2012 Chinese Super League


The 2012 Chinese Super League was the ninth season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League, the nineteenth season of a professional football league and the 51st top-tier league season in China. 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 over the Senkaku Islands. With Hangzhou Greentown having a Japanese manager and several Chinese demonstrations arising throughout China it was decided that the September 23, 2012 match against Liaoning Whowin 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
Teams relegated to 2012 China League One

Teams

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming managerDate of appointment
Guangzhou R&F

Foreign 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 are deemed to be native players in CSL.
  • Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players in italics were out of the squad or left the club within the season, after the pre-season transfer window, or in the mid-season transfer window, and at least had one appearance.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4AFC playerAdditional playersFormer players
Beijing Guoan

League table


Awards

Attendance

Top 10 attendances

AttendanceRoundDateHomeScoreAwayVenueWeekdayTime of Day
65,7692820 October 2012Jiangsu Sainty1–1Guangzhou EvergrandeNanjing Olympic Sports CentreSaturdayNight
52,888204 August 2012Guizhou Moutai2–1Guangzhou EvergrandeGuiyang Olympic Sports CenterSaturdayNight
52,8362927 October 2012Jiangsu Sainty0–0Beijing GuoanNanjing Olympic Sports CentreSaturdayAfternoon
51,983110 March 2012Guizhou Moutai2–1Shandong LunengGuiyang Olympic Sports CenterSaturdayNight
51,795216 March 2012Beijing Guoan3–2Shanghai ShenhuaWorkers' StadiumFridayNight
42,668167 July 2012Beijing Guoan1–0Guangzhou R&FWorkers' StadiumSaturdayNight
42,24142 April 2012Guizhou Moutai1–2Henan JianyeGuiyang Olympic Sports CenterMondayAfternoon
41,287613 April 2012Beijing Guoan2–1Shandong LunengWorkers' StadiumFridayNight
39,9971928 July 2012Guangzhou Evergrande2–2Shanghai ShenhuaTianhe StadiumSaturdayNight
39,9911715 July 2012Guangzhou Evergrande0–1Guangzhou R&FTianhe StadiumSundayNight