The 2012 Chinese Super League was the ninth season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League, the nineteenth season of a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league and the 51st top-tier league season in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It began on March 10, 2012 and ended on November 3, 2012. The matches that were intended to be held on September 15 and 16, 2012 were suspended for a later date due to an international dispute between China and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

over the

Senkaku Islands The are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan. They are located northeast of Taiwan, east of China, west of Okinawa Island, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands. They are known in main ...

. With Hangzhou Greentown F.C. having a Japanese manager and several Chinese demonstrations arising throughout China it was decided that the September 23, 2012 match against

Liaoning Whowin F.C. Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

should be played behind closed doors with the Xianghe National Football Training Base used as a neutral venue.

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from

2011 China League One The 2011 China League One is the eighth season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment. It began on 26 March 2011 and ended in October 2011. The size of the league expanded from 13 ...

* Dalian Aerbin F.C. * Guangzhou R&F F.C. Teams relegated to

2012 China League One The 2012 China League One was the ninth season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment. It began on March 17, 2012 and ended on October 28, 2012. The size of the league has been expa ...

Chengdu Blades F.C. Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. () was a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, China who last played in the 26,000 seater Shuangliu Sports Center in the China League One division. The club was founded on 26 February 1996 and was formerly ...

* Shenzhen Ruby F.C.

Clubs

Clubs and locations

Managerial changes

International players

The number of foreign players is restricted to five per CSL team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team can use four foreign players on the field in each game, including at least one player from the AFC country. Players from Hong Kong, Macau and

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

are deemed to be native players in CSL. * Specially, Guangzhou Evergrande can use seven foreign players since June, 2012, for it is the only team still active at

2012 AFC Champions League The 2012 AFC Champions League was the 31st edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 10th under the current AFC Champions League title. Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea wo ...

.联赛理事会投票通过恒大等提出增加外援名额提案
/ref> * Foreign players who left their clubs after first half of the season.

League table

Positions by round

Results

Goalscorers

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Awards

* Chinese Football Association Footballer of the Year: Cristian Dănălache ( Jiangsu Sainty) * Chinese Super League Golden Boot Winner: Cristian Dănălache (Jiangsu Sainty) * Chinese Super League Domestic Golden Boot Award: Wang Yongpo ( Shandong Luneng Taishan) * Chinese Football Association Goalkeeper of the Year:

Deng Xiaofei Deng Xiaofei (; born 31 May 1983) is a Chinese football goalkeeper, who plays for Chinese Super League side Chongqing Lifan. Club career Shandong Luneng A product of the Shandong Luneng youth team he would graduate to the senior team in 2001 ...

(Jiangsu Sainty) * Chinese Football Association Young Player of the Year: Zhang Xizhe ( Beijing Guoan) * Chinese Football Association Manager of the Year:

Dragan Okuka Dragomir "Dragan" Okuka (; born 2 April 1954) is a Serbian football coach and former player. As a player, he was predominantly associated with his time with Velež Mostar where he won the 1981 Yugoslav Cup before joining Swedish club Örebro SK, ...

(Jiangsu Sainty) * Chinese Football Association Referee of the Year: Tan Hai (Beijing) * Chinese Super League Fair Play Award:

Hangzhou Greentown Zhejiang Professional Football Club (), commonly referred to as Zhejiang FC or simply Zhejiang, is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (C ...

, Jiangsu Sainty, Shandong Luneng Taishan * Chinese Super League Team of the Year (442): **GK Deng Xiaofei (Jiangsu Sainty) **DF

Sun Xiang Sun Xiang (; ; born 15 January 1982) is a Chinese former professional footballer who played as a left back. He played for Shanghai Shenhua, Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai SIPG in his native country and spent time on loan at Dutch club PSV Ein ...

( Guangzhou Evergrande), Du Wei (Shandong Luneng Taishan), Dino Djulbic (

Guizhou Renhe Beijing Chengfeng Football Club () was a professional Chinese football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Fengtai District, Beijing and their h ...

Zheng Zheng Zheng Zheng (; born 11 July 1989) is a Chinese professional footballer who currently plays for Chinese Super League club Shandong Taishan. Club career Zheng Zheng started his football career playing with Shandong Luneng's youth academy and was ...

(Shandong Luneng Taishan) **MF Yu Hanchao ( Liaoning FC), Zheng Zhi (Guangzhou Evergrande), Darío Conca (Guangzhou Evergrande), Wang Yongpo (Shandong Luneng Taishan) **FW Cristian Dănălache (Jiangsu Sainty),

Gao Lin Gao Lin (; born 14 February 1986) is a Chinese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chinese Super League club Shenzhen. He is the all-time top goalscorer for Guangzhou Evergrande – his previous club – with 113 goals, and has ...

(Guangzhou Evergrande)

Attendance

League Attendance

Top 10 Attendances

References

External links

Current CSL table, and recent results/fixtures at SoccerwayChinese Super League official site
{{2012 in Asian Football (AFC) Chinese Super League seasons 1