K-League

200px
Countries	South Korea
Confederation	AFC
Founded	1983
Number of teams	16
Levels on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Korea National League (no relegation yet)
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Champions League
Current champions	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2011)
Most championships	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (7)
TV partners	KBS, SBS, TV Chosun
Website	Official Website
2012 K-League

The Korea Professional Football League (K-League) is South Korea's only fully professional association football league. At the top of the South Korean football league system, it is the country's highest and most prestigious level of football competition currently contested by 16 clubs.

Establishment[link]

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

In 1998, Korea's football league was reformed and renamed the K-League. Since its creation, the league has expanded from an initial 5 to 15 clubs. Of the 5 inaugural clubs, only Yukong Kokkiri, 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.

Structure[link]

At present the K-League is the only professional league in Korea. It contains sixteen member clubs.

Below the level of the K-League there is the National League, a closed semi-professional/amateur league with fifteen clubs, established in 2003. The third level of football in Korea is the Challengers League.

There is, at present, no official system of promotion and relegation between any of the three leagues. However, beginning in 2006, the champions of the National League had been eligible for promotion to the K-League provided they had met certain criteria. Goyang Kookmin Bank and Ulsan Mipo Dockyard, National League champions in 2006 and 2007 respectively, both rejected the opportunity to move up to the K-League. After back-to-back K-League promotion refusals, the National League committee decided to discontinue the conditional promotion system prior to the 2008 season.

League summary[link]

The K-League season typically begins around March/April and runs to late November each year. The number of games, clubs and the systems used have varied through the years, but for 2009 the league will operate with a full stage regular season followed by a top six championship playoff system.

The sixteen member clubs play each other twice in the regular season giving a total of 30 matches. The top six sides at the end of the regular season will enter the championship playoffs, which decide final standings of the season among the six. In the first two matches, the third-placed team will face the sixth-placed team and the fourth-placed team will face the fifth-placed team, with the two winners then playing off for the right to face the second-placed team. The winner of that match will then progress to the two-legged championship playoff final where the first-placed side lie in wait, with the overall winner of the home and away series being crowned champions for 2009.

The K-League champions, runner-up and third place gain entry to the AFC Champions League the following season, with the exception of Sangmu, due to their unique status as an army team, and therefore non-professional.

A number of the member clubs are owned by major Korean Chaebols, and the club names reflect that fact. Clubs have adopted local city names in an effort to integrate themselves more with the local communities; for example, Daewoo evolved over the years into Daewoo Royals, Busan Daewoo Royals, Busan I'cons and latterly Busan I'Park.

Following the 2002 FIFA World Cup, leaders of the K-League had hoped to transfer South Korea’s passion for its National Team to the domestic league. However, the K-League continued to flounder.^[1] Although a number of K-League clubs have relocated in the past, the Lucky Goldstar (LG) corporation caused a huge controversy^{[not specific enough to verify]} at the end of 2003 when they made the decision to uproot their Anyang LG Cheetahs from the Seoul satellite city of Anyang and move into the empty Seoul World Cup stadium, becoming FC Seoul. Then following the 2005 season SK announced it was moving the Bucheon SK FC to the island of Jeju, where they became Jeju United.

In the 2009 season, Gangwon FC (Head Coach: Choi Sun-Ho, former Ulsan Hyundai Mipo Chosun head coach) joined the K-League as its 15th member club. As such, the K-League had one or more club in every Korean Province (Gyeonggi, Gyeongsang, Jeolla, Chungcheong, Gangwon, and Jeju). This is the first time in domestic Korean professional sports history that there has been at least two clubs in each Korean province.

On April 5, 2010, Gwangju City has announced a plan to establish a football club by end of 2010 & to join the league from the 2011 season. On October 12, 2010, the club was approved to join the league as 16th member club.

On October 5, 2011, the league announced a plan to introduce a relegation system from 2012 season. A number of teams of the league will decreased to 12 teams from 2013 season. 4 teams will be relegated to next level league based on the standing of 2012 season. And, the league introduced a split system like Scottish Premier League from the 2012 season.

The league introduced the relegation system from the 2012 season. According to new relegation rule, 2 teams each will be relegated to lower level league based on the standing of 2012 and 2013 season, respectively (total: 4 teams). The league also changed the amount of entrance fee from 1 billion to 500 million Korean won.

2012 season[link]

Participating Clubs (2012)[link]

As of 2012 Season, K-League Clubs by Province Province (Population) City / Area (Population) Clubs Capital Region (25,003,017) Seoul (10,250,134) FC Seoul Incheon (2,804,287) Incheon United Suwon (1,091,934) Suwon Samsung Bluewings Seongnam (979,556) Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Gyeongsang Region (13,200,998) Busan (3,549,501) Busan IPark Daegu (2,508,370) Daegu FC Ulsan (1,136,464) Ulsan Hyundai Gyeongnam (3,309,559) Gyeongnam FC Pohang (517,307) Pohang Steelers Sangju (104,636) Sangju Sangmu Phoenix Jeolla Region (5,251,529) Gwangju (1,465,313) Gwangju FC Jeonnam (1,912,725) Chunnam Dragons Jeonbuk(1,873,491) Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Chungcheong Region (5,183,451) Daejeon (1,517,299) Daejeon Citizen Gangwon Region (1,535,335) Gangwon (1,535,335) Gangwon FC Jeju Region (576,507) Jeju (576,507) Jeju United * Population - 2012 census

Busan Chunnam Daegu Daejeon Gangwon Gwangju Gyeongnam Incheon Jeju Jeonbuk Pohang Sangju Seongnam Seoul Suwon Ulsan Location of teams in 2012 K-League

The following 16 clubs will compete in the K-League during the 2012 season.

• K-League's principle of official statistics is that final club succeeds to predecessor club's history & records.
• K-League Official Club Profiles Page

Club	City / Area	Manager	Joined	Owner(s) / Sponsor(s)
0 Busan IPark	0 Busan	Ahn Ik-Soo	1983 -	Owner : IPark Sports in Hyundai Development Company
0 Chunnam Dragons	0 Jeonnam	Jung Hae-Seong	1995 -	Owner : Gwangyang Steelworks in POSCO
0 Daegu FC	0 Daegu	Moacir Pereira	2003 -	Owners : Government of Daegu, Citizen Stockholder Sponsors : Doosan Group, Daegu Bank
0 Daejeon Citizen	0 Daejeon	Wang Sun-Jae	1997 -	Owners : Government of Daejeon, Citizen Stockholder Sponsors : Kyeryong Construction Co.,Ltd, Hanwha Group
0 Gangwon FC	0 Gangwon	Choi Soon-Ho	2009 -	Owners : Government of Gangwon-do, Citizen Stockholder Sponsors : High1 Resort, Nonghyup
0 Gwangju FC	0 Gwangju	Choi Man-Hee	2011 -	Owners : Government of Gwangju, Citizen Stockholder Sponsors : Gwangju Bank
0 Gyeongnam FC	0 Gyeongnam	Choi Jin-Han	2006 -	Owners : Government of Gyeongsangnam-do, Citizen Stockholder Sponsors : STX Corporation, Gyeongnam Bank
0 Incheon United	0 Incheon	Huh Jung-Moo	2004 -	Owners : Government of Incheon, Citizen Stockholder Sponsors : Daewoo E&C, Shinhan Bank, GM Korea
0 Jeju United	0 Jeju	Park Kyung-Hoon	1983 -	Owner : SK Energy in SK Group
0 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0 Jeonbuk	Lee Heung-Sil (C)	1995 -	Owner : Hyundai Motor Company in Hyundai Motor Group
0 Pohang Steelers	0 Pohang, Gyeongbuk	Hwang Sun-Hong	1983 -	Owner : Pohang Steelworks in POSCO
0 Sangju Sangmu Phoenix	0 Sangju, Gyeongbuk	Park Hang-Seo	1985 2003 -	Owners : Government of Sangju, Ministry of National Defence Sponsors :
0 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	0 Seongnam, Gyeonggi	Shin Tae-Yong	1989 -	Owner : Ilhwa in Tongil Group
0 FC Seoul	0 Seoul	Choi Yong-Soo	1984 -	Owner : GS Sports in GS Group
0 Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0 Suwon, Gyeonggi	Yoon Sung-Hyo	1996 -	Owner : Samsung Electronics in Samsung Group
0 Ulsan Hyundai	0 Ulsan	Kim Ho-Gon	1984 -	Owner : Hyundai Heavy Industries in Hyundai Heavy Industries Group

Stadiums (2012)[link]

Primary venues used in the K-League:

Busan IPark	Chunnam Dragons	Daegu FC	Daejeon Citizen	Gangwon FC	Gwangju FC
Busan Asiad Stadium	Gwangyang Football Stadium	Daegu Stadium	Purple Arena	Gangneung Stadium	Gwangju World Cup Stadium
Capacity: 53,864	Capacity: 20,009	Capacity: 66,422	Capacity: 40,535	Capacity: 22,333	Capacity: 40,245
Gyeongnam FC	Incheon United	Jeju United	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Pohang Steelers	Sangju Sangmu Phoenix
Changwon Football Center	Incheon Football Stadium	Jeju World Cup Stadium	Jeonju World Cup Stadium	Pohang Steel Yard	Sangju Civic Stadium
Capacity: 15,116	Capacity: 20.891	Capacity: 35,657	Capacity: 42,477	Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 15,042
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	FC Seoul	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Ulsan Hyundai
Tancheon Sports Complex	Seoul World Cup Stadium	Suwon World Cup Stadium	Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium
Capacity: 16,250	Capacity: 66,806	Capacity: 43,959	Capacity: 44,474

K-League History[link]

K-League Champions[link]

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma are the most successful team 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[link]

Titles By Club[link]

Titles By City / Area[link] Since 1987 season : K-League introduced home and away matches system in 1987. City / Area Titles Clubs Seoul 5 Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso (1990), FC Seoul (2010) Ilhwa Chunma (1993, 1994, 1995) Seongnam 4 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006) Suwon 4 Suwon Samsung Bluewings (1998, 1999, 2004, 2008) Pohang 3 POSCO Atoms (1988, 1992), Pohang Steelers (2007) Busan 2 Daewoo Royals (1991), Busan Daewoo Royals (1997) Jeonbuk 2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2009, 2011) Ulsan 2 Ulsan Hyundai Horangi (1996, 2005) Anyang 1 Anyang LG Cheetahs (2000) Busan+Gyeongnam 1 Daewoo Royals (1987) Incheon+Gyeonggi 1 Yukong Kokkiri (1989) Titles By Province[link] Since 1987 season : K-League introduced home and away matches system in 1987. Province Titles City / Area Clubs Capital Region 15 (5) Seoul Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso (1990), FC Seoul (2010) Ilhwa Chunma (1993, 1994, 1995) (4) Suwon Suwon Samsung Bluewings (1998, 1999, 2004, 2008) (4) Seongnam Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006) (1) Anyang Anyang LG Cheetahs (2000) (1) Incheon+Gyeonggi Yukong Kokkiri (1989) Gyeongsang Region 8 (3) Pohang POSCO Atoms (1988, 1992), Pohang Steelers (2007) (2) Busan Daewoo Royals (1991), Busan Daewoo Royals (1997) (2) Ulsan Ulsan Hyundai Horangi (1996, 2005) (1) Busan+Gyeongnam Daewoo Royals (1987) Jeolla Region 2 (2) Jeonbuk Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2009, 2011) Chungcheong Region 0 Gangwon Region 0 Jeju Region 0 *Kokkiri means elephant, Hwangso means bull, Horang-i means tiger, Chunma means pegasus Title Sponsors[link] 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 2012 Hyundai Oilbank All-time K-League Clubs[link] 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. Club (Duration) Owner(s) Sponsor(s) Note POSCO Dolphins (1983–1984) POSCO Atoms (1985–1994) Pohang Atoms (1995–1996) Pohang Steelers (1997–present) Pohang Steelworks in 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 Kokkiri (1983–1995) Bucheon Yukong (1996–1997.09.30) Bucheon SK (1997.10.01–2005) Jeju United (2006–present) SK Energy[1] in SK Group Inauguration Date - 17 December 1982 Daewoo Royals (1983–1995) Busan Daewoo Royals (1996–1999) Pusan I'Cons (2000–2004) Busan I'Park (2005–2011) Busan IPark (2012–present) defunct Daewoo Group (1983–1999) IPark Sports in 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 Horangi (1996–2008) Ulsan Hyundai (2008–present) Hyundai Motor Company in Hyundai Motor 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 Sports in LG Group (1984–2004) GS Sports in GS Group[2] (2004–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–present) Ilhwa in Tongil Group Inauguration Date - 18 March 1989 Jeonbuk Buffalo (1994) Bobaesoju (1994) Inauguration Date - 1993 Dissolution Date - 1994 Jeonbuk Dinos (1995–1996) Jeonbuk Hyundai Dinos (1997–1999) Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2000–present) Consortium of Hyunyang & Hyundai Motor Company in Hyundai Motor Group and (1995–1998) Hyundai Motor Company in Hyundai Motor Group (1999–present) Inauguration Date - 12 December 1994 Chunnam Dragons (1995–present) Gwangyang Steelworks in POSCO Inauguration Date - 16 December 1994 Suwon Samsung Bluewings (1996–present) Samsung Electronics in Samsung Group Inauguration Date - 15 December 1995 Daejeon Citizen (1997–present) Government of Daejeon Citizen Stockholder Kyeryong Construction Hanwha Group Inauguration Date - 12 March 1997 Daegu FC (2003–present) Government of Daegu Citizen Stockholder Doosan Group Daegu Bank Inauguration Date - 19 March 2003 Sangmu FC (1985) Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo (2003–2007) Gwangju Sangmu FC (2008–2010) Sangju Sangmu Phoenix (2011–present) Ministry of National Defence (1985) Government of Gwangju & Ministry of National Defence (2003–2010) Government of Sangju & Ministry of National Defence (2011–present) Official statistics of Sangmu FC, Gwangju Sangmu, Sanju Sangmu are separated by K-League. Because They are special clubs for military service. Incheon United (2004–present) Government of Incheon Citizen Stockholder Daewoo E&C Shinhan Bank GM Daewoo Inauguration Date - 1 March 2004 Gyeongnam FC (2006–present) Government of Gyeongsangnam-do Citizen Stockholder STX Corporation Gyeongnam Bank Inauguration Date - 17 January 2006 Gangwon FC (2009–present) Government of Gangwon-do Citizen Stockholder High1 Resort Nong Hyup Inauguration Date - 18 December 2008 Gwangju FC (2011–present) Government of Gwangju Citizen Stockholder Gwangju Bank Inauguration Date - 16 December 2010 [1] Yokong renamed to SK Energy [2] GS Group is separated from LG Group [3] Hanil Bank is merged by Woori Bank Note : Kokkiri means elephant, Horang-i means tiger, Hwangso means bull, Chunma means pegasus, Bulsajo means phoenix. Franchise relocations in K-League[link] 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 Ilhwa Chunma Seoul (1989) N/A Cheonan (1996) ▶ Seongnam (2000–present) Sangju Sangmu Phoenix Gwangju (2003) N/A Gwangju (2003) ▶ Sangju (2011–present) [1] K-League officially began city franchise policy in 1990, But Pohang Stleeers began in 1988 and Busan I'Park 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[link] K-League MVP Award K-League Top Scorer Award K-League Top Assistor Award K-League Rookie of the Year Award K-League Manager of the Year Award K-League Best XI K-League 'FAN'tastic Player K-League Players' Player of the Year Players[link] Scorers[link] Following list is all-time top scorers in the K-League. Goals are including league and league cup goals. As of 13 April 2012 Rank Player Goals 1 Lee Dong-Gook 121 2 Woo Sung-Yong 116 3 Kim Do-Hoon 114 4 Kim Hyun-Seok 110 5 Kim Eun-Jung 107 6 Saša Drakulić 104 7 Yoon Sang-Chul 101 8 Shin Tae-Yong 99 9 Dejan Damjanović 93 10 Roh Sang-Rae 76 (Italics denotes players still playing professional football, Bold denotes players still playing in the K-League). Appearances[link] Following list is all-time most appearances in the K-League. Appearances are including league and league cup. Rank Player Appearances 1 Kim Byung-Ji 568 2 Kim Gi-Dong 501 3 Choi Eun-Sung 464 4 Woo Sung-Yong 439 5 Kim Sang-Sik 411 6 Shin Tae-Yong 401 7 Kim Hyun-Soo 383 8 Lee Woon-Jae 377 9 Kim Hyun-Seok 371 10 Kim Han-Yoon 367 (Italics denotes players still playing professional football, Bold denotes players still playing in the K-League). Foreign Players[link] See also: List of foreign K-League 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. Notable Foreign Players Africa Michel Pensée Jean-Kasongo Banza Mutamba Kabongo Derek Asamoah Cheick Oumar Dabo Asia Ahmad Elrich Matt McKay Saša Ognenovski Li Weifeng Feng Xiaoting Huang Bowen Abbas Obeid Jassim Naohiro Takahara Kazuyuki Toda Akihiro Ienaga Valeri Sarychev Piyapong Pue-on Server Djeparov Alexander Geynrikh Timur Kapadze Europe Jasmin Agić Mato Neretljak Dalian Atkinson Frank Lieberam Paulo Rink Slavčo Georgievski Stevica Ristić Ion Testemitanu Dejan Damjanović Dženan Radončić Kiki Musampa Ricardo Nascimento Pavel Badea Adrian Neaga Europe (cont.) Gabriel Popescu Ianis Zicu Denis Laktionov Andrei Solomatin Rade Bogdanović Saša Drakulić Ognjen Koroman Radivoje Manic Dragan Mladenović Alpay Özalan Ceyhun Eriş Rahim Zafer Vitaliy Parakhnevych Volodymyr Savchenko South America Carlos Esteban Frontini Juan Arce Andrezinho Dodô Edmilson Edu Gonçalves Grafite Itamar Leandro Machado Léomar Leiria Magno Alves Mota Nádson Renaldo Roberto South America (cont.) Juan Carlos Arce Hugo Droguett Mauricio Molina Carmelo Valencia Juan Estiven Vélez José Ortigoza Arsenio Luzardo North America, Central America & Caribbean Jeaustin Campos Crest[link] K-League old emblem.png 1998-2005 K-League 2006-09.png 2006-2009 K-League.png 2010-present See also[link] K-League Championship K-League Cup R-League High School Club Challenge League Korean National Youth Football League Korean FA Cup Korean Super Cup AFC Champions League Korean National League Challengers League U-League K-League All-Star Game Korean football league system List of football clubs in South Korea List of foreign K-League players References[link] ^ "The World Cup 2006 in TIME Europe Magazine". Time. October 7, 2006. http://www.time.com/time/europe/2006/wcup/asiaswoes.html.  External links[link] Official K-League website (Korean)(English) Official K-League Facebook (Korean) Official K-League Twitter (Korean) Official K-League YouTube channel (Korean) ROKfootball.com website (English) Footkorean.net website (English) Soccerphile K-League news (English) v t e K-League 2012 teams Busan IPark Chunnam Dragons Daegu FC Daejeon Citizen Gangwon FC Gwangju FC Gyeongnam FC Incheon United Jeju United Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Pohang Steelers Sangju Sangmu Phoenix Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma FC Seoul Suwon Samsung Bluewings Ulsan Hyundai Former teams Kookmin Bank FC (1983-1984) Hallelujah FC (1983-1985) Hanil Bank FC (1985-1986) Jeonbuk Buffalo (1994) Competition Champions (K-League Champions) Championship Play-offs Foreign players Reserve League Statistics Goals–Assists 20–20 30–30 40–40 50–50 60–60 Awards Most Valuable Player Manager of the Year Top Scorer Top Assistor Rookie of the Year Best XI 'FAN'tastic Player Players' Player of the Year (unofficial) v t e K-League seasons 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 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 v t e K-League Cup seasons Professional Football Championship 1986 K-League Cup (Supplementary Cup) 1997 1998 1999 2000 K-League Cup 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 v t e Football in South Korea National Association League system National teams Korea Republic result record Olympic(U-23) U-20 U-17 Futsal Beach soccer League competitions K-League (Championship) National League Challengers League Cup competitions KFA Cup All-Stars Cup K-League Cup National League Cup Challengers Cup Reserves & Academy Reserves League University League High School Club Challenge League Youth League Defunct Comp. All Joseon Football Tournament (1921–1940) Gyeongseong FC–Pyongyang FC rivalry (1929-1946) National Football Championship (1946–2000) Korean President's Cup (1952–2009) Korea Football League (1964-2002) Korea Cup (1971–1999) Super Cup (1999–2006) List of clubs Champions List of venues Foreign K-League players Foreign Korea National League players v t e Top level football leagues of Asia (AFC) Afghanistan Australia Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China PR Chinese Taipei East Timor Guam Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Japan Jordan Korea DPR Korea Republic Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Northern Mariana Islands† Oman Pakistan Palestine: Gaza Strip West Bank Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen † Provisional Associated Member