2017 K League Challenge

The 2017 K League Challenge was the fifth season of the K League 2, the second-highest division in the South Korean football league system. Champions and winners of the promotion playoffs could be promoted to the K League 1.

KEB Hana Bank
K League Challenge
Season2017
ChampionsGyeongnam FC
(1st title)
PromotedGyeongnam FC
Matches played180
Goals scored454 (2.52 per match)
Best PlayerMarcão
Top goalscorerMarcão
(22 goals)
Biggest home winBucheon 6–2 Anyang
(19 June 2017)
Biggest away winDaejeon 1–4 Seongnam
(27 August 2017)
Anyang 1–4 Gyeongnam
(2 September 2017)
Highest scoringBucheon 6–2 Anyang
(19 June 2017)
Highest attendance10,683
Anyang 1–4 Gyeongnam
(2 September 2017)
Average attendance2,324
2016
2018

Teams edit

Team changes edit

Relegated from K League Classic

Promoted to K League Classic

Newly joined

Withdrawn

Locations edit

 
Locations of the 2017 K League Challenge clubs

Stadiums edit

Ansan Greeners FC Anyang Asan Mugunghwa Bucheon FC 1995 Busan IPark
Ansan Wa~ Stadium Anyang Stadium Yi Sun-sin Stadium Bucheon Stadium Busan Gudeok Stadium
Capacity: 35,000 Capacity: 17,143 Capacity: 19,283 Capacity: 34,545 Capacity: 12,349
         
Daejeon Citizen Gyeongnam FC Seongnam FC Seoul E-Land Suwon FC
Daejeon World Cup Stadium Changwon Football Center Tancheon Stadium Seoul Olympic Stadium Suwon Sports Complex
Capacity: 40,535 Capacity: 15,500 Capacity: 16,146 Capacity: 69,950 Capacity: 11,808
       

Personnel and sponsoring edit

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 Greeners   Lee Heung-sil Kelme Ansan Government
FC Anyang   Kim Jong-pil Astore Anyang Government
Asan Mugunghwa   Song Sun-ho Puma Asan Government
Bucheon FC 1995   Jeong Gab-seok Astore Bucheon Government
Busan IPark   Cho Jin-ho Adidas Hyundai Development Company
Daejeon Citizen   Lee Young-ik Astore Daejeon Government
Gyeongnam FC   Kim Jong-boo Hummel Gyeongnam Government
Seongnam FC   Park Kyung-hoon Umbro Seongnam Government
Seoul E-Land   Kim Byung-soo New Balance E-Land
Suwon FC   Cho Duck-je Hummel Suwon Government

Foreign players edit

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
Ansan Greeners   Luka Rotković   Raúl Tarragona   Bahodir Nasimov
FC Anyang     Lukian   Aubin Kouakou
Bucheon FC 1995   Nilson Júnior   Waguininho   Rodrigo Paraná   Bakhodir Pardayev
Busan IPark   Danny Morais   Rômulo   Léo Mineiro   Michihiro Yasuda
Daejeon Citizen   Bruno Cantanhede   Levan Shengelia   Cristian Dănălache
Gyeongnam FC   Alex Bruno   Marcão   Ivan Herceg
Seongnam FC   Dário Júnior   Marin Oršulić   Filip Hlohovský
Seoul E-Land   Wesley Alex   Daniel Lovinho   Tomoki Wada   Atsuki Wada
Suwon FC   Bruce Djite   Pedro Carmona   Vladan Adžić   Adrian Leijer

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Gyeongnam FC (C, P) 36 24 7 5 69 36 +33 79 Promotion to the K League 1
2 Busan IPark 36 19 11 6 52 30 +22 68 Qualification for the promotion playoffs semi-final
3 Asan Mugunghwa 36 15 9 12 44 37 +7 54 Qualification for the promotion playoffs first round
4 Seongnam FC 36 13 14 9 38 30 +8 53
5 Bucheon FC 1995 36 15 7 14 50 46 +4 52
6 Suwon FC 36 11 12 13 42 48 −6 45
7 FC Anyang 36 10 9 17 40 58 −18 39
8 Seoul E-Land 36 7 14 15 42 55 −13 35
9 Ansan Greeners 36 7 12 17 36 54 −18 33
10 Daejeon Citizen 36 6 11 19 41 60 −19 29
Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Positions by matchday edit

  Leaders
  Qualification for the promotion playoffs

Round 1–18 edit

Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718
Gyeongnam FC433111111111111111
Busan IPark412422222222222222
Asan Mugunghwa944245434334333343
Bucheon FC 1995167553345443455434
Seongnam FC988101010101091099777655
Suwon FC121334553566666776
FC Anyang61010877666655444567
Ansan Greeners155666777877899888
Seoul E-Land6999999910788988999
Daejeon Citizen67678888891010101010101010
Source: K League

Round 19–36 edit

Team ╲ Round192021222324252627282930313233343536
Gyeongnam FC111111111111111111
Busan IPark222222222222222222
Asan Mugunghwa344553335555553333
Seongnam FC666445454444334444
Bucheon FC 1995433334543333445555
Suwon FC555666677666677766
FC Anyang777777766777766677
Seoul E-Land9999109888888888888
Ansan Greeners888888999999999999
Daejeon Citizen10101010910101010101010101010101010
Source: K League

Results edit

Matches 1–18 edit

Home \ Away ANS ANY ASM BUC BIP DJC GNM SEN SEL SUW
Ansan Greeners 1–0 2–1 2–4 0–3 2–1 3–3 0–1 1–2 3–3
FC Anyang 2–1 0–2 3–1 0–1 3–2 1–2 2–0 2–0 1–2
Asan Mugunghwa 1–0 4–0 2–1 0–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0
Bucheon FC 1995 2–0 6–2 1–2 1–0 1–1 2–2 0–2 2–1 0–1
Busan IPark 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–2 3–0 2–2
Daejeon Citizen 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–1 2–3 0–2 1–1 2–1 4–3
Gyeongnam FC 3–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 3–0 2–0
Seongnam FC 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–2 0–1
Seoul E-Land 1–0 2–2 1–1 4–1 2–3 3–3 0–1 0–0 0–0
Suwon FC 0–4 3–3 0–2 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 0–1 2–2
Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36 edit

Home \ Away ANS ANY ASM BUC BIP DJC GNM SEN SEL SUW
Ansan Greeners 2–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–0
FC Anyang 2–0 1–3 1–3 1–2 0–0 1–4 1–3 2–0 0–0
Asan Mugunghwa 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–3 0–2 2–0 2–1
Bucheon FC 1995 1–1 0–0 3–0 0–2 1–0 2–4 3–2 1–0 0–1
Busan IPark 3–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 4–2 1–2 0–0 2–1 2–2
Daejeon Citizen 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 1–4 0–1 2–0
Gyeongnam FC 3–1 0–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 4–2 1–0 2–1 2–2
Seongnam FC 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 2–2 3–0
Seoul E-Land 3–3 2–3 3–2 2–2 2–2 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–0
Suwon FC 0–2 4–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 3–2 2–1 0–0 3–1
Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion playoffs edit

Bracket edit

First round Semi-final Final
           
2 Busan IPark 3
3 Asan Mugunghwa 0
3 Asan Mugunghwa 1
4 Seongnam FC 0
Busan IPark 0 1 1 (4)
Sangju Sangmu (p) 1 0 1 (5)

First round edit

Asan Mugunghwa1–0Seongnam FC
Jung Sung-min   65' Report
Attendance: 3,840

Semi-final edit

Busan IPark3–0Asan Mugunghwa
Report
Attendance: 2,710
Referee: Kim Dong-jin

Final edit

The promotion-relegation playoffs were held between the winners of the 2017 K League Challenge playoffs and the 11th-placed club of the 2017 K League Classic. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2018 K League 1.

Busan IPark0–1Sangju Sangmu
Report Yeo Reum   7'
Attendance: 1,322
Referee: Lee Dong-jun

Sangju Sangmu0–1 (a.e.t.)Busan IPark
Report Rômulo   16' (pen.)
Penalties
5–4
Attendance: 2,714
Referee: Kim Seong-ho

1–1 on aggregate. Sangju Sangmu won 5–4 on penalties and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.

Player statistics edit

Top scorers edit

Rank Player Club Goals
1   Marcão Gyeongnam FC 22
2   Raúl Tarragona Ansan Greeners 15
3   Waguininho Bucheon FC 1995 12
4   Jung Won-jin Gyeongnam FC 10
5   Ko Kyung-min Busan IPark 9
  Lee Jeong-hyeop Busan IPark
  Cristian Dănălache Daejeon Citizen
  Park Sung-ho Seongnam FC
  Jin Chang-soo Bucheon FC 1995
10   Baek Sung-dong Suwon FC 8
  Jeong Jae-hee FC Anyang

Top assist providers edit

Rank Player Club Assists
1   Chang Hyuk-jin Ansan Greeners 13
2   Jung Won-jin Gyeongnam FC 10
3   Alex Bruno Gyeongnam FC 8
  Kim Shin Bucheon FC 1995
5   Atsuki Wada Seoul E-Land FC 7
6   Rômulo Busan IPark 6
  Lee Ho-seok Daejeon Citizen
  Kim Shin Bucheon FC 1995
9   Kim Bong-rae Suwon FC 5
  Lee Ju-yong Asan Mugunghwa
  Jeong Jae-hee FC Anyang

Attendance edit

Attendants who entered with free ticket were not counted.

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 FC Anyang 60,078 10,683 1,360 3,338 +82.7%
2 Seongnam FC 50,427 6,700 1,410 2,802 −58.4%
3 Ansan Greeners  48,635 8,405 915 2,702 n/a
4 Busan IPark 43,302 6,337 1,024 2,406 +56.8%
5 Gyeongnam FC 39,273 7,278 713 2,182 +81.8%
6 Daejeon Citizen 38,787 5,136 1,032 2,155 −15.2%
7 Suwon FC 38,655 8,455 711 2,148 −51.0%
8 Asan Mugunghwa  35,188 7,933 726 1,955 +94.5%
9 Bucheon FC 1995 35,047 7,209 0 1,947 −6.4%
10 Seoul E-Land 28,996 4,531 631 1,611 +22.9%
League total 418,388 10,683 0 2,324 +54.3%

Updated to games played on 29 October 2017
Source: K League Classic
Notes:
Team played previous season in K League Classic.

Awards edit

The 2016 K League Awards was held on 20 November 2017.[1]

Main awards edit

Best XI edit

Position Player Club
Goalkeeper   Lee Bum-soo Gyeongnam FC
Defenders   Choi Jae-soo Gyeongnam FC
  Park Ji-soo Gyeongnam FC
  Ivan Herceg Gyeongnam FC
  Woo Joo-sung Gyeongnam FC
Midfielders   Jung Won-jin Gyeongnam FC
  Hwang In-beom Daejeon Citizen
  Moon Ki-han Bucheon FC 1995
  Bae Ki-jong Gyeongnam FC
Forwards   Marcão Gyeongnam FC
  Lee Jeong-hyeop Busan IPark

Player of the Round edit

Manager of the Month edit

Month Manager Club Division
March   Jo Sung-hwan Jeju United K League Classic
April   Kim Jong-boo Gyeongnam FC K League Challenge
May   Choi Yun-kyum Gangwon FC K League Classic
June   Choi Kang-hee Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors K League Classic
July   Seo Jung-won Suwon Samsung Bluewings K League Classic
August   Hwang Sun-hong FC Seoul K League Classic
September   Kim Do-hoon Ulsan Hyundai K League Classic
October   André Daegu FC K League Classic

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ [K리그 어워즈] 챌린지는 경남 천하! MVP 말컹-감독상 김종부 (챌린지 종합). Naver.com (in Korean). InterFootball. 20 November 2017.

External links edit