2006 Chinese Super League

The 2006 Chinese Super League was the third season since 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 Chinese Super League, the thirteen season of professional association football league and the 45th top-tier league season in China. The premier football league in China under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association the season started on March 11, 2006 and ended October 22, where it was planned that would be two teams relegated at the end of the season, however this changed to one when Sichuan Guancheng folded before the start of the season.

Chinese Super League
Season2006
ChampionsShandong Luneng
RelegatedChongqing Lifan
AFC Champions League
A3 Champions Cup
Matches played210
Goals scored496 (2.36 per match)
Top goalscorer Li Jinyu (Shandong Luneng Taishan), 26 goals
Average attendance10,611
← 2005
2007 →

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2005 China League One

Teams relegated after end of 2005 Chinese Super League

  • None

Preseason

A number of changes occurred during the off season, notably some major changes to the teams. Inter Shanghai was moved to Xi'an and was renamed Xi'an Chanba. Shanghai Zobon was bought by Shanghai Liancheng and renamed Shanghai Liancheng Zobon.

Beijing Hyundai, who may not renew their contract with Hyundai motors, change their team name back to their formal name, Beijing Guoan.

Shenzhen Jianlibao changed its team name to Shenzhen Kingway after finding a new sponsor in Kingway brewery.

There was also some speculation that Liaoning FC would pull out from the league, and that the Chinese Football Association had prepared a schedule with only 14 teams should Liaoning have withdrawn.

The biggest shock was the disbanding of Sichuan Guancheng in January, so the league will only have 15 teams at the start of the season, 1 short of the 16 teams planned.

Player transfers

Shanghai Shenhua, who qualify for the AFC Champions League, boost their squad with Li Weifeng from the debt-ridden Shenzhen Jianlibao for 6.5 million RMB, the highest transfer fee this season. In additional, Shenhua bought over Liu Yunfei from Tianjin Teda for 0.9 million and recalled defender Du Wei from Glasgow Celtic.

Desperately in need of money, Shenzhen Jianlibao was also forced to sell China's first choice goalkeeper, Li Leilei to Shandong Luneng Taishan for 5 million; Former national striker Yang Chen to the newly promoted Xiamen Lanshi for 2 million and Zhou Ting to Beijing Hyundai for 3.5 million.

Other notable transfers includes Wang Liang's 5 million move from Liaoning FC to Shandong, An Qi's 4 million move from defending champions Dalian Shide to Xiamen and An Shuai, Zhou Yi, Sun Bing, Cha Kejun's four players move from Shandong to Qingdao Zhongneng for 1 million each.

The season

Shandong Luneng and newcomer Changchun Yatai both had a good spell early on while defending champions Dalian struggled early on. During the mid season, Changchun finally cannot kept up with the pace of the top league and gradually drops to fourth in the league. Meanwhile, a record 13 league win in a row saw Shandong Luneng Taishan gaining an unassailable lead at the top. With Shandong the clear winner, the interest in the second half of the season was the race to the second place and the fight against relegation.

In the end, Chongqing Lifan was relegated with 2 games to go while the race for second went all the way down the wire before Shanghai Shenhua clinch the second spot with a last day win over Liaoning while Beijing slips.[1]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Shandong Luneng Taishan (C) 28 22 3 3 74 26 +48 69 Qualification to AFC Champions League qualification
2 Shanghai Shenhua 28 14 10 4 37 19 +18 52
3 Beijing Guoan 28 13 10 5 27 16 +11 49
4 Changchun Yatai 28 13 7 8 41 26 +15 46
5 Dalian Shide 28 13 6 9 43 29 +14 45
6 Tianjin Teda 28 10 10 8 40 38 +2 40
7 Shanghai United 28 9 12 7 32 25 +7 39
8 Xiamen Lanshi 28 9 11 8 28 27 +1 38
9 Xi'an Chanba 28 8 12 8 33 34 −1 36
10 Wuhan Guanggu 28 8 7 13 28 42 −14 31
11 Shenzhen Kingway 28 8 6 14 22 42 −20 30
12 Liaoning F.C. 28 6 8 14 24 42 −18 26
13 Shenyang Ginde 28 6 8 14 22 43 −21 26
14 Qingdao Zhongneng 28 6 7 15 25 36 −11 25
15 Chongqing Lifan (R) 28 3 7 18 20 51 −31 16 Relegation to League One
Source: League Table 2006
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Li Jinyu Shandong Luneng Taishan 26
2 Zheng Zhi Shandong Luneng Taishan 21
3 Luis Ramírez Shanghai Shenhua 13
4 Vicente Inter Xian 11
5 Han Peng Shandong Luneng Taishan 10
Zou Yougen Xiamen Lanshi
Zoran Janković Dalian Shide

Attendances

League
  • Total attendance: 2,228,300 [2]
  • Average attendance: 10,611

Clubs
Team Average Attendance
Shandong Luneng Taishan 30,679
Tianjin Teda 18,071
Xi'an Chanba 17,286
Beijing Guoan 13,571
Shanghai Shenhua 12,786
Wuhan Huanghelou 10,500
Shenzhen Kingway 10,071
Changchun Yatai 8,607
Xiamen Lanshi 8,071
Liaoning FC 6,929
Chongqing Lifan 6,536
Qingdao Jonoon 6,071
Dalian Shide 5,043
Shenyang Ginde 2,750
Shanghai United F.C. 2,193

See also

References
  1. Official CSL report by the Chinese FA (In Chinese)
  2. Same as above
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