Shanghai Premier League aka SPL is an amateur

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league based in

Pudong Pudong is a list of administrative divisions of Shanghai, district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu River, Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank (g ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, aiming mainly at the

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

community. Shanghai Premier League was founded in 2003 when 5 existing amateur teams, among which the Shanghai Traffic Police team, who hitherto played only on occasional fixtures, decided to group themselves and play in a

double round-robin A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

league format. Simultaneously a Shanghai Premier League Cup is also played. The league's season runs from October to June, with a start tournament to kick off the season and an end tournament to close the season. Occasionally special tournaments and events are held.

Special Events

* ''Shanghai Premier League Santa Cup'' is a one-day 11-a-side tournament occasionally held during winter break. * ''Shanghai Premier League World Cup'' is an event which is held usually at the start of the summer to coincide with the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. It has been covered by the local media.

Teams

2012/2013 League

Champions and Cup holders

References

{{Reflist

External links

SPL official website

Shanghai Lions Football Club

Etoile Rouge de Shanghai
Football leagues in China