Chinese football league system

The Chinese football league system or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for the Chinese Football Association (CFA) that currently consists of over 100 individual leagues having 2,221 teams, in a series of partially interconnected leagues that are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation.[1] The top three professional levels contain one division each and have promotion and relegation between the leagues allowing smaller clubs the hypothetical possibility of ultimately rising to the very top of the system.[2] The hierarchical system continues and levels have progressively more parallel divisions, which each cover progressively smaller geographic areas.[3]

Structure

The highest level of football in China is the Chinese Super League which was founded in 2004. In 2016, The Chinese Super League was declared by the seventh annual Global Sports Salaries Survey as the world's 12th highest-paying sports league in which 47 players — constituting the top 10% — claim more than 81% of the total pot of earnings.[4]The China League One and China League Two are currently the second and third division. The two worst teams from the Chinese Super League are replaced by the two best teams from the China League One at the end of each season.[2] The China League Two is conducted in two groups of 16 teams with the season culminating in a play-off. At the end of a season, the best 3 teams on table promote to China League One, and the worst team of League One has to be relegated. Other 4 clubs from League One (14th, 15th) and League Two (4th, 5th) attend to a play-off tournament, deciding 2 positions at League One. From Season 2019, the club in last position of each group would relegate to CMCL.

Chinese Champions League is an amateur football league that includes 10 Groups. The members of this league come from member associations of CFA, which are belong to tier 5 of league system. Tier 5 competitions also have lower leagues to feed.

The leagues below level 3 are classed as "non-league", meaning they are outside of the professional leagues. Most non-league football clubs in China are basically amateur and hard to build a fanbase.

Level	League
1	Chinese Super League 16 clubs ↓ 2 relegation spots
2	China League One 18 clubs ↑ 2 promotion spots, ↓ 3 relegation spots
3	China League Two - North 16 clubs	China League Two - South 16 clubs
3	↑ 3 promotion spots, ↓ 2 relegation spots + 2 relegation playoff spots
4	Chinese Champions League 52 clubs, winners of tier 5 and other clubs recommended by member associations, enter the national stage in 10 groups. ↑ 4 promotion spots (only Season 2019) + 2 promotion playoff spots, ↓ all clubs relegate to tier 5 if don't promote
5-7	Member Football Association Leagues ↑ total 52 promotion spots, ↓ each league has different rule of relegation Shanxi Super \| Shanxi L1 Inner Mongolia Super Liaoning Super Shanghai Super Jiangsu Championship Zhejiang Super Fujian Super \| Fujian L1 Qilu (Shandong) Super Henan Championship A \| Henan Championship B Hubei Championship Hunan Super \| Hunan L1 Guangdong Super Guangxi Super Hainan Super Chongqing Super \| Chongqing L1 \| Chongqing L2 Sichuan Guizhou L1 \| Guizhou L2 Shannxi Super \| Shannxi L1 \| Shannxi L2 Gansu Championship Dalian Super \| Dalian L1 Qingdao Xiamen Super \| Xiamen L1 Shenzhen Super \| Shenzhen L1 \| Shenzhen L2 Nanjing Wuhan Super Guangzhou Chengdu Super \| Chengdu L1
6-9	Prefecture-level Football Association Leagues ↑↓ each league has different rule of promotion and relegation Shanxi: Taiyuan (Super, L1, L2) \| Xinzhou \| Lvliang \| Changzhi \| Jingcheng Inner Mongolia: Hohhot \| Baotou... Liaoning: ... Jiangsu Championship: Suzhou (A, B, C)... Zhejiang: Ningbo \| Wenzhou (Super, L1) \| Shaoxing \| Huzhou \| Jinhua \| Lishui \| Zhoushan (L1, L2) Fujian: ... Shandong: ... Henan: ... Hubei: ... Hunan: ... Guangdong: ... Guangxi: ... Hainan: ... Sichuan: ... Guizhou: ... Shannxi: ... Gansu: ... Guangzhou: ...
7-11	County-level Football Association Leagues ↑↓ each league has different rule of promotion and relegation Shanxi - Yuncheng: Yanhu... Jiangsu - Suzhou: Kunshan (L1, L2, L3)...
8-12	Town-level Football Association Leagues ↑↓ each league has different rule of promotion and relegation Jiangsu - Suzhou - Kunshan: Dianshanhu...

References

"Country Info". FIFA.com. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
"Chinese Super League". Football Top. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
"Chinese tycoon Ai Yakang buys actress daughter Ai Ru a football team". The Australian. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
Hodgart, Kenny (15 November 2016). "Chinese Super League is global sport's most 'star heavy'". www.atimes.com. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

External links

Chinese Football Association (in Chinese)
China League History

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[1] "Country Info". FIFA.com. Retrieved 29 August 2015.

[footballtop-2] "Chinese Super League". Football Top. Retrieved 8 May 2014.

[3] "Chinese tycoon Ai Yakang buys actress daughter Ai Ru a football team". The Australian. Retrieved 8 May 2014.

[4] Hodgart, Kenny (15 November 2016). "Chinese Super League is global sport's most 'star heavy'". www.atimes.com. Retrieved 16 November 2016.