k-league didirikan pada 1983 sebagai liga super korea, dengan anggota lima klub.
lima klub pertama adalah 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.
pada 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.
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.
ringkasan mengenai liga
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 koreas passion for its national team to the domestic league.
however, the k-league continued to flounder.
although a number of k-league clubs have relocated in the past, the lucky goldstar (lg) corporation caused a huge controversyanyang 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.
klub peserta (2012)
kota / area (populasi)
ibukota asal (25,003,017)
suwon samsung bluewings
seongnam ilhwa chunma
gyeongsang region (13,200,998)
sangju sangmu phoenix
jeolla region (5,251,529)
jeonbuk hyundai motors
chungcheong region (5,183,451)
gangwon region (1,535,335)
jeju region (576,507)
* population - 2012 census
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
city / area
owner(s) / sponsor(s)
primary venues used in the k-league:
stadion busan asiad
stadion piala dunia daejeon
stadion piala dunia gwangju
jeonbuk hyundai motors
sangju sangmu phoenix
stadion pusat sepak bola changwon
stadion piala dunia jeju
stadion piala dunia jeonju
pohang steel yard
stadion rakyat sangju
kompleks olahraga tancheon
stadion piala dunia seoul
stadion piala dunia suwon
stadion ulsan munsu
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.
gelar berdasarkan musim
ulsan hyundai horang-i
suwon samsung bluewings
pusan daewoo royals
suwon samsung bluewings
ulsan hyundai horang-i
suwon samsung bluewings
pusan daewoo royals
anyang lg cheetahs
seongnam ilhwa chunma
anyang lg cheetahs
seongnam ilhwa chunma
ulsan hyundai horang-i
seongnam ilhwa chunma
ulsan hyundai horang-i
suwon samsung bluewings
ulsan hyundai horang-i
seongnam ilhwa chunma
suwon samsung bluewings
seongnam ilhwa chunma
suwon samsung bluewings
jeonbuk hyundai motors
seongnam ilhwa chunma
jeonbuk hyundai motors
jeonbuk hyundai motors
gelar berdasarkan klub
club champions runners-up winning seasons runners-up seasons
seongnam ilhwa chunma
1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006
1992, 2007, 2009
1985, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2012
1986, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2008
1986, 1988, 1992, 2007
1985, 1987, 1995, 2004
1984, 1987, 1991, 1997
1983, 1990, 1999
suwon samsung bluewings
1998, 1999, 2004, 2008
1988, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2011
jeonbuk hyundai motors
1984, 1994, 2000, 2010
gelar brdasarkan kota / wilayah
since 1987 season : k-league introduced home and away matches system in 1987.
city / areatitlesclubs
lucky-goldstar hwangso (1990), fc seoul (2010, 2012)
ilhwa chunma (1993, 1994, 1995)
4seongnam ilhwa chunma (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006)
4suwon samsung bluewings (1998, 1999, 2004, 2008)
3posco atoms (1988, 1992), pohang steelers (2007)
2daewoo royals (1991), busan daewoo royals (1997)
2jeonbuk hyundai motors (2009, 2011)
2ulsan hyundai horangi (1996, 2005)
1anyang lg cheetahs (2000)
1daewoo royals (1987)
1yukong kokkiri (1989)
gelar berdasarkan provinsi
since 1987 season : k-league introduced home and away matches system in 1987.
city / area
lucky-goldstar hwangso (1990), fc seoul (2010, 2012)
ilhwa chunma (1993, 1994, 1995)
suwon samsung bluewings (1998, 1999, 2004, 2008)
seongnam ilhwa chunma (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006)
anyang lg cheetahs (2000)
yukong kokkiri (1989)
posco atoms (1988, 1992), pohang steelers (2007)
daewoo royals (1991), busan daewoo royals (1997)
ulsan hyundai horangi (1996, 2005)
daewoo royals (1987)
jeonbuk hyundai motors (2009, 2011)
*kokkiri means elephant, hwangso means bull, horang-i means tiger, chunma means pegasus
hyundai motor company sonata
klub k-league sepanjang masa
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.
posco dolphins (19831984) posco atoms (19851994) pohang atoms (19951996) pohang steelers (1997present)
pohang steelworks in posco
founded as a semi-professional fc on april 1973 transferred into a professional fc on february 1984
hallelujah fc (19831985)
defunct shindongah group
inauguration date - 20 december 1980
yukong kokkiri (19831995) bucheon yukong (19961997.09.30) bucheon sk (1997.10.012005) jeju united (2006present)
sk energy[1] in sk group
inauguration date - 17 december 1982
daewoo royals (19831995) busan daewoo royals (19961999) pusan i'cons (20002004) busan i'park (20052011) busan ipark (2012present)
defunct daewoo group (19831999) ipark sports in hyundai development company (2000present)
founded as a semi-professional fc in 1979 refounded as a professional fc inauguration date - 3 december 1983
kookmin bank fc (19831984)
played as a semi-professional fc
hyundai horang-i (19841995) ulsan hyundai horangi (19962008) ulsan hyundai (2008present)
hyundai motor company in hyundai motor group (19841997)hyundai heavy industries in hyundai heavy industries group (1998present)
inauguration date - 6 december 1983
lucky-goldstar hwangso (19841990) lg cheetahs (19911995) anyang lg cheetahs (19962003) fc seoul (2004present)
lg sports in lg group (19842004) gs sports in gs group[2] (2004present)
inauguration date - 22 december 1983
hanil bank fc (19841986)
played as a semi-professional fc
ilhwa chunma (19891995) cheonan ilhwa chunma (19961999) seongnam ilhwa chunma (2000present)
ilhwa in tongil group
inauguration date - 18 march 1989
jeonbuk buffalo (1994)
inauguration date - 1993 dissolution date - 1994
jeonbuk dinos (19951996) jeonbuk hyundai dinos (19971999) jeonbuk hyundai motors (2000present)
consortium of hyunyang &
hyundai motor company in hyundai motor group and (19951998) hyundai motor company in hyundai motor group (1999present)
inauguration date - 12 december 1994
chunnam dragons (1995present)
gwangyang steelworks in posco
inauguration date - 16 december 1994
suwon samsung bluewings (1996present)
samsung electronics in samsung group
inauguration date - 15 december 1995
daejeon citizen (1997present)
government of daejeon citizen stockholder
kyeryong construction hanwha group
inauguration date - 12 march 1997
daegu fc (2003present)
government of daegu citizen stockholder
doosan group daegu bank
inauguration date - 19 march 2003
sangmu fc (1985) gwangju sangmu bulsajo (20032007) gwangju sangmu fc (20082010) sangju sangmu phoenix (2011present)
ministry of national defence (1985)government of gwangju &
ministry of national defence (20032010) government of sangju &
ministry of national defence (2011present)
official statistics of sangmu fc, gwangju sangmu, sanju sangmu are separated by k-league.because they are special clubs for military service.
incheon united (2004present)
government of incheon citizen stockholder
daewoo e&c shinhan bank gm daewoo
inauguration date - 1 march 2004
gyeongnam fc (2006present)
government of gyeongsangnam-do citizen stockholder
stx corporation gyeongnam bank
inauguration date - 17 january 2006
gangwon fc (2009present)
government of gangwon-do citizen stockholder
high1 resort nong hyup
inauguration date - 18 december 2008
gwangju fc (2011present)
government of gwangju citizen stockholder
inauguration date - 16 december 2010
[1] yokong renamed to sk energy
[2] gs group is separated from lg group
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
not franchised period (19831986) : k-league clubs had franchise but clubs played the all game of round at one stadium.
franchised period (1987present) : k-league introduced home and away matches system in 1987.
clubs which are not listed in the table don't have franchise relocations.
original city / area (joined year)
not franchised period 1983-1986
franchised period 1987present
pohang (1990 / 1988[1]-present)
incheon+gyeonggi (1987)  seoul (1991)  bucheon / mok-dong, seoul (1996)[2]  bucheon (2001)  jeju (2006present)
busan (1990 / 1989[1]-present)
gangwon (1987)  ulsan (1990present)
chungcheong (1987)  seoul (1990)  anyang (1996)  seoul (2004present)
seongnam ilhwa chunma
cheonan (1996)  seongnam (2000present)
sangju sangmu phoenix
gwangju (2003)  sangju (2011present)
[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.
penghargaan pemain terbaik k-league
penghargaan pencetak gol terbanyak k-league
penghargaan assist terbanyak k-league
k-league rookie of the year award
penghargaan manajer tahunan k-league
terbaik xi k-league
pemain 'fan'tastis k-league
k-league players' player of the year
following list is all-time top scorers in the k-league.
goals are including league and league cup goals.
(italics denotes players still playing professional football,bold denotes players still playing in the k-league).
following list is all-time most appearances in the k-league.
appearances are including league and league cup.
(italics denotes players still playing professional football,bold denotes players still playing in the k-league).
seasonsquadplay in matchnote
if three players chosen to
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
temporary operation due to support the world cup
'+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.
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 bogdanovi, 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 bogdanovi, radivoje manic, saa drakuli and denis laktionov.
from 2000, brazilians became the k-league's priority such as tavares, mota, ndson, adilson and edu. since 2009, players from afc have been fairly popular especially those from australia, china pr, japan and uzbekistan.
notable foreign players
north america, central america &
high school club challenge league
korean national youth football league
piala fa korea
piala super korea
liga champions afc
liga nasional korea
k-league all-star game
korean football league system
daftar klub sepak bola di korea selatan
list of foreign k-league players
official k-league website official k-league facebook official k-league twitter official k-league youtube channel rokfootball.com website footkorean.net website soccerphile k-league news