Shanghai Shenhua Stadium used as golf driving range
Hongkou Football stadium, home of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, is being used as a golf driving range …
View ArticleCheng: Don’t fight crazy with crazy, rethink these new rules
When my three-year-old is bad sometimes I have to go to the radical step of taking away all his toys. That seems to be the thinking of the General Administration of Sports and the CFA with their new...
View ArticleMalawi’s national stadium to be opened by … Guangzhou R&F
An early contender for most unlikely pre-season friendly in the world in 2017 will take place in Malawi’s new Bingu National Stadium when Guangzhou R&F play Malawi’s under 23 side.
View ArticlePub Talk: The names change but the Chinese football game remains the same +...
Like salmon returning from the Atlantic, leaping up whitewater rapids to spawn in a Scottish loch, your wondering pundits are back in the Pub after a long hiatus. The beer is still flowing, but an...
View ArticleDid Tevez Cause China U-23 Group Stage Elimination?
To those with only a rudimentary ability at gaining a firm grasp on straws, it would seem as though host team China’s group stage elimination from the AFC under-23 championships last week had nothing...
View ArticleShenhua field forty-something chairman against Liverpool
Zhu Jun, the controversial owner of Shanghai Shenhua, made his club an international laughing stock last night after naming himself in the starting XI against Liverpool in the Port of Rotterdam...
View ArticleMaradona to lead Shenhua under bizarre coaching system?
According to a flurry of recent media reports, Shanghai Shenhua’s flamboyant owner Zhu Jun is trying to persuade Diego Maradona to coach his side next season. The news may come as a shock to many...
View ArticleShandong clinch championship as club bus attacked after match
Shandong Luneng are the 2010 Chinese Super League champions, after drawing 1-1 away to basement side Nanchang in an oddly-scheduled game at 3.40pm on a Wednesday afternoon. They take the Chinese Super...
View ArticleFans bemused by 30-minute half-time break
The wierd and wonderful world of Chinese football threw up another bizarre surprise when an announcement told fans at Shanghai’s Hongkou stadium on Sunday that the half-time period in their game...
View ArticleGreentown forced out of Hangzhou
As is customary, the new season’s Chinese Super League fixture list threw up some interesting anomalies, not least of which was the fact that Hangzhou Greentown will not play any Chinese Super League...
View ArticleNanchang fan abuses referee over stadium loudspeaker
It’s something most fans have probably thought about after watching their side fall foul of poor refereeing: take the stadium mike and get the crowd to join in a chant questioning the match officials’s...
View ArticleSee Ya Later, We Hardly Knew Ye….
There are a lot of Chinese Super League oddities that take a long time to get used to, one in particular is the transfer window. Unlike in Europe where news of a friend of a transfer target’s brother...
View ArticleSwollen testicles behind Beijing star’s early exit
is of course a sensible football journal where one can find a reliable stream of news and views on the Chinese game. Well, as sensible as our eccentric subject matter allows, that is. You’ll forgive...
View ArticleThe FA Cup’s Back…And It’s Stranger Than Ever!
The last time China held its version of the FA Cup was in 2006, it then disappeared for the next 2 years, supposedly due to the Olympics. The CFA started discussing bringing it back in 2009, but like...
View ArticleAlways Finding New Ways to Screw the Opponent…
If those involved in Chinese football were as inventive in finding and promoting skilled players as they are at finding new ways to screw over the opposition, China would be in the top 10 in the FIFA...
View ArticleOnly in the CSL… 1
This is Part 1 in a series that is sure to have many parts as the season goes on, the unique, some would say crazy, nature of Chinese football almost guarantees it. As much as we love Chinese...
View ArticlePlayers and WAGs Taking to Internet to Slag Off Referees…
A player sending out an explitive filled tweet. Another one openly questioning a referee’s decision via a tweet. A player’s wife using tweets to attack a referee. Does it all sound like another...
View ArticleHump Day Humor: Watch the Pint Sized Pitch Invader
When you’re supposed to be the authority on Chinese soccer, it doesn’t feel good to get pipped by the Huffington Post. I’m sort of the Minister of Propoganda for the site and prefer to focus on the...
View ArticleAnother Chinese Failure – Blame the Referees, Blame the Players，Blame the CFA
If you’re looking for a full, non-profanity laced and loaded with plaudits match report regarding last night’s Olympic team match, you can visit the CFA’s beautiful new English language site. See, now...
View ArticleOnly in the CSL… 2
I’ve witnessed and heard of a lot of odd things in my years of following the Chinese Super League, but this might take the cake. Beijing Guoan’s manager Jamie Pacheco has been suspended 8 matches and...
View ArticleChinese Inter Milan fans beat Chinese AC Milan fan
AC and Inter Milan are both in Beijing for Saturday night’s Italian Super Cup clash. The sides both arrived an hour apart at Capital Airport and were met by massive crowds. It’s hard to walk around...
View ArticleTianjin Teda Become the Away Team in Their Own Stadium
Saturday night offered a number of tough choices for football fans in northern China. The Bird’s Nest hosted the annual major match to celebrate the anniversary of the Olympics, this year’s was a...
View ArticleHump Day Video Amusement: Mud Football Comes to the Bird’s Nest
No, this isn’t an indictment on the crappy, used-once-a-year pitch at China’s National Stadium. How do you follow up hosting a major international match between two of the most famous clubs in the...
View ArticleMuriqui Quitting Guangzhou Because of CFA Punishment?
We know the CFA is an incredibly frustrating body to deal with, but to the point of quitting Chinese soccer? Guangzhou Hengda’s star Muriqui, whose been one of the brightest stars on a team filled with...
View ArticleShenhua to leave Shanghai for CFA cup, and possibly entire 2012 season
Shanghai Shenhua has outraged its support by announcing it will play its CFA cup games this season in the city of Wuhu in Anhui province. The club confirmed the plan on its offical weibo, and Sina...
View ArticleFriday Video Amusement – Not All Chinese Fans Hate Each Other!
It’s Friday, you’re waiting for the weekend to finally begin, you want to get out of the office, I do too. Therefore, I’m not going to write a long post about the possibilities of Beijing Guoan going...
View ArticleMosquito attacks disrupt Shenhua training sessions
Shanghai Shenhua have encountered a real buzz about the CFA cup in northern China – although not in the way they may have imagined. The club are mystified as to why their training sessions ahead of...
View ArticleOnly in the CSL: Soccer by Committee, Wenzhou Private Lending, Difficult Days...
When even Chinese media starts referring to the “Cultural Revolution” and “Red Guards”, you know you aren’t going down the right path. Such is the situation in Hangzhou these days, manager Wu Jingui...
View ArticleShenhua coach invades pitch to lift injury-faking player
Shanghai Shenhua’s coach was so enraged by the play-acting of his own midfielder that he stormed angrily onto the pitch and dragged the offending injury-faker to his feet. The incident happened in the...
View ArticleOnly in the CSL: Ending the Season with a Weekday Afternoon Match
Though I should be in the office right now, I’m not. Instead I’m sitting in a hotel room and as I look otu the window, I can see Hongkou Stadium through the rain. I took two days off from work and made...
View ArticleCFA Cup Final: Tianjin 2 – 1 Shandong
There are many things about this match that make it an “Only in the Chinese Super League” special edition, truly unusual circumstances. For starters, this cup final was played just days before a major...
View ArticleOnly in the CSL: Champions League’s A-Changin’
This post actually should be “Only in the AFC” as for once the Chinese Super League walks away without blame and instead a whole heap of blame falls on the shoulders of the AFC. The Asian Football...
View ArticleOnly in the CSL: Shaanxi Chanba Moving to Guizhou in 2012
Here at we have a bit of a culture clash whenever the topic of relocation comes up. To someone from the UK, the idea of a team relocating is unheard of, akin to an iconic building in the city suddenly...
View ArticleThe (Seemingly) Neverending Saga of Yang Zhi
Today was the last day to submit final rosters to the AFC for this year’s Asian Champions League squads and in a surprise, Beijing Guoan’s squad didn’t include Yang Zhi. Yang, ‘s Chinese Player of the...
View ArticleNanchang Hengyuan Moving Back to Shanghai?
For those who are used to European football, the announcement that Shaanxi Renhe was leaving Xian for Guizhou came as a massive shock, well, hold on tight folks, we could be looking at more madness. In...
View ArticleNicolas Anelka: “I just became the new player-manager of Shanghai Shenhua”
In a bizarre and unexpected development, Nicolas Anelka has announced he is Shenhua’s new player-manager, following a confusing day of frenzied speculation in Shanghai. He made the announcement a...
View ArticleMoment of madness in Qingdao leads to brawl
Yesterday’s match in Qingdao between Jonoon and Shanghai Shenxin was an exciting one, though it was overshadowed by a late brawl. Perhaps frustrated by his team having just went down after Liu Jian...
View ArticleWEF Special: The bizarre downfall of Jean Tigana
International media interest in Shanghai Shenhua is peaking once again, this time over the Jean Tigana saga. gives the definitive word on the affair in a must-read feature article for all Shenhua...
View ArticleSoccer Saturday in Beijing
Here at , we spend almost all of our time focusing on the Chinese Super League (CSL) and not very much talking about the other levels of football in China. Our intrepid reporter sacrificed his Saturday...
View ArticleCall it the “Cleo Rule”: CFA announces new rules on foreign players
Guangzhou Evergrande’s proposal to add two foreign player roster spots came before a full CFA committee today and passed receiving the necessary 2/3rds majority. Of the 64 possible votes, there were...
View ArticleSpeculation gone mad – Cristiano Ronaldo to China?
Unless you are currently under a footballing rock, you will be well aware that Cristiano Ronaldo is a bit sad at Real Madrid. The poor guy who only gets an estimated €11 million per year after his move...
View ArticleLampard to Beijing Guoan – Impossible
General Manager of Beijing Guoan, Gao Chao has labeled the likelihood of current Chelsea legend Frank Lampard joining the Imperial Guards as ‘impossible’ amid claims from the British media that the...
View ArticleSergo Batista: “I enjoy riding Shanghai garbage trucks”
In what seems an endless stream of bizarre Shanghai Shenhua stories this season, head coach Sergio Batista told local media he regularly rides refuse collection vehicles in the city. In an interview...
View ArticleCSL announces the squad for All-Star Game
By now, we’ve all come to realize that football’s a little different in China and, as if you need yet another example, the league holds an All-Star Game following the end of the season, typically...
View ArticleJia A old timer’s match shows that old habits die hard
Chinese football once again allowed itself to be the punchline to a joke today when Sichuan players walked off the pitch to protest a referee’s call during a Jia A old timer’s match against Guangzhou....
View ArticleChina’s most successful club on the brink of death? An in-depth background
Dalian Shide FC, China’s most decorated club with eight championships to its name, is clinging on for dear life despite emotional scenes at the end of last season as players and fans believed the club...
View ArticleQingdao & Melkam involved in match fixing/unpaid wages row
After having spent eight seasons playing in China, it appears that Gabriel Melkam’s time here has come to an unhappy end, as the Nigerian is involved in a spat with his former club, Qingdao Jonoon....
View ArticleCSL relocation shocker: Shanghai Shenxin to move to Diaoyu Islands
Struggling Shanghai Shenxin are to make a shock relocation to the Diaoyu Islands in an effort to both attract more fans and curry favour with the Chinese establishment, can exclusively reveal. The...
View ArticleRoss: “Eight pointer” on Sunday between Shanghai East Asia and Guangzhou R&F
“The six pointer” is a well-worn football cliché but when Shanghai East Asia and Guangzhou R&F go head-to-head on Sunday night the CSL’s tie-breaker rules effectively make it an “eight point game.”...
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