K League

K League

Country	South Korea
Confederation	AFC
Founded	1983
Divisions	K League Classic K League Challenge
Number of teams	23
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Champions League
Current champions	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (Classic) Sangju Sangmu (Challenge)
Most championships	Seongnam FC (7)
Website	Official Website

K League (Korea Professional Football League) is South Korea's professional association football league including first division K League Classic and second division K League Challenge.^[1]^[2] The fact that both the first and second divisions have very similar names has caused some degree of confusion and controversy^[3]

History

The K League Classic was founded in 1983 as the Korean Super League, with five member clubs. The initial five clubs were Hallelujah FC, Yukong Elephants, POSCO Dolphins, Daewoo Royals, Kookmin Bank FC. Hallelujah FC won the inaugural title, finishing one point ahead of Daewoo Royals to lift the crown.

In 1998, Korea's football league was reformed and renamed the K League. (K League was official orthography by 2012) Since its creation, the league has expanded from an initial 5 to 16 clubs. Of the 5 inaugural clubs, only Yukong Elephants, POSCO Dolphins, and Daewoo Royals remain in the K League; Kookmin Bank FC dropped out of the league at the end of 1984, and Hallelujah FC followed the season after.

In 2013, K League introduced the division system. The first division's name is K League Classic, the second division's name is K League Challenge and the comprehensive brand name is K League.

Structure

Below the K League Classic, there is the K League Challenge, and below the K League Challenge, there is the National League, a closed semi-professional/amateur league with fifteen clubs, established in 2003. The fourth level of football in Korea is the K3 League.

There was no official system of promotion and relegation. However, beginning in 2013, the champions of K League Challenge is eligible for promotion to the K League Classic, provided they had met certain criteria. In 2012 season, two teams from K League Classic was relegated to K League Challenge, and in 2013, two teams will be relegated to K League Challenge, and 11th placed team from K League Classic and the first placed team from K League Challenge will have a relegation play-off.

First Division – K League Classic
Second Division – K League Challenge

Clubs

Current K League Clubs

First Division – K League Classic – 12 clubs
Second Division – K League Challenge – 11 clubs

All-time K League Clubs

There have been a total of 19 member clubs in the history of the K League – those clubs are listed below with their current names (where applicable):

K League's principle of official statistics is that final club succeeds to predecessor club's history & records.
Clubs in italic no longer exist.

Club (Duration)	Owner(s)	Sponsor(s)	Note
POSCO FC (1973–1983) POSCO Dolphins (1983–1984) POSCO Atoms (1985–1994) Pohang Atoms (1995–1996) Pohang Steelers (1997–present)	POSCO		Founded as a Semi-Professional FC on April 1973 Transferred into a Professional FC on February 1984
Hallelujah FC (1983–1985)	defunct Shindongah Group		Inauguration Date – 20 December 1980
Yukong Elephants (1983–1995) Puchon Yukong (1996–1997.09) Puchon SK (1997.10–2000) Bucheon SK (2001–2005) Jeju United (2006–present)	SK Energy^[1] in SK Group		Inauguration Date – 17 December 1982
Saehan Motors FC (1979–1980) Daewoo FC (1980–1983) Daewoo Royals (1983–1995) Pusan Daewoo Royals (1996–1999) Pusan i.cons (2000–2002.07) Pusan I'Cons (2002.07–2004) Busan I'Park (2005–2011) Busan Ipark (2012–present)	defunct Daewoo Group (1983–1999) Hyundai Development Company (2000–present)		Founded as a Semi-Professional FC in 1979 Refounded as a Professional FC Inauguration Date – 3 December 1983
Kookmin Bank FC (1983–1984)	Kookmin Bank		Played as a Semi-Professional FC
Hyundai Horang-i (1984–1995) Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i (1996–1998) Ulsan Hyundai Horangi (1999–2007) Ulsan Hyundai (2008–present)	Hyundai Motor Company in Hyundai Group (1984–1997) Hyundai Heavy Industries in Hyundai Heavy Industries Group (1998–present)		Inauguration Date – 6 December 1983
Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso (1984–1990) LG Cheetahs (1991–1995) Anyang LG Cheetahs (1996–2003) FC Seoul (2004–present)	LG Group (1984–2004) GS Group^[2] (2004.06–present)		Inauguration Date – 22 December 1983
Hanil Bank FC (1984–1986)	Hanil Bank^[3]		Played as a Semi-Professional FC
Ilhwa Chunma (1989–1995) Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma (1996–1999) Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (2000–2013) Seongnam FC (2014–present)	Ilhwa in Tongil Group (1989–2013) Government of Seongnam Citizen Stockholder (2014–present)		Inauguration Date – 18 March 1989
Chonbuk Buffalo (1994)		Bobae Soju (1994)	Inauguration Date – 1993 Dissolution Date – 1994
Chonbuk Dinos (1995–1996) Chonbuk Hyundai Dinos (1997–1999) Chonbuk Hyundai Motors (2000–2005) Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2006–present)	Consortium of Hyunyang and Hyundai Motor Company in Hyundai Group (1995–1999.05) Hyundai Motor Company in Hyundai Motor Group (1999.05–present)		Inauguration Date – 12 December 1994
Chunnam Dragons (1995–2013) Jeonnam Dragons (2014–present)	POSCO		Inauguration Date – 16 December 1994
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (1996–present)	Samsung Electronics in Samsung Group (1996–2014.03) Cheil Worldwide in Samsung Group (2014.04-present)	Samsung Electronics	Inauguration Date – 15 December 1995
Taejon Citizen (1997–2002) Daejeon Citizen (2003–present)	Government of Daejeon Citizen Stockholder	Hana Bank	Inauguration Date – 12 March 1997
Daegu FC (2003–present)	Government of Daegu Citizen Stockholder	Daegu Bank	Inauguration Date – 19 March 2003
Incheon United (2004–present)	Government of Incheon Citizen Stockholder	Shinhan Bank Incheon International Airport	Inauguration Date – 1 March 2004
Gyeongnam FC (2006–present)	Government of Gyeongsangnam-do Citizen Stockholder	DSME Gyeongnam Bank	Inauguration Date – 17 January 2006
Gangwon FC (2009–present)	Government of Gangwon-do Citizen Stockholder	High1 Resort	Inauguration Date – 18 December 2008
Gwangju FC (2011–present)	Government of Gwangju Citizen Stockholder	Gwangju Bank	Inauguration Date – 16 December 2010
Sangju Sangmu Phoenix (2011–2012) Sangju Sangmu (2013–present)	Government of Sangju Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps		Inauguration Date – 26 February 2011
Police FC (2013) Ansan Police FC (2014–present)	Government of Ansan Moogoonghwa Athletic Club in Korean National Police University		Founded as a Semi-Professional FC 29 March 1996 Transferred into a Professional FC and joined K League Challenge in 2013
Goyang Hi FC (2013–present)			Founded as a Semi-Professional FC in 1999 Transferred into a Professional FC and joined K League Challenge in 2013
Chungju Hummel (2013–present)	Hummel Korea		Founded as a Semi-Professional FC 9 December 1999 Transferred into a Professional FC and joined K League Challenge in 2013
Suwon FC (2013–present)	Government of Suwon Citizen Stockholder		Founded as a Semi-Professional FC 15 March 2003 Transferred into a Professional FC in 2013 Joined K League Challenge
Bucheon FC 1995 (2013–present)	Government of Bucheon Citizen Stockholder		Founded as Amateur FC on 1 December 2007 Transferred into a Professional FC and joined K League Challenge in 2013
FC Anyang (2013–present)	Government of Anyang Citizen Stockholder		Inauguration Date – 2 February 2013 Joined K League Challenge in 2013
Seoul E-Land FC (2015–present)	E-Land Group		Inauguration Date – 22 August 2014 Joined K League Challenge in 2015

^[1] Yukong renamed to SK Energy
^[2] GS Group is separated from LG Group
^[3] Hanil Bank is merged by Woori Bank
Note : Horang-i means tiger, Hwangso means bull, Chunma means pegasus, Bulsajo means phoenix.

Champions

For details on K League Champions, see List of K League champions.
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma are the most successful club in terms of championship victories, having lifted the title on no less than seven occasions.
The roll-call of champions is as follows (present-date names included where teams have changed names previously):
K League's principle of official statistics is that final club succeeds to predecessor club's history & records.

Titles By Season

K League Classic (1983–present)

Season	Champions	Runners-up
1983	Hallelujah FC	Daewoo Royals
1984	Daewoo Royals	Yukong Elephants
1985	Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso	POSCO Atoms
1986	POSCO Atoms	Luck-Goldstar Hwangso
1987	Daewoo Royals	POSCO Atoms
1988	POSCO Atoms	Hyundai Horang-i
1989	Yukong Elephants	Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso
1990	Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso	Daewoo Royals
1991	Daewoo Royals	Hyundai Horang-i
1992	POSCO Atoms	Ilhwa Chunma
1993	Ilhwa Chunma	LG Cheetahs
1994	Ilhwa Chunma	Yukong Elephants
1995	Ilhwa Chunma	Pohang Atoms
1996	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
1997	Pusan Daewoo Royals	Chunnam Dragons
1998	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
1999	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Pusan Daewoo Royals

2000—present

Season	Champions	Runners-up
2000	Anyang LG Cheetahs	Bucheon SK
2001	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Anyang LG Cheetahs
2002	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
2003	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
2004	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Pohang Steelers
2005	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	Incheon United
2006	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
2007	Pohang Steelers	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
2008	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	FC Seoul
2009	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
2010	FC Seoul	Jeju United
2011	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Ulsan Hyundai
2012	FC Seoul	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
2013	Pohang Steelers	Ulsan Hyundai
2014	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
2015	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Suwon Samsung Bluewings

K League Challenge (2013–present)

Season	Champions	Runners-up
2013	Sangju Sangmu	Police FC
2014	Daejeon Citizen	Gwangju FC
2015	Sangju Sangmu	Suwon FC

Titles By Club

Top Division

Club	Champions	Runners-up	Winning Seasons	Runners-up Seasons
Seongnam FC	7	3	1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006	1992, 2007, 2009
FC Seoul	5	5	1985, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2012	1986, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2008
Pohang Steelers	5	4	1986, 1988, 1992, 2007, 2013	1985, 1987, 1995, 2004
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	4	4	1998, 1999, 2004, 2008	1996, 2006, 2014, 2015
Busan IPark	4	3	1984, 1987, 1991, 1997	1983, 1990, 1999
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	4	1	2009, 2011, 2014, 2015	2012
Ulsan Hyundai	2	7	1996, 2005	1988, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2011, 2013
Jeju United	1	4	1989	1984, 1994, 2000, 2010
Hallelujah FC	1	0	1983
Jeonnam Dragons	0	1		1997
Incheon United	0	1		2005

Second Division

Club	Champions	Runners-Up	Winning Seasons	Runners-up Seasons
Sangju Sangmu	2	0	2013, 2015
Daejeon Citizen	1	0	2014
Ansan Police	0	1		2013
Gwangju FC	0	1		2014
Suwon FC	0	1		2015

Records and statistics

For details, see K League records and statistics.

※ Following list is all-time most record in the K League. Records are including K League Classic (Top Division), K League Challenge (2nd Division) and League Cup goals.

Appearances

As of 4 October 2015

Rank	Player	Appearances	Notes
1	Kim Byung-ji	706
2	Choi Eun-sung	532
3	Kim Gi-dong	501
4	Kim Sang-sik	458
5	Kim Eun-jung	444	Including 2nd Division Record (2014 Season, 17 Apps)
6	Woo Sung-yong	439
7	Kim Han-yoon	430
8	Lee Woon-jae	410
9	Lee Dong-gook	408
10	Shin Tae-yong	401
(Bold denotes players still playing in the K League).

Clean Sheets

As of 4 October 2015

Rank	Player	Cleans Sheets	Matches	Cleaan Sheets per Match	Notes
1	Kim Byung-ji	229	706	0.32
2	Choi Eun-sung	152	532	0.29
3	Lee Woon-jae	140	410	0.34
4	Kim Yong-dae	115	393	0.29
5	Shin Eui-son	114	320	0.36
6	Jung Sung-ryong	107	291	0.37
7	Kim Young-kwang	106	343	0.31	Including 2nd Division Record (2015 Season, 11 Clean sheets)
8	Shin Hwa-yong	88	259	0.34
9	Kwoun Sun-tae	80	261	0.31
9	Kim Poong-joo	80	181	0.44
(Bold denotes players still playing in the K League).

Goals

As of 4 October 2015

Rank	Player	Goals	Matches	Goals per Match	Notes
1	Lee Dong-gook	180	408	0.44
2	Dejan Damjanović	141	230	0.61
3	Kim Eun-jung	123	444	0.28	Including 2nd Division Record (2014 Season, 3 Goals)
4	Woo Sung-yong	116	439	0.26
5	Kim Do-hoon	114	257	0.44
6	Kim Hyun-seok	110	371	0.30
7	Saša Drakulić	104	271	0.38
8	Yoon Sang-chul	101	300	0.34
9	Shin Tae-yong	99	401	0.25
10	Kim Shin-wook	91	227	0.40
(Bold denotes players still playing in the K League).

Assists

As of 4 October 2015

Rank	Player	Assists	Matches	Assists per Match	Notes
1	Yeom Ki-hun	71	234	0.30	Including 2nd Division Record (2013 Season, 11 Assists)
2	Mauricio Molina	69	204	0.34
3	Shin Tae-yong	68	401	0.17
4	Eninho	66	231	0.29
5	Lee Dong-gook	66	408	0.16
6	Denis Laktionov	59	272	0.22
7	Hwang Jin-sung	58	279	0.21
8	Kim Eun-jung	56	444	0.13	Including 2nd Division Record (2014 Season, 1 Assist)
9	Kim Hyun-seok	54	371	0.15
10	Hyun Young-min	53	374	0.14
(Bold denotes players still playing in the K League).

Foreign Players

Season	Squad	Play in match	Note
1983–1993	2	2
1994	3	2	If three players chosen to South Korea in one club, three foreign players can play.
1995	3	3
1996–2000	5	3	From 1997 season, foreign goalkeepers were restricted in play the match. * 1997 season : Two-third of all matches * 1998 season : one-third of all matches * From 1999 season : foreign goalkeepers were restricted in K League
2001–2002	7	3	Temporary operation due to support the World Cup
2003–2004	5	3
2005	4	3
2006–2008	3	3
2009–	3+1	3+1	'+1' is Asian quota.

At the inception of the K League in 1983, only two Brazilian players made rosters. At the time, rules allowed each club to have three foreign players and that the three could also play simultaneously in a game. From the 1996 season, each team had five foreign players among whom three could play in a game at the same time. Moreover, from the 2000 season to the 2002 season, the limit on foreign players was expanded seven but only three could play in a game at the same time. The limit was lower to five in 2003, four in 2005, and three in 2007. From the 2009 season, the number of foreign players went back up to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries.

In the 1985 season, Piyapong Pue-on of Thailand led foreign players in the league in scoring and assists. Other leading players were Rade Bogdanović, who had 10 goals and 10 assists in the 1996 season. Valeri Sarychev, the K League's most famous foreign goalkeeper, played in 320 league games from 1992 to 2004. He was eventually naturalized as a Korean citizen and given the Korean name Shin Eui-Son which means God's hand because of his stellar play.

In the 1990s, the trend was for the K League to get foreign players from Eastern Europe like Rade Bogdanović, Radivoje Manic, Saša Drakulić and Denis Laktionov. From 2000, Brazilians became the K League's priority such as Tavares, Mota, Nádson, Adilson and Edu. Since 2009, players from AFC have been fairly popular especially those from Australia, China PR, Japan and Uzbekistan.

Franchise relocations in K League

Not Franchised Period (1983–1986) : K League Clubs had franchise but clubs played the all game of round at one stadium.
Franchised Period (1987–present) : K League introduced home and away matches system in 1987.
Clubs which are not listed in the table don't have franchise relocations.

Club	Original City / Area (Joined Year)	Not Franchised Period 1983–1986	Franchised Period 1987–present
Pohang Steelers	Daegu+Gyeongbuk (1983)	N/A	Pohang (1990 / 1988^[1]-present)
Jeju United	Seoul+Incheon+Gyeonggi (1983)	Seoul (1984)	Incheon+Gyeonggi (1987) ▶ Seoul (1991) ▶ Bucheon / Mok-dong, Seoul (1996)^[2] ▶ Bucheon (2001) ▶ Jeju (2006–present)
Busan IPark	Busan+Gyeongnam (1983)	N/A	Busan (1990 / 1989^[1]-present)
Ulsan Hyundai	Incheon+Gyeonggi (1984)	Incheon+Gyeonggi+Gangwon(1986)	Gangwon (1987) ▶ Ulsan (1990–present)
FC Seoul	Chungcheong (1984)	N/A	Chungcheong (1987) ▶ Seoul (1990) ▶ Anyang (1996) ▶ Seoul (2004–present)
Seongnam FC	Seoul (1989)	N/A	Cheonan (1996) ▶ Seongnam (2000–present)
Sangju Sangmu	Gwangju (2003)	N/A	Gwangju (2003) ▶ Sangju (2011–present)

^[1] K League officially began city franchise policy in 1990, But Pohang Steelers began in 1988 and Busan IPark began in 1989.
^[2] Actually Bucheon SK held all home matches at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul until 2000. Because Bucheon Stadium was under construction.

K League Awards

Sponsorship

Start	End	Name
1983	1993	None
1994	1995	Hite
1996	1997	Rapido
1998	–	Hyundai
1999	–	Buy Korea
2000	–	Samsung DigiTall
2001	–	POSCO
2002	2008	Samsung Hauzen
2009	–	None
2010	–	Hyundai Motor Company Sonata
2011	2014	Hyundai Oilbank

Crest

K League had 6 crests in total.^[4]

1994-1996
(Unveiled : 1994-03-??)
1997-1998
(Unveiled : 1997-03-11)
1999-2005
(Unveiled : 1999-03-29)^[1]
2006-2009
(Unveiled : 2006-02-28)^[2]
2010-2012
(Unveiled : 2010-02-18)
2013–present
(Unveiled : 2013-01-03)^[3]

^ 프로축구 엠블렘 확정 (in Korean). Kyunghyang Shinmun. 30 March 1999.
^ "프로연맹, K리그 새 엠블렘 발표" (in Korean). Yonhap News. 28 February 2006.
^ "<프로축구> 1부리그 이름 "K리그 클래식"(종합)" (in Korean). Yonhap News. 3 January 2013.

References

↑ "In search of Korea’s disappearing Red Devils-INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily". Koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
↑ "South Korean Teams Fight for Attention at Home". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
↑ "위원석의 하프타임 'K리그'에 새로운 이름을 붙여주자" (in Korean). The Daily Sports Seoul. February 19, 2013.
↑ "K리그의 서른한번째 생일이야기" (in Korean). KLeague.com. 8 May 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to K League.

Official K League website (English)
Official K League website (Korean)
Official K League Facebook (Korean)
Official K League Twitter (Korean)
Official K League YouTube channel (Korean)

K League

K League Classic (2016)	Gwangju FC Incheon United Jeju United Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonnam Dragons Pohang Steelers Sangju Sangmu Seongnam FC FC Seoul Suwon FC Suwon Samsung Bluewings Ulsan Hyundai

K League Challenge (2016)	Ansan Mugunghwa FC Anyang Bucheon FC 1995 Busan IPark Chungju Hummel Daegu FC Daejeon Citizen Gangwon FC Goyang Zaicro FC Gyeongnam FC Seoul E-Land FC

Former clubs	Kookmin Bank (1983–1984) Hallelujah (1983–1985) Hanil Bank (1985–1986) Chonbuk Buffalo (1994)

Competitions	Championship Playoffs Promotion-Relegation Playoffs Super Cup (defunct) League Cup (defunct) Reserve League (defunct)

Players	K League Classic Foreign players K League Challenge Foreign players

Statistics	K League records and statistics Champions (K League Champions) 20–20 30–30 40–40 50–50 60–60

Awards	Most Valuable Player Manager of the Year Top Scorer Top Assistor Young Player of the Year Best XI FANtastic Player

K League seasons

K League Classic

Regular seasons	1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship Playoff	1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

K League Challenge

Korean League Cup seasons

Professional Football Championship	1986

Korean League Cup	1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Korean League Cup (Supplementary Cup)	1997 1998 1999 2000

Football in South Korea

National Association League system

National teams	Men/Women results records U-23 (Olympic) Men U-20/Women U-20 Men U-17/Women U-17 Futsal Beach soccer

League competitions	K League Classic Challenge National League K3 League

Cup competitions	FA Cup All-Stars Cup National League Cup Challengers Cup

Reserves & academy	Reserves League University League K League Youth League

Defunct competitions	All Joseon Football Tournament (1921–1940) Kyungsung FC–Pyongyang FC rivalry (1929–1946) National Football Championship (1946–2000) Korean President's Cup (1952–2009) National Semi-Professional Football League (1964–2002) Korea Cup (1971–1999) Super Cup (1999–2006) League Cup (1986–2011)

List of clubs Champions List of venues Foreign K League players Foreign Korea National League players

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