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Last week, Damian focused on a friendly game between Hong Kong and Guam. We continue our look at football in East Asia by introducing the China Super League, or CSL.A Back in 2007 we wrote a report on football in China and on the Chinese Super League, and we revisit the league in this weeka€™s report, by highlighting some key facts through numbers. You can listen to the report by clicking on the link below, while vocabulary support (in bold) appears at the foot of the post.
The China Super League in Numbers
12 – This is the number of teams that started in the Chinese Super League when it was set up in 2004, one year after the J-League in Japan kicked off. This has now been expanded to 16 teams.
300 – Many people believe that a form of football, Tsu Chu, started in China around 300 BC. This was a form of ‘keepie uppiea€™ and part of military fitness training.
22 – 2015 will see the 22nd year of professional football in China.
5 – Teams in the China Super League are allowed five foreign players in their squad and can field four in a match, including one from an Asian Football confederation. So, current champions, Guangzhou Evergrande, for example have four Brazilian players and one Korean on their roster.
Five is also the number of teams predicted by Bcheng and Shanghai Ultra at Wild East Football website that will be in contention for the Asian Champions League spots. Both agree that this season it is the champions to lose. The five team are Guangzhou Evergrande, Guoan, Guangzhou R&F, Shandong and Shanghai SIPG.
4 – The number of titles that Guangzhou Evergrande have won, which makes them the most successful team domestically.
19,000 – The average attendance at CSL games is just under 19,000, which compares with 21,000 for Serie A and 17,000 in J-league, the CSLa€™s regional rival.
2 – This is the number of times a club from China has won the Asian Champions League. The last to do it were Guangzhou Evergrande in 2013, when they beat FC Seoul 3-3 on away goals.
Vocabulary support
a form of: a kind of; a sort of
keepie uppie: the skill of keeping a ball in the air using your feet, legs, shoulders and head etc.
(to) field: to play; to select for a match
roster: squad; team; pay roll
it is (name of team) to lose: the named team are big favourites to win
Other Links
- Wild East Football website – all things football in China
- Soccerway – China Super League
Thank you for your amazing podcasts!!!!!
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