The loss of foreign players has led to a decline in quality, but more than 4.7 million fans will still come to the stadium to cheer and cheer in the 2023 season.
By retaining popularity, the Chinese Super League can retain hope
■Our reporter Chen Haixiang
In the final round of the 2023 Chinese Super League, Dalian played against Harbor at home. A total of 35,901 fans poured into the Barracuda Bay Stadium, once again demonstrating the city’s love for football. Although the result of Dalian people being relegated is regrettable, as long as “Football City” has such a group of passionate fans, Dalian football will definitely return to the top league one day.
As long as the fans are retained, hope will be retained. This logic also applies to Chinese football. In recent years, although the Chinese Super League has faced the harsh reality of the departure of high-level foreign players and the decline in competitive levels, fortunately, the enthusiasm of Chinese fans has not diminished. According to data released by the Chinese Football Association, a total of 4,767,836 people went to watch the Chinese Super League this season, with an average of 19,865 people per game.
There is no doubt that the level of competition has declined
Also in the last round of the Chinese Super League, Fellaini, who has been confirmed to leave the team at the end of the season, enjoyed the farewell ceremony held by the club at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center, the home stadium of Shandong Taishan. “I have spent a very glorious five years here. Although there have been ups and downs, every minute and every second has been wonderful and brilliant. Thank you very much. We will have four wonderful games next ( FA Cup, AFC Champions League), I hope to get the support of all fans.” The Belgian player said.
Fellaini’s departure deprived Shandong Taishan of a reliable captain and reduced one of the few high-level foreign players in the Chinese Super League. Thinking back to when the Belgians came to the Chinese Super League, Guangzhou Evergrande had Paulinho and Talisca, Haigang had Oscar and Hulk, Jiangsu Suning had Teixeira, and Beijing Guoan’s Brazilian international Augusto was also at the top level in the world. They made the Chinese Super League shine. After Fellaini leaves, Oscar will be the only big-name foreign player left in the Chinese Super League, and Oscar, whose contract will expire at the end of 2024, may also leave the team early.
Without high-level foreign aid and foreign teachers, the overall competitive level of the Chinese Super League will inevitably decline. The unstable performance of each team during the season is major evidence. Take the Chinese Super League champion Haigang as an example. Although the team performed well in the mid-to-early period and once accumulated a 14-point lead, starting from the 22nd round, the team’s state declined precipitously. It was not until the 29th round that they struggled to win at home. Ping Taishan won the championship. The mediocre Haigang can win the championship, which only proves that the performance of its competitors during the season is more unstable: the runner-up Shandong team only had 1 win, 5 draws, and 2 losses in the first eight rounds of the league, and the third-place Zhejiang team’s early record was even worse. In the 8th round, they still ranked at the bottom.
Another evidence of the decline in the competitive level of the Chinese Super League is the scorer list. In the 2018 season, Wu Lei joined Espanyol after winning the Chinese Super League Golden Boot with 27 goals. Five years later, Wu Lei, whose physical condition and competitive level have declined, still ranks second in the Chinese Super League scorer list with 18 goals, only behind the top scorer. Zhejiang team’s foreign aid Leonardo scored 1 goal. For Wu Lei, this is something to be proud of, but for the Chinese Super League, it only shows that the league lacks high-level foreign aid and fresh blood. Another statistic is even more disappointing. There are only two local players in the top ten in the scorer list. In addition to the 32-year-old Wu Lei, the other one is the 35-year-old veteran Tan Long, who ranks tenth.
Fans become the only highlight of the season
The level of the league has declined, and the anti-corruption campaign continues. It is unclear when Chinese football will hit bottom. The only comfort is the unwavering support of the fans.
According to previous statistics from the Japanese media “Football Channel,” the Chinese Super League ranked first in Asia with an average attendance of 19,825 people per game (the final round of the Chinese Super League had not yet been held at the time of statistics), followed by the Japanese J-League with an average of 18,645 people per game. In addition, no Asian league has an average attendance of more than 14,000 people per game. South Korea’s K-League has only 10,674 people, and Saudi Arabia has only 8,839 people. The overall level of Chinese football is not as good as others. The most grateful thing is the fans who send warmth in the cold wind.
This season, the brand-new Beijing Workers Stadium has become an enviable home stadium. On August 19, Guoan played against Shenhua at home. A total of 52,500 fans came to the scene, which is the highest number in the 2023 season. The attendance rate of New Workers’ Sports this season is very stable. There are only two games with fewer than 40,000 people, namely the seventh round against Nantong Zhiyun (32,239 people) and the ninth round against the Cangzhou Lions (32,966 people). Compared with big-city teams such as Beijing, Shandong, Tianjin, and Chengdu, which have popular home stadiums, the new Chinese Super League team Nantong Zhiyun is also worth mentioning. This season, the club’s home court is located in the county-level city of Rugao, with an average of 15,432 spectators per game. This is enough to prove that the football atmosphere in Nantong is quite good and is also a solid foundation for the healthy development of the club.
After the previous senior leadership of the Chinese Football Association was almost wiped out, the new leadership of the newly-born Football Association has been put in place. Regarding the future of the professional league, the new Football Association Chairman Song Kai has revealed some new ideas, such as gradually opening up the number of foreign players, refusing to allow national-level teams to compete in the league, resuming the sale of club naming rights, improving youth leagues, etc. At the same time, he also pointed out that the biggest problem in Chinese football is that it often “changes” and that in the future, development must be achieved through stability.
What is certain is that at the league work meeting held at the end of this year or early next year, the Chinese Professional Football League will usher in a series of policy changes and adjustments. How to protect the current good football market as much as possible and further enhance the outside world‘s confidence in Chinese football will undoubtedly test the wisdom of the new leadership of the Chinese Football Association. (Wen Wei Po)