2022 Central League fixtures in detail
In the late afternoon of May 12, Nantong Zhiyun Football Club unveiled important news: the group draw ceremony for the 2022 season of the Central League was successfully held in an online format. In the new season, 18 teams will compete in the three divisions of Tangshan, Nanjing and Dalian.
Compared to the convoluted process of dividing the Super League divisions, the divisional arrangements for the Central League have been finalized, with three major divisions - Hebei Tangshan, Jiangsu Nanjing and Liaoning Dalian - taking up the mantle. It is worth noting that the 2022 season's Central League fixture system is different from that of the previous season.
Overview of the system
In the first stage, a serpentine arrangement based on the rankings of the 2021 season is divided into three groups of six teams each. A double round-robin system will be used, with eight rounds and a total of 72 matches. There will be no matches between the top two, third and fourth, and fifth and sixth places in each group in the first phase, with matches taking place in the fourth phase.
The double round-robin system will be continued in the second through third phases. Based on the grouping results of the first stage, rotating groups will be formed and double round robin matches will be played within each group, with no matches between teams in the same group in the first stage, and the same eight rounds will be played in each stage, totaling 72 matches.
Stage 4 will follow the same rules as Stages 2 to 3 in terms of rotation, with the same opponents from Stage 1 playing in this stage for a total of ten rounds and a total of 90 matches. After a total of 34 rounds and 306 matches, the team's point total will determine the season standings.
Cluster situation
The teams will be serpentine based on their rankings for the 2021 season, with Dalian People, Nanjing City and Shijiazhuang Kung Fu as the host teams will each land in the No. 1 spot in their division. The three host teams will participate in a draw to determine the outcome of the first stage of the drop zone for Groups A, B and C. According to the host and strong team priority principle, the top two teams in each group will be seeded and there will be no zone rotation in the first three stages.
