Now that we're 6 games into the season, I decided it was time to take a look at how attendance is going so far this year. The figures in Shaanxi and Beijing are very encouraging, and Jiangsu is very impressive for a newly promoted team. One wonders what is going on in Shanghai, however its mainly due to their weak attendance at their first game. Changsha is a joke and it was always expected to be that way, but hopefully Qingdao will improve after a few more home matches. Here's the list:
Shaanxi Zhongxin : Average = 37,196
Round 1 - 38,000
Round 4 - 35,000
Round 6 - 38,588
Beijing Guoan : Average = 35,000
Round 1 - 40,000
Round 3 - 30,000
Jiangsu Sainty : Average = 22,772
Round 2 - 21,000
Round 4 - 21,000
Round 6 - 26,315
Shandong Luneng : Average = 20,952
Round 1 - 18,000
Round 2 - 20,457
Round 4 - 21,735
Round 5 - 24,523
Round 6 - 20,044
Guangzhou Baiyunshan : Average = 19,000
Round 3 - 20,000
Round 5 - 18,000
Henan Construction : Average = 17,661
Round 1 - 23,000
Round 3 - 13,396
Round 5 - 16,588
Chengdu Blades : Average = 17,333
Round 3 - 18,000
Round 4 - 22,000
Round 6 - 12,000
Tianjin Teda : Average = 15,552
Round 1 - 15,000
Round 3 - 20,030
Round 5 - 11,626
Hangzhou Greentown : Average = 15,297
Round 1 - 15,000
Round 2 - 16,235
Round 4 - 14,656
Shanghai Shenhua : Average = 14,667
Round 1 - 11,000
Round 3 - 17,400
Round 5 - 15,600
Chongqing Lifan : Average = 13,867
Round 2 - 12,000
Round 4 - 14,000
Round 6 - 15,600
Dalian Shide : Average = 13,500
Round 2 - 12,000
Round 5 - 15,000
Shenzhen : Average = 12,750
Round 2 - 16,000
Round 3 - 11,000
Round 4 - 16,500
Round 6 - 7,500
Changchun Yatai : Average = 11,872
Round 3 - 12,000
Round 5 - 11,317
Round 6 - 12,300
Changsha Jinde : Average = 6,892
Round 1 - 8,000
Round 2 - 8,230
Round 3 - 4,200
Round 4 - 6,500
Round 6 - 7,532
Qingdao Zhongneng : Average = 6,500
Round 5 - 6,500
Showing posts with label attendance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attendance. Show all posts
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
"It's the Freakin' Weekend..."
Despite the change in the weather and skies that have held the threat of rain all weekend long, I'm still in a great mood. I try not to blog on the weekend, the weekend is a time for much football and much drinking, but this weekend is an exception, because it's a sports fan's freaking wet dream, lots of CSL, the FA Cup Semifinals, the NHL and NBA playoffs, how can you not be hyped?
Guoan kicked it all off in interesting fashion on Friday. Only 1 point but it was by far their most exciting game of the season and, quite possibly, their most well played. Just when you feel its time to get down on the team, they pull out a game like this. I still have my issues and I'm still not entirely sold, but it certainly was an encouraging sign. What great drama the fans in Jinan were treated to (and they really showed up, attendance was around 25,000).
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Champions League Matchday 3 Recap : Ulsan Hyundai
Sorry folks, there's not been a lot of action around here lately (and we still owe you a CSL recap, coming tonight) and of course tomorrow will be predictions about this weekend's upcoming matches. Matchday 3 of the Champions League featured 4 Chinese teams facing off against 4 Korean teams, the 2 home teams won, the 2 away teams lost, unfortunately Guoan was one of the away teams.
Big thoughts:
1. We. Need. Height.
2. I could care less about you "stepping up", next time don't make the mistake!
The big team news was that Du Wenhui (for Martinez), Zhou Ting (for Zhang Xinxin), and Yan Xiangchuang (for Wang Changqing) were all used as starters. Lee also kept Zhang Yonghai on the pitch at center back, this was massive mistake number one. The crowd in Ulsan probably didn't top out at over 1,000 people, and quite possibly more like 500, of which 50 were very loud (or miked up) Guoan fans. What do the Korean fans know/don't know about this competition? Crowds in China were huge for both matches there, crowds in Korea were tiny.
On to the game, Guoan started out fast with two great early chances, the best from a Matic longball to Du, who was too quick with his shot when he had time. From then on, the first half was almost entirely Ulsan.
I don't know much about Kim Shin-wook and couldn't find very much about him online. He wears number 24 for Ulsan and is 1.96 meters and that's about all I needed to know, but after the performance on Tuesday, it wouldn't surprise me if you told me he was Korea's greatest soccer prospect ever. Kim straight up killed it, every long ball, every free kick was incredibly dangerous namely because Kim was huge and the tallest guy Guoan had on the field was 1.83 meters, meaning he won literally every header. It made for an incredibly dangerous first half as Guoan's defense was asleep much of the time, though thank God for Yang Zhi who kept the squad in the game. The only good development for Guoan was Huang Bowen taking a shot that challenged the keeper late in the half, not unusual except this was a rocket from outside the box. Damn, I really wish I could see a lot more of this from Guoan players, instead of constantly trying to play the ball into the box.
It was quite obvious Guoan needed to bring on 1.88 meter Lang Zheng or Paul in the 2nd half, however Lee took nearly 10 minutes to bring on Lang for Zhang Yonghai, which almost led to a goal a few minutes earlier when an Ulsan forward broke into the box (off of a headed long ball) and Zhou Ting gave him a slight push, but fortunately no foul. Just after the Lang move, Lee brought on Tao Wei for Ryan Griffiths.
Yang continued saving Guoan from a major beating throughout the 2nd half, but he was finally beaten when two Guoan defenders (Xu and Zhou) looked like they were totally lost and an Ulsan player was finally able to put one past Yang in the 69th minute.
With all the traffic being one way, it didn't look like Guoan was going to have a chance at pulling this one out, but Tao Wei played a great ball in to the elder Griffiths who was pushed over in the box and the referee gave a penalty kick. As a Guoan supporter, I admit it was kind of a soft call, I was also elated about it as I thought we'd be able to steal a point out of the game.
Huang Bowen stepped up to take the spot kick in the 84th minute and...the keeper made the save. From then on it was a foregone conclusion, Beijing's spirit was shot and there was no way they'd get a point out of the match.
It was an extremely ugly game for a Guoan fan as the side was almost completely impotent, the two best chances came in the very first minute and at the very end of the match. Huang apologized for not scoring the penalty, but a few members of the defense should also be apologetic.
Guoan has now scored 1 goal in 3 games, a miserable stat, made worse by how hard it is to watch their ugly football. We need size, Lee, please take Paul out of the doghouse for at least one match, let's see what happens. We need players to start clicking, at this point it still seems like nobody is on the same page and too many of our defenders, put simply, don't seem to understand how to play defense.
Things are made worse in the Champions League because Newcastle earned a draw in Osaka, meaning first place and fourth place are only separated by 2 points. Fortunately 2 out of the 3 remaining group games will be played at Gongti, so hopefully we will be able to recuperate and advance on top of the group.
Turn the focus on to the league and forget about this result for a fortnight.
Big thoughts:
1. We. Need. Height.
2. I could care less about you "stepping up", next time don't make the mistake!
The big team news was that Du Wenhui (for Martinez), Zhou Ting (for Zhang Xinxin), and Yan Xiangchuang (for Wang Changqing) were all used as starters. Lee also kept Zhang Yonghai on the pitch at center back, this was massive mistake number one. The crowd in Ulsan probably didn't top out at over 1,000 people, and quite possibly more like 500, of which 50 were very loud (or miked up) Guoan fans. What do the Korean fans know/don't know about this competition? Crowds in China were huge for both matches there, crowds in Korea were tiny.
On to the game, Guoan started out fast with two great early chances, the best from a Matic longball to Du, who was too quick with his shot when he had time. From then on, the first half was almost entirely Ulsan.
I don't know much about Kim Shin-wook and couldn't find very much about him online. He wears number 24 for Ulsan and is 1.96 meters and that's about all I needed to know, but after the performance on Tuesday, it wouldn't surprise me if you told me he was Korea's greatest soccer prospect ever. Kim straight up killed it, every long ball, every free kick was incredibly dangerous namely because Kim was huge and the tallest guy Guoan had on the field was 1.83 meters, meaning he won literally every header. It made for an incredibly dangerous first half as Guoan's defense was asleep much of the time, though thank God for Yang Zhi who kept the squad in the game. The only good development for Guoan was Huang Bowen taking a shot that challenged the keeper late in the half, not unusual except this was a rocket from outside the box. Damn, I really wish I could see a lot more of this from Guoan players, instead of constantly trying to play the ball into the box.
It was quite obvious Guoan needed to bring on 1.88 meter Lang Zheng or Paul in the 2nd half, however Lee took nearly 10 minutes to bring on Lang for Zhang Yonghai, which almost led to a goal a few minutes earlier when an Ulsan forward broke into the box (off of a headed long ball) and Zhou Ting gave him a slight push, but fortunately no foul. Just after the Lang move, Lee brought on Tao Wei for Ryan Griffiths.
Yang continued saving Guoan from a major beating throughout the 2nd half, but he was finally beaten when two Guoan defenders (Xu and Zhou) looked like they were totally lost and an Ulsan player was finally able to put one past Yang in the 69th minute.
With all the traffic being one way, it didn't look like Guoan was going to have a chance at pulling this one out, but Tao Wei played a great ball in to the elder Griffiths who was pushed over in the box and the referee gave a penalty kick. As a Guoan supporter, I admit it was kind of a soft call, I was also elated about it as I thought we'd be able to steal a point out of the game.
Huang Bowen stepped up to take the spot kick in the 84th minute and...the keeper made the save. From then on it was a foregone conclusion, Beijing's spirit was shot and there was no way they'd get a point out of the match.
It was an extremely ugly game for a Guoan fan as the side was almost completely impotent, the two best chances came in the very first minute and at the very end of the match. Huang apologized for not scoring the penalty, but a few members of the defense should also be apologetic.
Guoan has now scored 1 goal in 3 games, a miserable stat, made worse by how hard it is to watch their ugly football. We need size, Lee, please take Paul out of the doghouse for at least one match, let's see what happens. We need players to start clicking, at this point it still seems like nobody is on the same page and too many of our defenders, put simply, don't seem to understand how to play defense.
Things are made worse in the Champions League because Newcastle earned a draw in Osaka, meaning first place and fourth place are only separated by 2 points. Fortunately 2 out of the 3 remaining group games will be played at Gongti, so hopefully we will be able to recuperate and advance on top of the group.
Turn the focus on to the league and forget about this result for a fortnight.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Why Support the CSL?
I hear this question all the time from people around me. No matter how little Chinese people know about football, they understand that the Chinese national team is horrible and, as an extension, the CSL is pretty bad. This is not necessarily incorrect, but at the same time, the CSL, as a league, isn't so bad. When it comes to standards of Asian football, I really hope I'm not eating my words with this, but I believe at least 2 of the Chinese squads will do fairly respectable in the (Asian) Champions League and the CSL isn't far off some of the smaller leagues in Europe or the North American setup.
Sure, the CSL will never match up to the quality of play in England, Italy, or Spain. These games are on regular or pay tv in China on a weekly basis, meaning the Chinese football fan has a buffet of offerings on a weekly basis. If they can watch the best, week in week out, why support the (proverbial) worst?
The answer is simple, I have friends in Beijing who absolutely love Liverpool, who live an die by their weekly results. Except they've never been to Anfield, never been to Liverpool, never even been in the UK before. How can you feel so attached to a club that is thousands of miles away, without the first hand experience, without the group feeling? You can sit in the Den and watch a Liverpool match sitting in your jersey and scarf, maybe even find a few other Liverpool supporters around you or someone supporting the other team, but wouldn't it be more fun to just cross the street and sit inside a stadium and watch a match live?
And as a lover of football in general, especially if you want to see Chinese football improve, it requires supporting it, however indirectly it is to support the CSL. Perhaps its just me, but I'd much prefer going to Gongti and watching a crappy nil-nil draw between 2 CSL squads over watching an awesome 2-1 Premier League match alone on my couch in Beijing. As China is a huge country, you won't come across away supporters that often, but in almost every case, there will be games that you'll see a few hundred there. In Beijing, supporters of Tianjin, Shandong, and Henan will definitely show up in the capital and there are sure to be some other surprise away supporters in town.
Because of this, I've enjoyed the experience of just "being a fan", whether it be watching games in Beijing, Changchun, or Shanghai or in other cities around the world where I've stopped in and taken a look at the local game. It's interesting to see how Chinese supporters clubs are like their foreign counterparts and how different they are, how alike they are to other Chinese team supporters clubs.
Its about supporting the league, supporting the city, and having fun amongst other guys who are just looking to be a part of the crowd for 2 hours while drinking a beer, eating a chuanr, and hoping the home team pulls out 3 points.
Anyways, that's my plea for people to give the CSL a shot.
Sure, the CSL will never match up to the quality of play in England, Italy, or Spain. These games are on regular or pay tv in China on a weekly basis, meaning the Chinese football fan has a buffet of offerings on a weekly basis. If they can watch the best, week in week out, why support the (proverbial) worst?
The answer is simple, I have friends in Beijing who absolutely love Liverpool, who live an die by their weekly results. Except they've never been to Anfield, never been to Liverpool, never even been in the UK before. How can you feel so attached to a club that is thousands of miles away, without the first hand experience, without the group feeling? You can sit in the Den and watch a Liverpool match sitting in your jersey and scarf, maybe even find a few other Liverpool supporters around you or someone supporting the other team, but wouldn't it be more fun to just cross the street and sit inside a stadium and watch a match live?
And as a lover of football in general, especially if you want to see Chinese football improve, it requires supporting it, however indirectly it is to support the CSL. Perhaps its just me, but I'd much prefer going to Gongti and watching a crappy nil-nil draw between 2 CSL squads over watching an awesome 2-1 Premier League match alone on my couch in Beijing. As China is a huge country, you won't come across away supporters that often, but in almost every case, there will be games that you'll see a few hundred there. In Beijing, supporters of Tianjin, Shandong, and Henan will definitely show up in the capital and there are sure to be some other surprise away supporters in town.
Because of this, I've enjoyed the experience of just "being a fan", whether it be watching games in Beijing, Changchun, or Shanghai or in other cities around the world where I've stopped in and taken a look at the local game. It's interesting to see how Chinese supporters clubs are like their foreign counterparts and how different they are, how alike they are to other Chinese team supporters clubs.
Its about supporting the league, supporting the city, and having fun amongst other guys who are just looking to be a part of the crowd for 2 hours while drinking a beer, eating a chuanr, and hoping the home team pulls out 3 points.
Anyways, that's my plea for people to give the CSL a shot.
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