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The 2020 China League One (Chinese: 2020中国足球协会甲级联赛) was the 17th season of the China League One, the second tier of the Chinese football league pyramid, since its establishment in 2004. The season was scheduled to begin on 29 February and end on 1 November, but was postponed following the COVID-19 pandemic in China. On 26 August 2020, Chinese Football Association announced that the season would be resumed on 12 September 2020 and 18 teams would be split into three groups in three locations, Group A in Chengdu, hosted by Chengdu Better City, Group B in Meizhou, hosted by Meizhou Hakka, and Group C in Changzhou, hosted by Kunshan F.C.

In this season, the number of teams are expanded from 16 to 18.

Changchun Yatai won the league for the second time, their first since 2003.

Teams

Team changes

Name changes

• Shenyang Urban F.C. changed their name to Liaoning Shenyang Urban F.C. in April 2020.
• Zhejiang Greentown F.C. changed their name to Zhejiang Energy Greentown F.C. in September 2020.

Clubs

Stadiums and locations

Team	Head Coach	City	Stadium	Capacity	2019 season
Beijing Renhe	Wang Bo	Beijing	Beijing Fengtai Stadium	31,043	CSL, 16th
Guizhou Hengfeng	Chen Mao	Guiyang	Guiyang Olympic Sports Center	51,636	3rd
Heilongjiang Lava Spring	Duan Xin	Harbin	Harbin ICE Sports Center	50,000	4th
Changchun Yatai	Chen Yang	Changchun	Changchun Stadium	41,638	5th
Zhejiang Energy Greentown	Zheng Xiong	Hangzhou	Huzhou Olympic Sports Centre	40,000	6th
Inner Mongolia Zhongyou	Choi Jin-han	Hohhot	Hohhot City Stadium	51,632	7th
Beijing BSU	Su Maozhen	Beijing	Olympic Sports Centre	36,228	8th
Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic	Kim Bong-gil	Xi'an	Weinan Sports Center Stadium	32,000	9th
Meizhou Hakka	Marcelo Rospide	Wuhua	Huitang Stadium	30,000	10th
Nantong Zhiyun	Xie Hui	Rugao	Rugao Olympic Sports Center	15,000	12th
Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard	Polat Kutulk (caretaker)	Ürümqi	Xinjiang Sports Centre	50,000	13th
Liaoning Shenyang Urban	Yu Ming	Shenyang	Shenyang Urban Construction University Stadium	12,000	CL2, 1st
Chengdu Better City	José Carlos Granero	Chengdu	Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium	42,000	CL2, 2nd
Taizhou Yuanda	Yin Tiesheng	Taizhou	Taixing Sports Center Stadium	8,000	CL2, 3rd
Suzhou Dongwu	Gary White	Suzhou	Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre	45,000	CL2, 4th
Jiangxi Liansheng	Huang Yong	Ruichang	Ruichang Sports Park Stadium	N/A	CL2, 6th
Sichuan Jiuniu	Li Yi	Chengdu	Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium	27,000	CL2, 8th
Kunshan F.C.	Gao Yao	Kunshan	Kunshan Sports Centre Stadium	30,000	CL2, 9th

Clubs locations

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Changchun Yatai	Svetozar Šapurić	Sacked	3 November 2019	Pre-season	Samvel Babayan	2 December 2019
Meizhou Hakka	Zheng Xiaotian	Signed by Beijing Sinobo Guoan	6 November 2019		Marcelo Rospide	20 December 2019
Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic	Wang Bo	Signed by Beijing Renhe	10 November 2019		Kim Bong-gil	16 December 2019
Guizhou Hengfeng	Chen Mao	Mutual consent	26 November 2019		Wang Xinxin	26 November 2019
Nantong Zhiyun	Gary White	Mutual consent	31 March 2020		Xie Hui	31 March 2020
Sichuan Jiuniu	Wang Hongwei	Mutual consent	18 May 2020		Li Yi	22 July 2020
Inner Mongolia Zhongyou	Chen Yang	Mutual consent	25 August 2020		Choi Jin-han	1 September 2020
Changchun Yatai	Samvel Babayan	Sacked	5 October 2020	Group C, 2nd	Chen Yang	5 October 2020
Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard	Fernando	Sacked	10 October 2020	Group C, 6th	Polat Kutulk (caretaker)	12 October 2020
Guizhou Hengfeng	Wang Xinxin	Mutual consent	13 October 2020	Group B, 5th	Chen Mao	13 October 2020
Suzhou Dongwu	Liu Junwei	Sacked	18 October 2020	Group A, 5th	Gary White	24 October 2020

Foreign players

The policy of foreign players was changed. The number of foreign players clubs can register over the course of the season is limited to four and the number of foreign players allowed on each team at any given time is increased from three to four. A maximum of three foreign players can be registered for each match with a maximum of two can be fielded at any time during the match. In addition, each club can register a Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan player of Chinese descent (excluding goalkeepers), provided that he registered as a professional footballer in one of those three association for the first time, as a native player.

• Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Team	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Naturalized Players	Hong Kong/Macau/ Taiwan Players	Former players
Beijing BSU	John Owoeri				Wen Chih-hao	Dominic Vinicius
Beijing Renhe	Tiago Leonço					Daniel Wong
Changchun Yatai	Serginho	Lucas Souza	Aaron Samuel		Chen Po-liang
Chengdu Better City	Naldinho	Dani Quintana	Nikola Đurđić
Guizhou Hengfeng	Jahmir Hyka	Anton Maglica	Stefan Mihajlović			Sérgio Mota
Heilongjiang Lava Spring	Raphaël Messi Bouli	Donovan Ewolo	Yoann Arquin
Inner Mongolia Zhongyou	Guto	André Senghor			Daniel Wong
Jiangxi Liansheng	Vasil Shkurti	Éder	Okan Aydın		Andy Russell	Junior Tobi
Kunshan F.C.	Bruno Pires	Hildeberto Pereira	Tunde Adeniji	→ Xiao Taotao
Liaoning Shenyang Urban	Juvhel Tsoumou	Islom Tukhtakhujaev				Kim Sung-hwan
Meizhou Hakka	Lonsana Doumbouya	Chisom Egbuchulam			Leung Nok Hang	Dori
Nantong Zhiyun	Mychell Chagas	João Silva	Mladen Kovačević	→ David Wang
Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic	Albi Alla	Raoul Loé	Robert Tambe		Wang Chien-ming	Kingsley Onuegbu
Sichuan Jiuniu	Dori	Mohamed Yattara	Nemanja Vidić	→ Xia Dalong		Jules Iloki
Suzhou Dongwu	Jules Iloki	Joseph Atule Junior	Chris Shimbayev			Haruna Garba
Taizhou Yuanda	Marko Bašić	Daniel Chima Chukwu	Zoran Tošić
Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard	Bienvenue Kanakimana	Kingsley Onuegbu
Zhejiang Energy Greentown	Rafael Martins	Dino Ndlovu	Nyasha Mushekwi

• ^1 For Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwanese players, if they are non-naturalized and were registered as professional footballers in Hong Kong's, Macau's, or Chinese Taipei's football association for the first time, they are recognized as native players. Otherwise they are recognized as foreign players.

Regular season

Group A

Stadiums

• Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium
• Chengdu Wenjiang Football Base
• Shuangliu Sports Centre
• Dujiangyan Phoenix Stadium (Reserve)

League table

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  (H) Hosts
  Notes:

1. ^ Head-to-head results: Suzhou Dongwu 0–0 Inner Mongolia Zhongyou, Inner Mongolia Zhongyou 0–2 Suzhou Dongwu

Results

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Results by match played

Group B

Stadiums

• Hengbei Football Town Field 9
• Wuhua County Olympic Sports Centre
• Wuhua County Stadium

League table

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  (H) Hosts

Results

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Results by match played

Group C

Stadiums

• Changzhou Institute of Technology Football Field
• Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre
• Jiangyin Stadium

League table

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  (H) Hosts

Results

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Results by match played

Promotion stage

League table

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  (C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (P) Promoted
  Notes:

1. Taizhou Yuanda was dissolved after 2020 season.

Results

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Results by match played

Relegation stage

Group E

League table

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  (D) Disqualified; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
  Notes:

1. Beijing Renhe was dissolved after 2020 season.

Results

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Results by match played

Group F

League table

• During season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
• After season: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Scores of the weight ratio of the reserve league and youth leagues.
  (D) Disqualified; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
  Notes:

1. ^ Head-to-head results: Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic 1–0 Nantong Zhiyun; Inner Mongolia Zhongyou 1–1 Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic; Nantong Zhiyun 2–1 Inner Mongolia Zhongyou.
2. Inner Mongolia Zhongyou was dissolved after 2020 season.

Results

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Results by match played

Relegation play-offs

Overview

First leg

Second leg

4–4 on aggregate. Heilongjiang Lava Spring won 5–3 on penalties.

Jiangxi Liansheng won 3–2 on aggregate.

Statistics

Top scorers

As of 21 November 2020

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Tan Long	Changchun Yatai	11
2	Lonsana Doumbouya	Meizhou Hakka	8
	Tiago Leonço	Beijing Renhe	8
4	Shang Yin	Jiangxi Liansheng	7
	Nyasha Mushekwi	Zhejiang Energy Greentown	7
6	Rafael Martins	Zhejiang Energy Greentown	6
	Yan Xiangchuang	Beijing BSU	6
	Dino Ndlovu	Zhejiang Energy Greentown	6
9	Guto	Inner Mongolia Zhongyou	5
	Mladen Kovačević	Nantong Zhiyun	5
	Anton Maglica	Guizhou Hengfeng	5
	Xu Junmin	Nantong Zhiyun	5

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Tan Long	Changchun Yatai	Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard	4–1 (H)	3 October 2020
		Nantong Zhiyun	4–0 (H)	8 October 2020

League attendance

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (February 2022)

Notes

References

1. "中甲2020赛季赛程：2月29日开战，11月1日收官". Dongqiudi (in Chinese). 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
2. "中国足协关于2020赛季国内足球赛事延期开始的公告". Chinese Football Association (in Chinese). 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
3. "2020中国足球协会甲级联赛将于9月12日开赛". Chinese Football Association (in Chinese). 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
4. "中甲改制：2020年扩至18队 U23需两人次+引入VAR". Sina Sports (in Chinese). 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
5. ^ "关于对中甲、中乙和中冠联赛俱乐部提交《2019年俱乐部全额支付教练员、运动员、工作人员工资奖金确认表》进行公示的通知". Chinese Football Association (in Chinese). 4 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
6. "关于沈阳城市足球俱乐部有限责任公司更名的公告". thecfa.cn (in Chinese). 2020-04-26. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
7. "关于浙江绿城足球俱乐部有限公司重要股权转让的公示". thecfa.cn (in Chinese). 2020-09-11. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
8. "关于公布2020赛季中国足球协会三级职业联赛俱乐部参赛名单的通知". thecfa.cn (in Chinese). 23 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
9. "全国主要城市经纬度表".
10. "From Ivorian student to footballer in China - with help from coronavirus". today.rtl.lu.
11. "官方：中甲泰州远大宣布退出中国足坛". Dongqiudi (in Chinese). 20 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
12. "China League One". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 November 2020.

External links

• China League One seasons
• 2020 in Chinese football leagues
• 2020 in Asian second tier association football leagues