K League Championship

The K League Championship was the final competition (playoffs) of the K League season. The K League originally had playoffs after regular seasons, but the name of playoffs was officially decided in 2009.^[1][2] This competition was abolished in 2011.

All K League Championship records from 1984 to 1996 are not included in the current K League official statistics.

Summary

  Champions0   Runners-up

Final

The winners of two regular stages in four early editions qualified for the two-legged final.

No.	Season	First stage winners	Second stage winners
1	1984	Yukong Elephants	Daewoo Royals
2	1986	POSCO Atoms	Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso
3	1995	Ilhwa Chunma	Pohang Atoms
4	1996	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Playoffs of the top four (1998–2000)

First round

Semi-final

Final

Regular second-placed team

First round winners

Regular third-placed team

Regular fourth-placed team

Semi-final winners

Regular first-placed team

The top four clubs of the regular league qualified for the championship from 1998 to 2000. The first round was played as a single match, and the semi-final was a two-legged tie. The final also consisted of two matches in 1998, but it changed to best-of-three the next year.

No.	Season	Regular first place	Regular second place	Regular third place	Regular fourth place
5	1998	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	Pohang Steelers	Jeonnam Dragons
6	1999	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Bucheon SK	Jeonnam Dragons	Busan Daewoo Royals
7	2000	Anyang LG Cheetahs	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Bucheon SK

Playoffs of the top four (2004–2006)

	Semi-finals					Final
	First stage winners
	Overall table winners
						Semi-final winners
						Semi-final winners
	Second stage winners
	Overall table runners-up

When the regular league was split into two stages again from 2004 to 2006, the top two clubs in the overall table qualified for the championship in addition to two winners. Each semi-final was a single match, and the final comprised two matches.

No.	Season	First stage winners	Second stage winners	Top two of the rest
8	2004	Pohang Steelers	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	Jeonnam Dragons
9	2005	Busan IPark	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Incheon United	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
10	2006	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Pohang Steelers	FC Seoul

Playoffs of the top six

First round

Second round

Semifinal

Final

3

Regular third-placed team

1

Regular first-placed team

6

Regular sixth-placed team

2

Regular second-placed team

Semi-final winners

First round winners

Second round winners

First round winners

4

Regular fourth-placed team

5

Regular fifth-placed team

The K League Championship increased participating clubs to six since 2007. The winners of regular league directly qualified for the final, and the second-placed team qualified for the semi-final. The other four clubs entered the first round, and the winners of the second round advanced to the semi-final. Each match was played as a single match, excluding the two-legged final.

No.	Season	Regular first place	Regular second place	Regular third place	Regular fourth place	Regular fifth place	Regular sixth place
11	2007	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	Gyeongnam FC	Pohang Steelers	Daejeon Citizen
12	2008	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	FC Seoul	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Ulsan Hyundai	Pohang Steelers	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
13	2009	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Pohang Steelers	FC Seoul	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Incheon United	Jeonnam Dragons
14	2010	FC Seoul	Jeju United	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Ulsan Hyundai	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	Gyeongnam FC
15	2011	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Pohang Steelers	FC Seoul	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Busan IPark	Ulsan Hyundai

Finals

Numbers in yellow background are the numbers of victories, and are not aggregate scores.

No.	Season	Winners	Agg.	Runners-up	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg
1	1984	Daewoo Royals	2–1	Yukong Elephants	1–0	1–1	—
2	1986	POSCO Atoms	2–1	Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso	1–0	1–1	—
3	1995	Ilhwa Chunma	5–4	Pohang Atoms	1–1	3–3	1–0 (a.e.t.)
4	1996	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	3–2	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0–1	3–1	—
5	1998	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1–0	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	1–0	0–0	—
6	1999	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2–0	Busan Daewoo Royals	2–1	2–1 (a.e.t.)	X
7	2000	Anyang LG Cheetahs	2–0	Bucheon SK	4–1	1–1 (4–2 p)	X
8	2004	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0–0 (4–3 p)	Pohang Steelers	0–0	0–0 (a.e.t.)	—
9	2005	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	6–3	Incheon United	5–1	1–2	—
10	2006	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	3–1	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1–0	2–1	—
11	2007	Pohang Steelers	4–1	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	3–1	1–0	—
12	2008	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	3–2	FC Seoul	1–1	2–1	—
13	2009	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3–1	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	0–0	3–1	—
14	2010	FC Seoul	4–3	Jeju United	2–2	2–1	—
15	2011	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	4–2	Ulsan Hyundai	2–1	2–1	—

Appearances

By club

• K League's principle of official statistics is that final club succeeds to predecessor clubs.^[3]

Club	Appearances
Pohang Steelers	9 (1986, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
Seongnam FC	8 (1995, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	8 (1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011)
Ulsan Hyundai	8 (1996, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
FC Seoul	7 (1986, 2000, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	5 (2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Jeju United	4 (1984, 1999, 2000, 2010)
Jeonnam Dragons	4 (1998, 1999, 2004, 2009)
Busan IPark	4 (1984, 1999, 2005, 2011)
Incheon United	2 (2004, 2009)
Gyeongnam FC	2 (2007, 2010)
Daejeon Citizen	1 (2007)

By city/province

• K League introduced home and away system in 1987.

City/Province	Apps	Clubs
Pohang	8	Pohang Atoms (1995), Pohang Steelers (1998, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
Suwon	8	Suwon Samsung Bluewings (1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011)
Ulsan	8	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i (1996, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007), Ulsan Hyundai (2008, 2010, 2011)
Seongnam	7	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Seoul	6	Ilhwa Chunma (1995)
		FC Seoul (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Jeonnam	4	Jeonnam Dragons (1998, 1999, 2004, 2009)
Jeonbuk	5	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Busan	3	Busan Daewoo Royals (1999), Busan IPark (2005, 2011)
Bucheon	2	Bucheon SK (1999, 2000)
Incheon	2	Incheon United (2004, 2009)
Gyeongnam	2	Gyeongnam FC (2007, 2010)
Anyang	1	Anyang LG Cheetahs (2000)
Daejeon	1	Daejeon Citizen (2007)
Jeju	1	Jeju United (2010)

By region

• K League introduced home and away system in 1987.

Region	Apps	City/Province	Clubs
Gyeonggi region (Seoul Capital Area)	26	Suwon (8)	Suwon Samsung Bluewings (1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011)
		Seongnam (7)	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
		Seoul (6)	Ilhwa Chunma (1995)
			FC Seoul (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
		Bucheon (2)	Bucheon SK (1999, 2000)
		Incheon (2)	Incheon United (2004, 2009)
		Anyang (1)	Anyang LG Cheetahs (2000)
Yeongnam region (Gyeongsang)	21	Pohang (8)	Pohang Atoms (1995), Pohang Steelers (1998, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
		Ulsan (8)	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i (1996, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007), Ulsan Hyundai (2008, 2010, 2011)
		Busan (3)	Busan Daewoo Royals (1999), Busan IPark (2005, 2011)
		Gyeongnam (2)	Gyeongnam FC (2007, 2010)
Honam region (Jeolla)	9	Jeonbuk (5)	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
		Jeonnam (4)	Jeonnam Dragons (1998, 1999, 2004, 2009)
Hoseo region (Chungcheong)	1	Daejeon (1)	Daejeon Citizen (2007)
Jeju region [ko]	1	Jeju (1)	Jeju United (2010)

See also

• K League
• K League 1
• Korean Super Cup