# 2015 K League Challenge

The 2015 K League Challenge was the third season of the K League 2, the second-highest division in the South Korean football league system. Champions and winners of promotion playoffs could be promoted to the K League Classic.

## Teams
### Team changes

Relegated from K League Classic
* Gyeongnam FC
* Sangju Sangmu
Promoted to K League Classic
* Daejeon Citizen
* Gwangju FC
Newly joined
* Seoul E-Land

### Stadiums

| Ansan Police | FC Anyang | Bucheon FC 1995 |
| Ansan Wa~ Stadium | Anyang Stadium | Bucheon Stadium |
| Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 17,143 | Capacity: 34,545 |
| Chungju Hummel | Daegu FC | Gangwon FC |
| Chungju Stadium | Daegu Stadium | Gangneung Stadium |
| Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 68,014 | Capacity: 22,333 |
| Goyang Hi FC | Gyeongnam FC | Sangju Sangmu |
| Goyang Stadium | Changwon Football Center | Sangju Stadium |
| Capacity: 41,311 | Capacity: 15,500 | Capacity: 15,042 |
| Seoul E-Land | Suwon FC | |
| Seoul Olympic Stadium | Suwon Stadium | |
| Capacity: 69,950 | Capacity: 24,670 | |

### Personnel and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Managers | Kit manufacturer | Main sponsor |
| Ansan Police | Lee Heung-sil | Zaicro | |
| FC Anyang | Lee Woo-hyung | Zaicro | KB Kookmin Bank |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | Choi Jin-han | Astore | Bucheon Government |
| Chungju Hummel | Kim Jong-pil | Hummel | Chungju Government |
| Daegu FC | Lee Young-jin | Kelme | Daegu Government |
| Gyeongnam FC | Park Sung-hwa | Hummel | |
| Gangwon FC | Choi Yun-kyum | Hummel | |
| Goyang Hi FC | Lee Young-moo | New Balance | |
| Sangju Sangmu | Park Hang-seo | Atemi | |
| Seoul E-Land | Martin Rennie | New Balance | E-Land |
| Suwon FC | Cho Duck-je | Hummel | Suwon Government |

### Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field each game.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Asian Player |
| FC Anyang | Austin Berry | | | |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | Rodrigo Paraná | Almir | Lukian | |
| Chungju Hummel | Marcinho | | | |
| Daegu FC | Léo Jaime | Johnathan | Serginho | Éder Lima |
| Gyeongnam FC | Fauver | Miloš Stojanović | Imed Louati | |
| Gangwon FC | Jonatas Belusso | Henan | Gil | |
| Goyang Hi FC | | | | |
| Seoul E-Land | Carlyle Mitchell | Ryan Johnson | Tarabai | Robert Cullen |
| Suwon FC | Japa | Vladan Adžić | Sisi | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sangju Sangmu (C, P) | 40 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 77 | 57 | +20 | 67 | Promotion to the K League Classic |
| 2 | Daegu FC | 40 | 18 | 13 | 9 | 67 | 47 | +20 | 67 | Qualification for the promotion playoffs semi-final |
| 3 | Suwon FC (O, P) | 40 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 64 | 54 | +10 | 65 | Qualification for the promotion playoffs first round |
| 4 | Seoul E-Land | 40 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 69 | 58 | +11 | 61 | Qualification for the promotion playoffs first round |
| 5 | Bucheon FC 1995 | 40 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 55 | |
| 6 | FC Anyang | 40 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 54 | |
| 7 | Gangwon FC | 40 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 64 | 56 | +8 | 51 | |
| 8 | Goyang Hi FC | 40 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 46 | 68 | −22 | 49 | |
| 9 | Gyeongnam FC | 40 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 43 | −13 | 43 | |
| 10 | Ansan Police | 40 | 9 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 48 | −17 | 42 | |
| 11 | Chungju Hummel | 40 | 10 | 11 | 19 | 49 | 65 | −16 | 41 | |

## Positions by matchday

Leaders  Qualification for the promotion playoffs

### Round 1–22

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Sangju Sangmu | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Daegu FC | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Seoul E-Land | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Suwon FC | 11 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Goyang Hi FC | 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Ansan Police | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Chungju Hummel | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 |
| Gyeongnam FC | 5 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
| Gangwon FC | 10 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| FC Anyang | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |

### Round 23–44

| Team ╲ Round | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 |
| Sangju Sangmu | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Daegu FC | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Suwon FC | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Seoul E-Land | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| FC Anyang | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Gangwon FC | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Goyang Hi FC | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Gyeongnam FC | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Ansan Police | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Chungju Hummel | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |

## Results
### Matches 1–20

| Home \ Away | ASM | ANY | BUC | CJH | DGU | GWN | GHI | GNM | SJS | SEL | SUW |
| Ansan Police | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| FC Anyang | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 |
| Chungju Hummel | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Daegu FC | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 |
| Gangwon FC | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| Goyang Hi FC | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–5 | 2–4 | 2–3 |
| Gyeongnam FC | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 |
| Sangju Sangmu | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 4–2 | — | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Seoul E-Land | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | — | 2–0 |
| Suwon FC | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–5 | — |

### Matches 21–40

| Home \ Away | ASM | ANY | BUC | CJH | DGU | GWN | GHI | GNM | SJS | SEL | SUW |
| Ansan Police | — | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| FC Anyang | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 3–2 |
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Chungju Hummel | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| Daegu FC | 1–0 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 |
| Gangwon FC | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–2 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 1–1 |
| Goyang Hi FC | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–4 | — | 2–1 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Gyeongnam FC | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Sangju Sangmu | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–5 |
| Seoul E-Land | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–4 |
| Suwon FC | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | — |

## Promotion playoffs

When the first round and semi-final match were finished as draws, their winners were decided on the regular season rankings without extra time and the penalty shoot-out.

### Bracket

| First round | First round | First round | Semi-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | 2 | Daegu FC | 1 | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Suwon FC | 2 | | | | | |
| 3 | Suwon FC | 3 | 3 | Suwon FC | 2 | | | | | |
| 4 | Seoul E-Land | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Seoul E-Land | 3 | | | | Suwon FC | Suwon FC | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | | | | | | Busan IPark | Busan IPark | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Final

The promotion-relegation playoffs were held between the winners of the 2015 K League Challenge playoffs and the 11th-placed club of the 2015 K League Classic. The winners on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2016 K League Classic.
Suwon FC won 3–0 on aggregate and were promoted to the K League Classic, while Busan IPark were relegated to the K League Challenge.

## Player statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Johnathan | Daegu FC | 26 |
| 2 | Joo Min-kyu | Seoul E-Land | 23 |
| 3 | Japa | Suwon FC | 19 |
| 3 | Cho Seok-jae | Chungju Hummel | 19 |
| 5 | Tarabai | Seoul E-Land | 17 |
| 6 | Ko Kyung-min | FC Anyang | 16 |
| 7 | Jonatas Belusso | Gangwon FC | 15 |
| 8 | Lim Sang-hyub | Sangju Sangmu | 12 |
| 8 | Kim You-sung | Goyang Hi FC | 12 |
| 10 | Choi Seung-in | Gangwon FC | 11 |
| 10 | Rodrigo Paraná | Bucheon FC 1995 | 11 |

### Top assist providers

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Kim Jae-sung | Seoul E-Land | 11 |
| 2 | Lim Chang-gyoon | Gyeongnam FC | 9 |
| 2 | Seo Bo-min | Gangwon FC | 9 |
| 2 | Moon Ki-han | Daegu FC | 9 |
| 5 | Kim Jong-woo | Suwon FC | 8 |
| 6 | Jang Baek-gyu | Daegu FC | 7 |
| 6 | Japa | Suwon FC | 7 |
| 6 | Choi Jin-soo | FC Anyang | 7 |
| 6 | Joo Min-kyu | Seoul E-Land | 7 |
| 10 | Lee Jung-hyup | Sangju Sangmu | 6 |
| 10 | Han Sang-woon | Sangju Sangmu | 6 |
| 10 | Kim Young-keun | Seoul E-Land | 6 |
| 10 | Kwon Yong-hyun | Suwon FC | 6 |
| 10 | Lee Hak-min | Bucheon FC 1995 | 6 |
| 10 | Jin Chang-soo | Goyang Hi FC | 6 |
| 10 | Johnathan | Daegu FC | 6 |

## Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket were not counted.
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Daegu FC | 60,569 | 20,157 | 504 | 3,028 | +213.5%$^†$ |
| 2 | Gyeongnam FC | 37,835 | 5,214 | 311 | 1,892 | −58.3%$^†$ |
| 3 | Seoul E-Land | 36,510 | 4,342 | 680 | 1,826 | n/a$^†$ |
| 4 | FC Anyang | 34,003 | 10,147 | 583 | 1,700 | +8.1%$^†$ |
| 5 | Bucheon FC 1995 | 33,943 | 12,332 | 511 | 1,697 | +57.7%$^†$ |
| 6 | Ansan Police | 33,298 | 10,094 | 304 | 1,665 | +178.4%$^†$ |
| 7 | Gangwon FC | 27,137 | 7,051 | 438 | 1,357 | +34.6%$^†$ |
| 8 | Suwon FC | 27,106 | 5,688 | 420 | 1,355 | +36.9%$^†$ |
| 9 | Sangju Sangmu | 24,692 | 4,244 | 512 | 1,235 | −51.7%$^†$ |
| 10 | Chungju Hummel | 24,553 | 3,925 | 514 | 1,228 | +58.7%$^†$ |
| 11 | Goyang Hi FC | 13,764 | 3,083 | 249 | 688 | +17.8%$^†$ |
| | League total | 353,410 | 20,157 | 249 | 1,606 | +32.6%$^†$ |
Source: K League Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in K League Classic.

## Awards

The 2015 K League Awards was held on 1 December 2015.

### Main awards

* Most Valuable Player: Johnathan (Daegu FC)
* Top goalscorer: Johnathan (Daegu FC)
* Top assist provider: Kim Jae-sung (Seoul E-Land)
* Manager of the Year: Cho Duck-je (Suwon FC)

### Best XI

| Position | Player | Club |
| Goalkeeper | Jo Hyeon-woo | Daegu FC |
| Defenders | Park Jin-po | Sangju Sangmu |
| Defenders | Shin Hyung-min | Ansan Police |
| Defenders | Kang Min-soo | Sangju Sangmu |
| Defenders | Lee Yong | Sangju Sangmu |
| Midfielders | Ko Kyung-min | FC Anyang |
| Midfielders | Lee Seung-gi | Sangju Sangmu |
| Midfielders | Cho Won-hee | Seoul E-Land |
| Midfielders | Kim Jae-sung | Seoul E-Land |
| Forwards | Johnathan | Daegu FC |
| Forwards | Joo Min-kyu | Seoul E-Land |

### Player of the Round

| Round | Player | Club |
| 1 | Lee Jung-hyup | Sangju Sangmu |
| 2 | Léo Jaime | Daegu FC |
| 3 | Choi Seung-in | Gangwon FC |
| 4 | Yeo Sung-hye | Sangju Sangmu |
| 5 | Almir | Bucheon FC 1995 |
| 6 | No Byung-jun | Daegu FC |
| 7 | Kim Jae-sung | Seoul E-Land |
| 8 | Johnathan | Daegu FC |
| 9 | Park Gi-dong | Sangju Sangmu |
| 10 | Japa | Suwon FC |
| 11 | Kim Young-keun | Seoul E-Land |
| 12 | Joo Min-kyu | Seoul E-Land |
| 13 | Joo Min-kyu | Seoul E-Land |
| 14 | Lee Hyun-chang | Chungju Hummel |
| 15 | Lim Sang-hyub | Sangju Sangmu |
| 16 | Han Sang-woon | Sangju Sangmu |
| 17 | Lee Jung-hyup | Sangju Sangmu |
| 18 | Jeong Woo-jae | Chungju Hummel |
| 19 | Johnathan | Daegu FC |
| 20 | Henan | Gangwon FC |
| 21 | Joo Min-kyu | Seoul E-Land |
| 22 | Lim Sang-hyub | Sangju Sangmu |
| Round | Player | Club |
| 23 | Cho Seok-jae | Chungju Hummel |
| 24 | Kim Ryun-do | Bucheon FC 1995 |
| 25 | Seo Bo-min | Gangwon FC |
| 26 | Kim Jae-woong | Suwon FC |
| 27 | Kwon Young-hyun | Suwon FC |
| 28 | Johnathan | Daegu FC |
| 29 | Gil | Gangwon FC |
| 30 | Han Sang-woon | Sangju Sangmu |
| 31 | Jung Gi-woon | Suwon FC |
| 32 | Johnathan | Daegu FC |
| 33 | Choi Jin-soo | FC Anyang |
| 34 | Johnathan | Daegu FC |
| 35 | Johnathan | Daegu FC |
| 36 | Tarabai | Seoul E-Land |
| 37 | Vladan Adžić | Suwon FC |
| 38 | Gong Min-hyun | Bucheon FC 1995 |
| 39 | Japa | Suwon FC |
| 40 | Cho Dong-geon | Sangju Sangmu |
| 41 | Gil | Gangwon FC |
| 42 | Gil | Gangwon FC |
| 43 | Henan | Gangwon FC |
| 44 | Cho Seok-jae | Chungju Hummel |

### Manager of the Month

| Month | Manager | Club | Division |
| March | Nam Ki-il | Gwangju FC | K League Classic |
| April | Choi Kang-hee | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | K League Classic |
| May | Kim Hak-bum | Seongnam FC | K League Classic |
| June | Park Hang-seo | Sangju Sangmu | K League Challenge |
| July | Choi Kang-hee | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | K League Classic |
| August | Kim Hak-bum | Seongnam FC | K League Classic |
| September | Hwang Sun-hong | Pohang Steelers | K League Classic |
| October | Lee Young-jin | Daegu FC | K League Challenge |
| November | Cho Duck-je | Suwon FC | K League Challenge |