2019 K League 1

The 2019 K League 1 was the 37th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea since its establishment in 1983, and the seventh season of the K League 1.^[1][2] Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors were the defending champions.

Hana 1Q
K League 1

Season	2019
Dates	1 March – 1 December 2019
Champions	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (7th title)
Relegated	Gyeongnam FC Jeju United
Champions League	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Ulsan Hyundai FC Seoul Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Matches played	228
Goals scored	593 (2.6 per match)
Best Player	Kim Bo-kyung
Top goalscorer	Adam Taggart (20 goals)
Biggest home win	Gangwon 4–0 Sangju (9 July 2019)
Biggest away win	Jeju 0–5 Ulsan (3 August 2019)
Highest scoring	Gangwon 5–4 Pohang (23 June 2019)
Longest winning run	5 matches Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Longest winless run	20 matches Gyeongnam FC
Longest losing run	5 matches Gyeongnam FC Jeju United
Highest attendance	32,057 Seoul 4–2 Suwon (16 June 2019)
Lowest attendance	955 Jeju 3–0 Seongnam (21 September 2019)
Average attendance	8,014
← 2018 2020 →

In the 17th round on 23 June, Pohang Steelers were leading Gangwon FC 4–0 away after 70 minutes, but Gangwon scored five unanswered goals including three in injury time to win 5–4.^[3]

Teams

FC Seoul

Daegu FC

Gangwon FC

Gyeongnam FC

Incheon United

Jeonbuk Hyundai
Motors

Jeju United

Pohang Steelers

Sangju Sangmu

Seongnam FC

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Ulsan Hyundai

Locations of the 2019 K League 1 clubs^[4]

General information

Club	City/Province	Manager	Owner(s)	Other sponsor(s)
Daegu FC	Daegu	Andre	Daegu Government	DGB Daegu Bank
Gangwon FC	Gangwon	Kim Byung-soo	Gangwon Provincial Government	high1
Gyeongnam FC	Gyeongnam	Kim Jong-boo	Gyeongnam Provincial Government
Incheon United	Incheon	Yoo Sang-chul	Incheon Government	Shinhan Bank Incheon International Airport
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Jeonbuk	José Morais	Hyundai Motor Company	Hummel
Jeju United	Jeju	Jo Sung-hwan	SK Energy
Pohang Steelers	Pohang	Kim Gi-dong	POSCO	Pohang City Hall
Sangju Sangmu	Sangju	Kim Tae-wan	Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps
Seongnam FC	Seongnam	Nam Ki-il	Seongnam Government
FC Seoul	Seoul	Choi Yong-soo	GS Group
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Suwon	Lee Lim-saeng	Cheil Worldwide	Samsung Electronics Maeil Dairies Industry
Ulsan Hyundai	Ulsan	Kim Do-hoon	Hyundai Heavy Industries	Hyundai Oilbank

Stadiums

Daegu FC	Gangwon FC	Gyeongnam FC	Incheon United	Jeju United	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
DGB Daegu Bank Park	Chuncheon Songam Leports Town	Changwon Football Center	Incheon Football Stadium	Jeju World Cup Stadium	Jeonju World Cup Stadium
Capacity: 12,415	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 20,245	Capacity: 20,891	Capacity: 35,657	Capacity: 42,477
Pohang Steelers	Sangju Sangmu	Seongnam FC	FC Seoul	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Ulsan Hyundai
Pohang Steel Yard	Sangju Civic Stadium	Tancheon Stadium	Seoul World Cup Stadium	Suwon World Cup Stadium	Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium
Capacity: 17,443	Capacity: 15,042	Capacity: 16,146	Capacity: 66,704	Capacity: 44,031	Capacity: 44,102

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 including at least one player from the AFC confederation.^[2] Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	AFC player	Former players
Daegu FC	Césinha	Edgar Silva	Rildo	Tsubasa Nishi	Dário Júnior
Gangwon FC	Nemanja Bilbija	Valentinos Sielis		Takahiro Nakazato	Uroš Đerić
Gyeongnam FC	Osman Júnior	Luc Castaignos	Uroš Đerić	Takahiro Kunimoto	Negueba Jordan Mutch
Incheon United	Gordan Bunoza	Stefan Mugoša	Lanre Kehinde	Rashid Mahazi	Jiloan Hamad Nguyễn Công Phượng
Jeju United	Magno Cruz	Elías Aguilar	Christian Osaguona	Aleksandar Jovanović	Tiago Marques
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Ricardo Lopes	Samuel		Bernie Ibini-Isei	Adriano Michael Jackson Tiago Alves
Pohang Steelers	Wanderson Carvalho	Stanislav Iljutcenko	Aleksandar Paločević		Vladan Adžić
Seongnam FC	Éder	Mathias Coureur			Jajá
FC Seoul	Osmar	Aleksandar Pešić		Ikromjon Alibaev
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Dejan Damjanović	Waguininho	Terry Antonis	Adam Taggart	Elvis Sarić
Ulsan Hyundai	Júnior Negrão	Dave Bulthuis	Mix Diskerud	Jason Davidson

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (C)	38	22	13	3	72	32	+40	79	Qualification for Champions League group stage
2	Ulsan Hyundai	38	23	10	5	71	39	+32	79
3	FC Seoul	38	15	11	12	53	49	+4	56	Qualification for Champions League play-off round
4	Pohang Steelers	38	16	8	14	49	49	0	56
5	Daegu FC	38	13	16	9	46	37	+9	55
6	Gangwon FC	38	14	8	16	56	58	−2	50
7	Sangju Sangmu	38	16	7	15	49	53	−4	55
8	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	38	12	12	14	46	49	−3	48	Qualification for Champions League group stage[b]
9	Seongnam FC	38	12	9	17	30	40	−10	45
10	Incheon United	38	7	13	18	33	54	−21	34
11	Gyeongnam FC (R)	38	6	15	17	43	61	−18	33	Qualification for relegation play-offs
12	Jeju United (R)	38	5	12	21	45	72	−27	27	Relegation to K League 2

Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Teams are split into two groups (Final A and Final B) after each have played 33 matches.
2. Qualified as champions of FA Cup.

Positions by matchday

  Leaders
  Qualification for Champions League group stage
  Qualification for Champions League play-off round
  Qualification for relegation play-offs
  Relegation to K League 2

Round 1–33

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33
Ulsan Hyundai	3	6	4	3	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	2	2	1	1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	5	3	5	4	4	3	3	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	2
FC Seoul	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Daegu FC	8	4	3	5	5	5	5	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	4	5	5	5	4	4	4
Pohang Steelers	11	11	8	8	8	7	9	10	8	6	7	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	8	8	7	8	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	6	6	5
Gangwon FC	12	9	7	7	7	9	10	7	7	8	6	5	7	7	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	5	5	6
Sangju Sangmu	1	1	1	2	3	4	4	6	5	5	5	7	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	7	8	7	7	7	5	5	6	6	7	7	7	7	7
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	10	12	12	10	10	8	8	9	10	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	6	6	8	8	8
Seongnam FC	9	10	10	11	9	10	7	5	6	7	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9
Gyeongnam FC	4	7	9	9	6	6	6	8	9	10	10	10	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Incheon United	6	5	6	6	11	12	12	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	12	11	11	12	11	11	11
Jeju United	7	8	11	12	12	11	11	12	12	11	11	11	10	11	11	11	12	12	11	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	11	12	12	11	12	12	12

Source: K League

Round 34–38

Team ╲ Round	34	35	36	37	38
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2	2	2	2	1
Ulsan Hyundai	1	1	1	1	2
FC Seoul	3	3	3	3	3
Pohang Steelers	6	6	6	5	4
Daegu FC	4	4	4	4	5
Gangwon FC	5	5	5	6	6
Sangju Sangmu	7	7	7	7	7
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	8	8	8	8	8
Seongnam FC	9	9	9	9	9
Incheon United	10	10	10	10	10
Gyeongnam FC	11	11	11	11	11
Jeju United	12	12	12	12	12

Source: K League

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams play each other twice, once at home, once away.

Home \ Away	DGU	GWN	GNM	ICU	JJU	JHM	PHS	SJS	SFC	SEO	SSB	USH
Daegu FC	—	2–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–4	3–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–1
Gangwon FC	0–2	—	2–1	1–0	0–1	2–3	5–4	4–0	2–1	1–2	0–2	0–0
Gyeongnam FC	2–1	0–2	—	1–1	2–2	3–3	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–2	3–3	1–3
Incheon United	0–3	1–2	2–1	—	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	0–0	0–2	2–3	0–3
Jeju United	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–2	—	0–1	1–1	2–3	1–2	4–2	1–3	1–3
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1–1	0–1	4–1	2–0	3–1	—	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–1	1–1	1–1
Pohang Steelers	0–2	1–0	4–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	—	1–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1
Sangju Sangmu	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	4–2	0–3	1–1	—	1–0	1–3	0–2	0–1
Seongnam FC	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–0	—	0–1	2–1	1–4
FC Seoul	2–1	2–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	2–4	2–0	2–0	3–1	—	4–2	2–2
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	0–4	3–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	—	1–3
Ulsan Hyundai	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–1	2–1	2–1	—

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

Matches 23–33

Teams play every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away	DGU	GWN	GNM	ICU	JJU	JHM	PHS	SJS	SFC	SEO	SSB	USH
Daegu FC	—	3–1	1–0	—	2–2	—	0–0	—	—	—	0–2	—
Gangwon FC	—	—	2–0	2–2	2–0	3–3	2–1	—	—	—	1–3	—
Gyeongnam FC	—	—	—	—	—	1–1	0–1	—	2–0	—	2–0	3–3
Incheon United	1–1	—	1–1	—	0–0	0–0	—	—	0–1	—	—	3–3
Jeju United	—	—	1–2	—	—	—	—	1–4	3–0	1–1	—	0–5
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0–2	—	—	—	2–2	—	—	2–1	1–1		2–0	3–0
Pohang Steelers	—	—	—	5–3	2–1	1–2	—	—	1–0	2–1	—	2–1
Sangju Sangmu	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–3	—	—	2–1	—	—	—	—	—
Seongnam FC	1–2	1–0	—	—	—	—	—	1–0	—	1–0	0–0	—
FC Seoul	2–1	0–0	1–1	3–1	—	0–2	—	1–2	—	—	—	—
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	—	—	—	0–1	1–0	—	0–2	1–1	—	1–2	—	0–2
Ulsan Hyundai	1–1	2–0	—	—	—	—	—	5–1	1–0	3–1	—	—

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

Matches 34–38

After 33 matches, the league splits into two sections of six teams each, with teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches are determined upon the league table at the time of the split.

Final A Home \ Away DGU GWN JHM PHS SEO USH Daegu FC — — 0–2 — 0–0 1–2 Gangwon FC 2–4 — — — 3–2 — Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors — 1–0 — 3–0 1–1 — Pohang Steelers 0–0 2–2 — — — — FC Seoul — — — 0–3 — 0–1 Ulsan Hyundai — 2–1 1–1 1–4 — — Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final B Home \ Away GNM ICU JJU SJS SNM SSB Gyeongnam FC — 0–0 2–2 0–1 — — Incheon United — — — 2–0 — 1–1 Jeju United — 2–0 — — — 2–4 Sangju Sangmu — — 2–1 — 0–1 4–1 Seongnam FC 1–2 0–1 3–1 — — — Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2–1 — — — 0–0 — Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

The promotion-relegation play-offs were held between the winners of the 2019 K League 2 play-offs and the 11th-placed club of the 2019 K League 1.

Busan IPark	0–0	Gyeongnam FC
	Report

5 December 2019

19:00 KST

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 8,249

Referee: Kim Dae-yong

---

Gyeongnam FC	0–2	Busan IPark
	Report	Rômulo 78' (pen.) Novothny 90+5'

8 December 2019

14:00 KST

Changwon Football Center

Attendance: 5,397

Referee: Go Hyung-jin

Busan IPark won 2–0 on aggregate and were promoted to the K League 1, while Gyeongnam FC were relegated to the K League 2.

Player statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Adam Taggart	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	20
2	Júnior Negrão	Ulsan Hyundai	19
3	Cesinha	Daegu FC	15
	Wanderson Carvalho	Pohang Steelers
5	Stefan Mugoša	Incheon United	14
6	Uroš Đerić	Gangwon FC Gyeongnam FC	13
	Kim Bo-kyung	Ulsan Hyundai
8	Park Yong-ji	Sangju Sangmu	12
9	Edgar Silva	Daegu FC	11
	Ricardo Lopes	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Source:^[5]

Top assist providers

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Moon Seon-min	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	10
	Cesinha	Daegu FC
3	Kim Bo-kyung	Ulsan Hyundai	9
	Wanderson Carvalho	Pohang Steelers
5	Kim Seung-dae	Pohang Steelers Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	8
6	Elvis Sarić	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	7
	Kim Tae-hwan	Ulsan Hyundai
	Park Chu-young	FC Seoul
	Ricardo Lopes	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
10	Lee Yeong-jae	Gyeongnam FC Gangwon FC	6
	Jung Seung-yong	Gangwon FC
	Go Yo-han	FC Seoul

Source:^[5]

Awards

Main awards

The 2019 K League Awards was held on 2 December 2019.^[6]

Award	Winner	Club
Most Valuable Player	Kim Bo-kyung	Ulsan Hyundai
Top goalscorer	Adam Taggart	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Top assist provider	Moon Seon-min	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Young Player of the Year	Kim Ji-hyeon	Gangwon FC
Manager of the Year	José Morais	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Best XI

Position	Winner	Club
Goalkeeper	Jo Hyeon-woo	Daegu FC
Defenders	Hong Chul	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Hong Jeong-ho	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
	Lee Yong	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
	Kim Tae-hwan	Ulsan Hyundai
Midfielders	Moon Seon-min	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
	Kim Bo-kyung	Ulsan Hyundai
	Cesinha	Daegu FC
	Wanderson Carvalho	Pohang Steelers
Forwards	Adam Taggart	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Júnior Negrão	Ulsan Hyundai

Source:^[6]

Monthly awards

Month	Player of the Month		Manager of the Month			Goal of the Month
	Player	Club	Manager	Club	Division	Player	Club
March	Cesinha	Daegu FC	Choi Yong-soo	FC Seoul	K League 1	Kim Dae-won	Daegu FC
April	Kim Jin-hyuk	Daegu FC	José Morais	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	K League 1	Yeom Ki-hun	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
May	Kim Shin-wook	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Cho Deok-je	Busan IPark	K League 2	Aleksandar Pešić	FC Seoul
June	Cho Jae-wan	Gangwon FC	Park Jin-sub	Gwangju FC	K League 2	Cho Jae-wan	Gangwon FC
July	Adam Taggart	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Kim Do-hoon	Ulsan Hyundai	K League 1	Éder	Seongnam FC
August	Wanderson Carvalho	Pohang Steelers	José Morais	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	K League 1	Lee Soo-bin	Pohang Steelers
September	Júnior Negrão	Ulsan Hyundai	Kim Gi-dong	Pohang Steelers	K League 1	Kim Ji-hyeon	Gangwon FC
October	Moon Seon-min	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Park Jin-sub	Gwangju FC	K League 2	Moon Seon-min	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
November			Kim Gi-dong	Pohang Steelers	K League 1	Kim Jin-su	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Player of the Round

Round Winner Club 1 Cesinha Daegu FC 2 Ricardo Lopes Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3 Kim Seung-dae Pohang Steelers 4 Adam Taggart Suwon Samsung Bluewings 5 Kim Jin-hyuk Daegu FC 6 Aleksandar Pešić FC Seoul 7 Kim In-sung Ulsan Hyundai 8 Kim Hyeon-uk Gangwon FC 9 Kim Tae-hwan Ulsan Hyundai 10 Kim Seung-dae Pohang Steelers 11 Park Chu-young FC Seoul 12 Wanderson Carvalho Pohang Steelers 13 Kim Shin-wook Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 14 Moon Seon-min Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 15 Park Chu-young FC Seoul 16 Osmar FC Seoul 17 Cho Jae-wan Gangwon FC 18 Jung Jo-gook Gangwon FC 19 Kim Ji-hyeon Gangwon FC

Round Winner Club 20 Yun Il-lok Jeju United 21 Jo Hyeon-woo Daegu FC 22 Hong Jeong-ho Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 23 Kim Bo-kyung Ulsan Hyundai 24 Kim Bo-kyung Ulsan Hyundai 25 Kim Hyo-gi Gyeongnam FC 26 Adam Taggart Suwon Samsung Bluewings 27 Wanderson Carvalho Pohang Steelers 28 Stefan Mugoša Incheon United 29 Kim Ji-hyeon Gangwon FC 30 Wanderson Carvalho Pohang Steelers 31 Stefan Mugoša Incheon United 32 Ryu Seung-woo Sangju Sangmu 33 Lee Gwang-hyeok Pohang Steelers 34 Lee Hyeon-sik Gangwon FC 35 Júnior Negrão Ulsan Hyundai 36 Kim Bo-kyung Ulsan Hyundai 37 Cesinha Daegu FC 38 Son Jun-ho Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	FC Seoul	324,162	32,057	7,719	17,061	+47.6%†
2	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	278,738	20,637	10,044	13,937	+16.9%†
3	Daegu FC	203,951	12,172	8,247	10,734	+205.1%†
4	Ulsan Hyundai	184,148	19,011	1,568	9,692	+28.8%†
5	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	168,024	24,019	3,353	8,843	+31.8%†
6	Incheon United	161,593	18,541	4,879	8,505	+92.0%†
7	Pohang Steelers	161,134	14,769	2,486	8,481	+13.3%†
8	Seongnam FC	105,950	11,238	2,421	5,576	+132.3%†
9	Gyeongnam FC	73,646	7,252	1,034	3,876	+23.0%†
10	Jeju United	66,741	6,034	955	3,708	+14.7%†
11	Gangwon FC	54,331	5,823	1,732	2,860	+110.9%†
12	Sangju Sangmu	44,702	6,278	1,161	2,353	+78.5%†
	League total	1,827,120	32,057	955	8,014	+47.2%†

Updated to games played on 1 December 2019
Source: K League
Notes:
^† Teams that played previous season in K League 2.

See also

• 2019 in South Korean football
• 2019 K League 2
• 2019 Korean FA Cup