Spotlight on the CSL, with Anelka bound for the Orient

With Anelka bound for the Orient – no, not Barry Hearn – the spotlight has falling onto the Chinese Super League.

The Wanda Plaza Chinese Super League is relatively new, it was formed in 2004. It consisted of 12 teams with no relegation for the first two seasons while an expansion programme took place. The current season the league will consist of 16 clubs. The current CSL Champions for 2011 are Guangzhou Evergrande, with Shandong Luneng winning the most titles with 3 crowns. The top scorer for 2011 season was the Brazilian, Muriqui, who netted 16 times for the champions Guangzhou Evergrande.

The largest stadium is the Workers Stadium; it holds 62,000 and is the home of Beijing Guon. Anelka’s new home is Hongkou Stadium, with a capacity of 33,000. Shanghai Shenhua, Anelka's new team, is yet to lift the CSL. They have been runners-up three times though, will their fortune change – is it all in the cookies.

The Wanda Plaza CSL runs from February/March to October/November. The league, as already mentioned, consists of 16 teams, with promotion and relegation between the CSL and JIA League (Chinese First Division). The bottom two teams in the CSL are relegated to the JIA league, and therefore the top two teams in the JIA are promoted to the Wanda Plaza CSL. Each team plays each other home and away, resulting in a 30 game season. The top 3 in the CSL and the Chinese Super Cup winners qualify for the AFC Champions League, equivalent of our Champions League. Now there’s a thought F.A, 3 Premier league places, with the 3rd place in qualifying rounds joined by the winners of the F.A.Cup for the Champions League – just a thought.

Players from England who have played in the CSL, Marlon Harewood, Paul Gascoigne and Howard Wilkinson has managed there. The CSL is full of players from Europe and South America, they also have great development projects to encourage and train nationals into all aspects of the professional sport. One club had a link to England, the Chengdu Blades who have a link with Sheffield United; unfortunately the Blades were relegated this season.

Will Sports:Pulse be following a team in 2012?. We certainly are, we will notify you of the feature name in good time, at present we are seeking a source to provide match reports in English for us. We have chosen Qingdao Jonoon Football Club, the Sea Bulls as our team. The team is based in Qingdao, Shandong and play at the smallest stadium in the CSL, Qingdao Tiantai Stadium, which holds just over 20,000.

The club was formed in 1990, with the catchy name of Shandong Economic and Trade Commission Football Club

In 2011 they had a number of Europeans and Brazilians playing for them, including Eber. They finnished 6th in the 2011 season.

Please contact us at info@sporttrades.co.uk if you are interested in providing match reports and news updates about the club.