2016 K League Challenge

The 2016 K League Challenge was the fourth season of the K League 2, the second-highest division in the South Korean football league system. Originally, K League Challenge champions could be promoted to the K League Classic, but Ansan Mugunghwa lost its qualification for the promotion after Ansan Government decided to break up with police football team from next year.^[1] Runners-up Daegu FC directly qualified for the Classic instead of champions Ansan Mugunghwa, and third, fourth and fifth-placed team advanced to the promotion playoffs.

Hyundai Oilbank
K League Challenge

Season	2016
Champions	Ansan Mugunghwa (1st title)
Promoted	Daegu FC Gangwon FC
Matches	220
Goals	528 (2.4 per match)
Best Player	Kim Dong-chan
Top goalscorer	Kim Dong-chan (20 goals)
Biggest home win	Gyeongnam 7–0 Goyang (7 September 2016) Chungju 8–1 Ansan (15 October 2016)
Biggest away win	Chungju 0–4 Busan (10 July 2016) Goyang 0–4 Ansan (25 September 2016) Ansan 0–4 Gangwon (22 October 2016)
Highest scoring	Chungju 8–1 Ansan (15 October 2016)
Highest attendance	23,015 Daegu 0–0 Gyeongnam (10 April 2016)
Lowest attendance	124 Goyang 2–3 Gyeongnam (16 October 2016)
Average attendance	1,506
← 2015 2017 →

Teams

Goyang Zaicro

Bucheon FC

FC Anyang

Ansan Police

Seoul E-Land

Gyeongnam FC

Daegu FC

Gangwon FC

Chungju Hummel

Daejeon Citizen

Busan IPark

Locations of the 2016 K League Challenge clubs

Team changes

Relegated from K League Classic

• Daejeon Citizen
• Busan IPark

Promoted to K League Classic

• Sangju Sangmu
• Suwon FC

Stadiums

Ansan Mugunghwa	FC Anyang	Bucheon FC 1995
Ansan Wa~ Stadium	Anyang Stadium	Bucheon Stadium
Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 17,143	Capacity: 34,545
Busan IPark	Chungju Hummel	Daegu FC
Busan Asiad Main Stadium	Chungju Stadium	Daegu Stadium
Capacity: 53,864	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 68,014
Daejeon Citizen	Gangwon FC	Goyang Zaicro
Daejeon World Cup Stadium	Gangneung Stadium	Goyang Stadium
Capacity: 40,535	Capacity: 22,333	Capacity: 41,311
Gyeongnam FC	Seoul E-Land
Changwon Football Center	Seoul Olympic Stadium
Capacity: 15,500	Capacity: 69,950

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 Mugunghwa	Lee Heung-sil	Zaicro	Ansan Government
FC Anyang	Lee Young-min	Astore
Bucheon FC 1995	Song Sun-ho	Astore	Bucheon Government
Busan IPark	Choi Young-jun	Adidas	Hyundai Development Company
Chungju Hummel	Ahn Seung-in	Hummel	Chungju Government
Daegu FC	Lee Young-jin	Kelme	Daegu Government
Daejeon Citizen	Choi Moon-sik	Kelme	Daejeon Government
Gyeongnam FC	Kim Jong-boo	Hummel	DSME
Gangwon FC	Choi Yun-kyum	Astore	High1 Resort
Goyang Zaicro	Lee Nak-young	Zaicro	Zaicro
Seoul E-Land	Martin Rennie	New Balance	E-Land

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	Bruninho
Bucheon FC 1995	Edson Paraíba	Lukian	Waguininho
Busan IPark	Nilson Júnior	Willian Popp	Miloš Stojanović
Chungju Hummel	Aubin Kouakou	Malcon	Rafael Ratão
Daegu FC	Wesley Alex	Cesinha	Paulo Sérgio	Éder Lima[a]
Daejeon Citizen	Gustavo Sauer	Jean-Claude Bozga
Gyeongnam FC	Ivan Herceg	Cristian Dănălache	Ivan Marković
Gangwon FC	Maranhão	Matheus Alves	Luiz Henrique	Serginho
Goyang Zaicro	Felipe	Paulo Victor
Seoul E-Land	Tarabai	Carlyle Mitchell

1. Éder Lima owned Palestinian citizenship and was counted as an Asian player in the K League.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ansan Mugunghwa[a] (C)	40	21	7	12	57	55	+2	70
2	Daegu FC (P)	40	19	13	8	53	36	+17	70	Promotion to the K League Classic
3	Bucheon FC 1995	40	19	10	11	49	33	+16	67	Qualification for the promotion playoffs semi-final
4	Gangwon FC (O, P)	40	19	9	12	50	33	+17	66	Qualification for the promotion playoffs first round
5	Busan IPark	40	19	7	14	52	39	+13	64
6	Seoul E-Land	40	17	13	10	47	35	+12	64
7	Daejeon Citizen	40	15	10	15	56	52	+4	55
8	Gyeongnam FC[b]	40	18	6	16	61	58	+3	50
9	FC Anyang	40	11	13	16	40	53	−13	46
10	Chungju Hummel	40	7	8	25	42	62	−20	29
11	Goyang Zaicro	40	2	10	28	21	72	−51	16

Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:

1. Ansan Mugunghwa lost its qualification for the promotion after Ansan Government decided to break up with Korean Police Agency.
2. Gyeongnam FC were deducted 10 points due to bribery scandal.

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
Ansan Mugunghwa	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1
Gangwon FC	9	9	6	4	3	3	2	2	2	3	4	2	1	1	2	2	1	2	3	3	2	2
Daegu FC	2	4	4	3	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	3
Bucheon FC 1995	7	6	7	7	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	2	3	4
Seoul E-Land	3	2	2	1	2	2	5	5	5	5	5	6	7	5	5	5	6	7	5	6	5	5
FC Anyang	3	3	5	6	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	6	7	6	5	6	6	7	7	6
Daejeon Citizen	10	10	10	10	10	9	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	8	8	7	7	5	7	5	6	7
Busan IPark	8	5	3	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	7	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Gyeongnam FC	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	9	9	9
Chungju Hummel	3	7	8	8	8	8	9	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10
Goyang Zaicro	3	7	9	9	9	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11

Source: K League

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
Ansan Mugunghwa	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Daegu FC	3	3	2	3	3	2	4	4	3	3	3	4	3	3	3	4	2	3	2	2	2	2
Bucheon FC 1995	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	4	3	3	5	3
Gangwon FC	2	2	3	2	2	3	2	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	2	4	2	4	4	3	4
Busan IPark	8	9	9	9	9	8	9	9	7	7	8	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	5
Seoul E-Land	5	5	5	6	5	7	7	7	8	8	7	8	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6
Daejeon Citizen	6	6	7	7	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7
Gyeongnam FC	9	8	8	8	8	9	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
FC Anyang	7	7	6	5	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Chungju Hummel	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Goyang Zaicro	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11

Source: K League

Results

Matches 1–20

Home \ Away	ASM	ANY	BUC	BIP	CJH	DGU	DJC	GWN	GYZ	GNM	SEL
Ansan Mugunghwa	—	2–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–2	2–1	3–1	1–0	5–0	1–0
FC Anyang	1–0	—	0–1	1–0	2–1	3–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–0	2–1
Bucheon FC 1995	3–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–1	0–0	3–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	0–1
Busan IPark	1–3	3–1	0–2	—	2–1	1–4	0–0	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–2
Chungju Hummel	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–4	—	0–1	1–1	1–2	2–3	1–3	3–1
Daegu FC	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	—	2–1	0–0	2–2	0–0	0–0
Daejeon Citizen	0–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	3–1	0–2	—	0–1	0–0	3–1	2–1
Gangwon FC	2–0	4–1	0–2	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	—	4–0	0–0	2–1
Goyang Zaicro	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	2–4	1–3	0–1	0–1	—	1–2	0–3
Gyeongnam FC	0–1	2–0	0–2	3–2	2–1	2–1	4–4	1–0	2–1	—	0–1
Seoul E-Land	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	—

Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 21–40

Home \ Away	ASM	ANY	BUC	BIP	CJH	DGU	DJC	GWN	GYZ	GNM	SEL
Ansan Mugunghwa	—	2–2	2–3	0–2	1–1	4–1	1–0	0–4	2–1	2–0	2–0
FC Anyang	2–3	—	2–2	0–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	3–2	1–2	3–1
Bucheon FC 1995	0–2	1–0	—	1–0	2–3	2–3	2–0	0–1	4–1	1–2	0–2
Busan IPark	4–0	2–0	2–1	—	0–0	0–2	3–0	2–1	2–0	2–3	1–1
Chungju Hummel	8–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	—	0–3	1–2	2–2	0–0	3–2	0–1
Daegu FC	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	—	1–0	1–3	1–0	1–2	0–1
Daejeon Citizen	5–0	3–2	0–0	2–1	2–2	1–1	—	1–0	3–0	3–1	2–3
Gangwon FC	1–0	3–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–2	—	0–0	1–1	1–0
Goyang Zaicro	0–4	0–1	0–3	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–1	—	2–3	0–2
Gyeongnam FC	1–2	2–0	0–1	1–3	2–0	1–2	4–3	2–0	7–0	—	1–1
Seoul E-Land	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	—

Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion playoffs

Bracket

	First round					Semi-final					Final
						3	Bucheon FC 1995	1
						4	Gangwon FC	2
	4	Gangwon FC	1
	5	Busan IPark	0
											Gangwon FC (a)		0	1	1
											Seongnam FC		0	1	1

First round

2 November 2016

19:00 KST

Gangwon FC	1–0	Busan IPark
Matheus 89'	Report

Gangneung Stadium, Gangneung

Attendance: 925

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin

Semi-final

5 November 2016

14:00 KST

Bucheon FC 1995	1–2	Gangwon FC
Han Hee-hoon 50'	Report	Jung Seung-yong 17' Maranhão 90+3'

Bucheon Stadium, Bucheon

Attendance: 3,121

Referee: Mae Ho-young

Final

The promotion-relegation playoffs were held between the winners of the 2016 K League Challenge playoffs and the 11th-placed club of the 2016 K League Classic. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2017 K League Classic.

17 November 2016

19:00 KST

Gangwon FC	0–0	Seongnam FC
	Report

Gangneung Stadium, Gangneung

Attendance: 3,039

Referee: Kim Hee-gon

---

20 November 2016

15:00 KST

Seongnam FC	1–1	Gangwon FC
Hwang Jin-sung 77'		Han Seok-jong 42'

Tancheon Stadium, Seongnam

Attendance: 6,548

Referee: Kim Seong-ho

1–1 on aggregate. Gangwon FC won on away goals and were promoted to the K League Classic, while Seongnam FC were relegated to the K League Challenge.

Player statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kim Dong-chan	Daejeon Citizen	20
2	Cristian Dănălache	Gyeongnam FC	19
3	Willian Popp	Busan IPark	18
4	Paulo Sérgio	Daegu FC	17
5	Lukian	Bucheon FC 1995	15
6	Joo Min-kyu	Seoul E-Land	14
7	Kim Shin	Chungju Hummel	13
8	Tarabai	Seoul E-Land	12
9	Matheus Alves	Gangwon FC	11
	Cesinha	Daegu FC
	Kim Min-kyun	FC Anyang

Top assist providers

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Lee Ho-seok	Gyeongnam FC	10
	Jung Seok-hwa	Busan IPark
3	Cesinha	Daegu FC	8
	Kim Dong-chan	Daejeon Citizen
5	Moon Ki-han	Bucheon FC 1995	7
6	Gustavo Sauer	Daejeon Citizen	6
	Song Soo-young	Gyeongnam FC
	Kim Shin	Chungju Hummel
	Jin Chang-soo	Bucheon FC 1995
	Lee Hyun-seung	Ansan Mugunghwa
	Han Ji-ho	Ansan Mugunghwa
	Cristian Dănălache	Gyeongnam FC

Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket were not counted.

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Daegu FC	54,246	23,015	369	2,712	−10.4%†
2	Daejeon Citizen	50,797	18,082	955	2,540	−23.9%†
3	Bucheon FC 1995	41,619	10,982	713	2,081	+22.6%†
4	FC Anyang	36,530	9,145	521	1,827	+7.5%†
5	Busan IPark	30,670	6,075	508	1,534	−38.5%†
6	Seoul E-Land	26,218	3,060	508	1,311	−28.2%†
7	Gyeongnam FC	24,003	4,610	307	1,200	−36.6%†
8	Gangwon FC	21,328	3,042	518	1,066	−21.4%†
9	Ansan Mugunghwa	20,093	4,072	202	1,005	−39.6%†
10	Chungju Hummel	18,871	3,118	388	944	−23.1%†
11	Goyang Zaicro	7,054	897	124	353	−48.7%†
	League total	331,429	23,015	124	1,506	−6.2%†

Source: K League
Notes:
^† Team played previous season in K League Classic.

Awards

Main awards

The 2016 K League Awards was held on 8 November 2016.^[2]

• Most Valuable Player: Kim Dong-chan (Daejeon Citizen)
• Top goalscorer: Kim Dong-chan (Daejeon Citizen)
• Top assist provider: Lee Ho-seok (Gyeongnam FC)
• Manager of the Year: Son Hyun-jun (Daegu FC)

Best XI

Position	Player	Club
Goalkeeper	Jo Hyeon-woo	Daegu FC
Defenders	Jeong Woo-jae	Daegu FC
	Hwang Jae-won	Daegu FC
	Lee Han-saem	Gangwon FC
	Jung Seung-yong	Gangwon FC
Midfielders	Waguininho	Bucheon FC 1995
	Lee Hyun-seung	Ansan Mugunghwa
	Hwang In-beom	Daejeon Citizen
	Cesinha	Daegu FC
Forwards	Kim Dong-chan	Daejeon Citizen
	Willian Popp	Busan IPark

Player of the Round

Round Player Club 1 Lim Sun-young Ansan Mugunghwa 2 Jung Jae-yong FC Anyang 3 Jo Hyeon-woo Daegu FC 4 Jonatas Belusso Seoul E-Land 5 Shim Young-sung Gangwon FC 6 Lee Young-chang Chungju Hummel 7 Park Tae-hong Daegu FC 8 Jo Hyeon-woo Daegu FC 9 Willian Popp Busan IPark 10 Lukian Bucheon FC 1995 11 Jung Jae-yong FC Anyang 12 Jung Jae-yong FC Anyang 13 Park Ji-min Chungju Hummel 14 Jung Seung-yong Gangwon FC 15 Éder Lima Daegu FC 16 Jang Baek-gyu Chungju Hummel 17 Kim Min-kyun FC Anyang 18 Wanderson Daejeon Citizen 19 Jeong Woo-jae Daegu FC 20 Gustavo Sauer Daejeon Citizen 21 Cesinha Daegu FC 22 Kim Min-kyun FC Anyang

Round Player Club 23 Hwang In-beom Daejeon Citizen 24 Song Soo-young Gyeongnam FC 25 Cristian Dănălache Gyeongnam FC 26 Jung Sung-min Ansan Mugunghwa 27 Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land 28 Ko Kyung-min Busan IPark 29 Jung Seung-yong Gangwon FC 30 Kim Dong-chan Daejeon Citizen 31 Wesley Alex Daegu FC 32 Han Ji-ho Ansan Mugunghwa 33 Cristian Dănălache Gyeongnam FC 34 Aubin Kouakou Chungju Hummel 35 Willian Popp Busan IPark 36 Lee Ho-seok Gyeongnam FC 37 Cesinha Daegu FC 38 Cristian Dănălache Gyeongnam FC 39 Cesinha Daegu FC 40 Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land 41 Cristian Dănălache Gyeongnam FC 42 Hong Dong-hyun Busan IPark 43 Jung Seok-hwa Busan IPark 44 Cesinha Daegu FC

Manager of the Month

Month	Manager	Club	Division
March/April	Choi Yong-soo	FC Seoul	K League Classic
May	Nam Ki-il	Gwangju FC	K League Classic
June	Lee Heung-sil	Ansan Mugunghwa	K League Challenge
July	Choi Kang-hee	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	K League Classic
August	Choi Young-jun	Busan IPark	K League Challenge
September	Choi Yun-kyum	Gangwon FC	K League Challenge
October	Hwang Sun-hong	FC Seoul	K League Classic

See also

• 2016 in South Korean football
• 2016 K League Classic
• 2016 Korean FA Cup