South Korean soccer league system
The South Korean soccer league system has two professional leagues , a semi-professional league and an amateur league. The top national league is the K League Classic , which was founded in 1983. The K League Challenge was founded in 2013 and is the second highest national league. Between the first and the second division there is the possibility of being promoted or relegated. The third highest national league is the Korea National League . The fourth highest national league is the amateur league K3 League , which was founded in 2007.
history
The first South Korean soccer league was the Korea Semi-Professional Soccer League. It consisted of teams that were financed by companies. Employees from the companies often played in these teams. Since the desire for a professional league in South Korea was loud, it was decided to found a professional football league, the K League. The K League became the top division of South Korea from 1983. From 1983 the Korea Semi-Professional Football League was only the second highest league in South Korea. In 2002 it was dissolved and replaced by the Korea National League. The Korea National League took over the function of the Korea Semi-Professional Football League and also became a Semi-Professional League. The league organizes its own league cup. In 2007 the K3 League was introduced. The K3 League, like the Korea National League, has now organized its own league cup.
| season | step 1 | Level 2 | level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 | Level 6 | Level 7 | Level 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964-1982 |
Korea Semi-Professional Football League |
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| 1983-2002 | K League |
Korea Semi-Professional Football League |
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| 2003-2006 | Korea National League | |||||||
| 2007–2012 |
K3 League / Challengers League |
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| 2013-2016 | K League Classic | K League Challenge | Korea National League | K3 League | ||||
| 2017 | K3 League Advance | K3 League Basic | Division 7 League | |||||
| 2018 | K League 1 | K League 2 | Division 6 League | Division 7 League | ||||
| 2019 | K5 League | K6 League | K7 League | |||||
| 2020– | K3 League | K4 League | K5 League | K6 League | K7 League | Regional competitions |
Current league pyramid
| level | Division | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
K League 1 12 teams 11th place: Relegation 12th place: relegated team |
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| 2 |
K League 2 10 teams 1st place: Promoted 2-4: play-offs (winner of the play-offs goes into relegation) |
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| 3 |
K3 League 16 teams Place 14: Relegation Place 15 & 16: Relegated |
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| 4th |
K4 League 13 teams 1st & 2nd place: Promoted 3rd place: Play-Offs (Winner of the Play-Offs goes into relegation) |
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| 5 | Game operations of the regional associations | |||||||||||
|
K5 League 67 teams divided into 11 seasons, promotion, relegation |
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| 6th | ||||||||||||
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K6 League 190 teams divided into 30 seasons, promotion, relegation |
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| 7th | ||||||||||||
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K7 League 1002 teams divided into 164 seasons ascent |
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More leagues
In addition to this league system, there are also many amateur, university and youth leagues. The youth leagues are divided into different school leagues that organize their own league. The U-League, which was founded especially for universities, has existed since 2008. There is also a reserve league, the R-League .
South Korean Cup Competitions
Korean FA Cup
All clubs from the first five divisions automatically qualify for the Korean FA Cup every year. The university clubs that qualify for the knockout round in their league automatically qualify for the Korean FA Cup. The winner of the cup automatically qualifies for the AFC Champions League . The Korean FA Cup had been around since 1921 under the name All Korea Football Tournament . In the meantime it has not been carried out. The cup was held again under the name Korean FA Cup in 1996.
South Korean League Cup
The South Korean League Cup was a league cup of the highest game league in South Korea. It was introduced in 1992 and carried out almost continuously every year until 2012. Only in 2003 was not carried out once.
South Korean Football Supercup
The South Korean Football Super Cup was a trophy held between the champions of the K League and the Korean FA Cup winners. It was carried out for the first time in 1999. Like the South Korean League Cup, the cup was not held once in 2003. It was last carried out in 2006.
Korea National League Cup
The Korea National League Cup was established by the Korea National League and is used for their clubs. It was carried out for the first time in 2004 and has been carried out every year since then.
Challengers Cup
The Challenger Cup was a trophy organized by the K3 League for their clubs. The cup was held for the first time in 2011.
Structural reforms
Structural reform 2020
In December 2015, the KFA published the structural plans for 2020. The plans include the following reforms:
- 1. The Korea National League will be dissolved and the K3 League will be restructured into a semi-professional league in 2020. The two K3 leagues (Advance and Basic) form the two new semi-profile leagues.
- 2. Promotion and relegation between the K League and the K3 League are to be introduced.
- 3. New amateur leagues are to be integrated into the league system ( K5 League : Regionalliga (founded in 2019); K6 League : Association League (founded in 2018); K7 League : City League (founded in 2017)).
- 4. Clubs are to be integrated into the new leagues. More than 1,000 teams in a total of 7 leagues are planned.
- 5. State associations are to be founded to organize the individual provincial and regional leagues. In addition, the regional associations are to organize regional cup competitions
- 6. Sporting ascents and descents should be introduced. Accordingly, every club in the 7th division could advance to the 1st division.
Individual evidence
- ↑ sports.news.naver.com/kfootball/news/read.nhn?oid=413&aid=0000027218 Article on the plans of the KFA