.|Beijing Hyundai]] | {{flagicon|China}} [[Wei Kexing]] |- | [[Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C.|Chongqing Qiche]] | {{flagicon|Romania}} [[Viorel Hizo]] |- | [[Dalian Shide F.C.|Dalian Shide]] | {{flagicon|China}} [[Hao Haidong]] (caretaker) |- | [[Beijing Chengfeng F.C.|Inter Shanghai]] | {{flagicon|China}} [[Cheng Yaodong]] |- | [[Liaoning F.C.|Liaoning Zhongyu]] | {{flagicon|China}} [[Ma Lin (football player)|Ma Lin]] |- | [[Qingdao Hainiu F.C.|Qingdao Beilaite]] | {{flagicon|CHN}} [[Wang Weiman]] (caretaker) |- | [[Shandong Taishan F.C.|Shandong Luneng]] | {{flagicon|Serbia and Montenegro}} [[Ljubiša Tumbaković]] |- | [[Shanghai Shenhua F.C.|Shanghai Shenhua]] | {{flagicon|Russia}} [[Valery Nepomnyashchy]] |- | [[Guangzhou City F.C.|Shenyang Ginde]] | |- | [[Shenzhen F.C.|Shenzhen Jianlibao]] | {{flagicon|China}} [[Zhu Guanghu]] |- | [[Sichuan First City F.C.|Sichuan Guangdong]] | {{flagicon|China}} [[Gao Huichen]] |- | [[Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C.|Tianjin TEDA]] | {{flagicon|China}} [[Liu Chunming]] |}

==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.

{|class="wikitable" ! width="170" | Club ! width="170" | Player 1 ! width="170" | Player 2 ! width="170" | Player 3 ! width="170" | Former players |- | [[Beijing Guoan F.C.|Beijing Hyundai]] | {{flagicon|Hungary}} [[Krisztián Kenesei]] | {{flagicon|Romania}} '''[[Dan Alexa]]''' | {{flagicon|Serbia and Montenegro}} [[Branko Jelić]] | |- | [[Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C.|Chongqing Qiche]] | {{flagicon|Croatia}} [[Ivan Bulat]] | {{flagicon|Romania}} '''[[Radu Niculescu]]''' | {{flagicon|Romania}} '''[[Viorel Domocoș]]''' | {{flagicon|Romania}} ''[[Constantin Schumacher]]'' {{flagicon|Romania}} ''[[Victor Naicu]]'' |- | [[Dalian Shide F.C.|Dalian Shide]] | {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Adilson (footballer, born 1976)|Adilson]] | {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} '''[[Zoran Janković (footballer)|Zoran Janković]]''' | {{flagicon|Slovenia}} [[Ermin Šiljak]] | {{flagicon|Netherlands}} ''[[Dave de Jong]]'' |- | [[Beijing Chengfeng F.C.|Inter Shanghai]] | {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Zé Alcino]] | {{flagicon|Ghana}} [[Kwame Ayew]] | {{flagicon|Nigeria}} [[Kola Adams]] | |- | [[Liaoning F.C.|Liaoning Zhongyu]] | {{flagicon|Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[Alen Avdić]] | {{flagicon|Cameroon}} [[Clément Lebe]] | {{flagicon|Serbia and Montenegro}} '''[[Branko Savić]]''' | |- | [[Qingdao Hainiu F.C.|Qingdao Beilaite]] | {{flagicon|Croatia}} '''[[Josip Bulat (footballer, born 1972)|Josip Bulat]]''' | {{flagicon|Ukraine}} [[Oleksandr Holovko]] | {{flagicon|Ukraine}} '''[[Serhiy Konovalov]]''' | {{flagicon|Brazil}} ''[[André (footballer, born 1972)|André Gaspar]]'' {{flagicon|Portugal}} '''''[[Joaquim Ferraz]]''''' {{flagicon|Uruguay}} ''[[Heberley Sosa]]'' |- | [[Shandong Taishan F.C.|Shandong Luneng]] | {{flagicon|France}} [[Nicolas Ouédec]] | {{flagicon|Serbia and Montenegro}} [[Darko Anić (footballer)|Darko Anić]] | {{flagicon|Serbia and Montenegro}} '''[[Vladimir Matijašević]]''' | |- | [[Shanghai Shenhua F.C.|Shanghai Shenhua]] | {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Jörg Albertz]] | {{flagicon|Honduras}} [[Saúl Martínez]] | {{flagicon|Uruguay}} [[Peter Vera]] | |- | [[Guangzhou City F.C.|Shenyang Ginde]] | {{flagicon|Bosnia and Herzegovina}} '''[[Sead Bučan]]''' | {{flagicon|Nigeria}} [[Prince Ikpe Ekong]] | {{flagicon|Nigeria}} [[Sam Ayorinde]] | |- | [[Shenzhen F.C.|Shenzhen Jianlibao]] | {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Nelson Simões]] | {{flagicon|Poland}} '''[[Marek Zając]]''' | {{flagicon|Togo}} [[Djima Oyawolé]] | {{flagicon|Brazil}} ''[[Auricélio Neres]]'' {{flagicon|Brazil}} ''[[Ozeias]]'' {{flagicon|Hungary}} ''[[Zoltán Kovács (footballer, born 1973)|Zoltán Kovács]]'' |- | [[Sichuan First City F.C.|Sichuan Guancheng]] | {{flagicon|Serbia and Montenegro}} [[Miodrag Pantelić]] | {{flagicon|South Korea}} '''[[Lee Kyung-soo]]''' | {{flagicon|Sweden}} [[Daniel Nannskog]] | |- | [[Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C.|Tianjin TEDA]] | {{flagicon|Belarus}} '''[[Alyaksandr Khatskevich]]''' | {{flagicon|Romania}} [[Bogdan Mara]] | {{flagicon|Romania}} '''[[Ionel Gane]]''' | {{flagicon|Argentina}} ''[[José Luis Díaz (footballer, born 1974)|José Luis Díaz]]'' {{flagicon|Brazil}} ''[[Emerson Ricardo Otacilio|Ricardo]]'' {{flagicon|Turkey}} ''[[Ahmet Dursun]]'' |}

==League table== {{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=WDL |teamwidth=210 |match_col_width=35 |source=

|result1=CLQ |result2=CLQ

|note_BJ=Beijing Hyundai were deducted 3 points for walking off to protest the refereeing. |note_DL=Dalian Shide were deducted 6 points for walking off to protest the refereeing.

|res_col_header=QR |col_CLQ=green1 |text_CLQ=Qualification to [[2005 AFC Champions League|AFC Champions League]] group stage }}

==Top scorers== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Rank ! Scorer ! Club ! Goals |- |align=center| 1 |{{flagicon|Ghana}} [[Kwame Ayew]] |[[Beijing Chengfeng F.C.|Inter Shanghai]] |align=center| '''17''' |- |align=center| 2 |{{flagicon|China}} [[Li Jinyu]] |[[Shandong Taishan F.C.|Shandong Luneng]] |align=center| '''13''' |- |align=center| 3 |{{flagicon|Serbia and Montenegro}} [[Branko Jelić]] |[[Beijing Guoan F.C.|Beijing Hyundai]] |align=center| '''11''' |- |align=center| 4 |{{flagicon|China}} [[Li Xiaopeng (footballer)|Li Xiaopeng]] |[[Shandong Taishan F.C.|Shandong Luneng]] |align=center| '''10''' |- |rowspan=3 align=center| 5 |{{flagicon|China}} [[Tao Wei (footballer, born 1978)|Tao Wei]] |[[Beijing Guoan F.C.|Beijing Hyundai]] |rowspan=3 align=center| '''9''' |- |{{flagicon|Slovenia}} [[Ermin Šiljak]] |[[Dalian Shide F.C.|Dalian Shide]] |- |{{flagicon|Sweden}} [[Daniel Nannskog]] |[[Sichuan First City F.C.|Sichuan Guancheng]] |- |align=center| 8 |{{flagicon|Togo}} [[Djima Oyawolé]] |[[Shenzhen F.C.|Shenzhen Jianlibao]] |align=center| '''8''' |- |rowspan=4 align=center| 9 |{{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Zé Alcino]] |[[Beijing Chengfeng F.C.|Inter Shanghai]] |rowspan=4 align=center| '''7''' |- |{{flagicon|China}} [[Guo Hui]] |[[Liaoning F.C.|Liaoning Zhongyu]] |- |{{flagicon|China}} [[Yu Genwei]] |[[Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C.|Tianjin TEDA]] |- |}

==Attendances==

===League=== *Total attendance: 1,430,600 <ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110716121430/http://news.sportscn.com/c/879/879823.htm 《深圳商报》舒桂林：中国足球在混乱中前行]}} at news.sportscn.com 2004-12-05 Retrieved 2013-01-08 {{in lang|zh}}</ref> *Average attendance: 10,838

===Clubs=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Football club ! Average attendance |- | [[Shandong Taishan F.C.|Shandong Luneng]] | 23,636 |- | [[Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C.|Chongqing Qiche]] | 15,727 |- | [[Shanghai Shenhua F.C.|Shanghai Shenhua]] | 13,636 |- | [[Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C.|Tianjin TEDA]] | 13,182 |- | [[Dalian Shide F.C.|Dalian Shide]] | 11,273 |- | [[Shenzhen F.C.|Shenzhen Jianlibao]] | 10,364 |- | [[Beijing Guoan F.C.|Beijing Hyundai]] | 10,864 |- | [[Beijing Chengfeng F.C.|Inter Shanghai]] | 8,455 |- | [[Liaoning F.C.|Liaoning Zhongyu]] | 7,727 |- | [[Sichuan First City F.C.|Sichuan Guancheng]] | 5,545 |- | [[Guangzhou City F.C.|Shenyang Ginde]] | 5,000 |- | [[Qingdao Hainiu F.C.|Qingdao Beilaite]] | 4,645 |}

==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== <references/>

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120929192436/http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/china04.html Results and table] on [[RSSSF]] * [http://data.sports.sina.com.cn/csl/table/?league_id=15 League table] at data.sports.sina.com.cn {{in lang|zh}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese Super League}} [[Category:Chinese Super League seasons|2004]] [[Category:2004 in Chinese men's football leagues|1]] [[Category:2004 in Asian men's top-tier association football leagues|China]]