The R League (Korean: R리그), also known as the Korean Professional Football Reserve League, is the league for reserve teams of professional football clubs in South Korea.

R League
Organising bodyK League Federation
Founded1990
CountrySouth Korea
Number of teams16
Current championsGroup A:
FC Seoul
Group B:
Pohang Steelers
(2019)
Most championshipsFC Seoul (10 titles)

History

edit

The Korean Reserve League was started in 1990 with reserve teams of five K League clubs.[1][2]

It was not held for nine years after the inaugural season, but was relaunched in a new format in 2000. The participating teams were split into two or three group leagues, and high ranking teams of each league qualified for the playoffs to decide overall champions. It was renamed "R League" in 2009.[3] Korean Police participated in the R League until 2012, although it was not a reserve team of a K League club.

The R League was abolished in 2013 due to the foundation of the K League 2, which needed participating players,[4] but was restarted in 2016.[5] It was once again ceased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, the Korea Football Association (KFA) allowed reserve teams to join the K4 League in 2021, and so they could enter South Korean football league system.[6]

Champions

edit

Champions by season

edit

Reserve League (1990)

edit
Edition Season Single league
1 1990 POSCO Atoms

Reserve League (2000–2005)

edit
Edition Season Championship Central League Southern League
2 2000 Anyang LG Cheetahs Anyang LG Cheetahs Jeonnam Dragons
3 2001 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Pohang Steelers
4 2002 Anyang LG Cheetahs Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo
5 2003 Not held Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Jeonnam Dragons
6 2004 FC Seoul Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Pohang Steelers
7 2005 Bucheon SK FC Seoul Jeonnam Dragons

Reserve League (2006–2008)

edit
Edition Season Championship Group A Group B Group C
8 2006 Incheon United FC Seoul Incheon United Jeonnam Dragons
9 2007 Pohang Steelers Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Jeju United Pohang Steelers
10 2008 Incheon United Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Gyeongnam FC Not held

R League (2009)

edit
Edition Season Championship Group A Group B Group C
11 2009 Incheon United Incheon United Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Pohang Steelers

R League (2010–present)

edit
Edition Season Single league Group A Group B
12 2010 Not held FC Seoul Pohang Steelers
13 2011 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Sangju Sangmu Phoenix
14 2012 Korean Police Busan IPark
15 2016 FC Seoul Daegu FC
16 2017 Ulsan Hyundai Not held
17 2018 Not held FC Seoul Daejeon Citizen
18 2019 FC Seoul Pohang Steelers
19 2022 Unknown

Performance by club

edit

K League's principle of official statistics is that final club succeeds to predecessor club's history & records.[7]

Club Group National titles Group titles Total
FC Seoul A 3 (2000, 2002, 2004) 7 (2000, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2019) 10
Incheon United A 3 (2006, 2008, 2009) 2 (2006, 2009) 5
Pohang Steelers B 2 (1990, 2007) 6 (2001, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2019) 8
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma A 1 (2001) 7 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011) 8
Jeju United B 1 (2005) 1 (2007) 2
Ulsan Hyundai B 1 (2017) 1
Jeonnam Dragons B 4 (2000, 2003, 2005, 2006) 4
Sangju Sangmu Phoenix B 2 (2002, 2011) 2
Gyeongnam FC B 1 (2008) 1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors B 1 (2009) 1
Korean Police A 1 (2012) 1
Busan IPark B 1 (2012) 1
Daegu FC B 1 (2016) 1
Daejeon Citizen B 1 (2018) 1

Awards

edit

Most Valuable Player

edit
Season Player Club
1990   Choi Moon-sik POSCO Atoms
2000   Kim Woo-jae Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
2001   Back Young-chul Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
2002   Park Dong-suk Anyang LG Cheetahs
2003 Not awarded
2004   Han Dong-won FC Seoul
2005   Yoo Hyun-goo Bucheon SK
2006   Lee Keun-ho Incheon United
2007   Lee Won-jae Pohang Steelers
2008   Kang Su-il Incheon United
2009   Kim Sun-woo Incheon United

Top goalscorer

edit
Season Player[8] Club Goals Apps Ratio
1990   Kim Dong-hae Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso 7 ? ?
2000   Wang Jung-hyun Anyang LG Cheetahs 8 8 1.00
2001   Hwang In-soo Suwon Samsung Bluewings 10 13 0.77
2002   Lee Sun-woo Suwon Samsung Bluewings 7 13 0.54
2003   Back Young-chul Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 8 13 0.62
2004   Bu Young-tae Busan IPark 8 8 1.00
2005   Han Dong-won FC Seoul 10 20 0.50
2006   Song Keun-soo Gwangju Sangmu 11 16 0.69
2007   Yoon Jun-soo Jeonnam Dragons 8 16 0.50
2008   Yoo Chang-hyun Pohang Steelers 13 23 0.57
2009   Song Je-heon Daegu FC 8 13 0.62
2010   Eraldo Anício Gomes Jeju United 7 4 1.75
2011   Jung Sung-min Gangwon FC 10 17 0.59
2012   Kim Young-hoo Korean Police 11 14 0.79
2016   Han Hong-gyu Ansan Mugunghwa 9 10 0.9
2017   Kim Hee-won Seoul E-Land 11 16 0.69
2018   Kwon Ki-pyo Pohang Steelers 14 19 0.74
2019   Jeon Hyeon-chul Daegu FC 13 11 1.18

Top assist provider

edit
Season Player[8] Club Assists Apps Ratio
1990   Ahn Ki-chul Daewoo Royals ? ? ?
2000   Shin Jong-hyok Pohang Steelers 6 12 0.50
2001   Lee Jung-woon Pohang Steelers 5 13 0.38
2002   Kim Woo-jae Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 6 18 0.33
2003   Park Won-jae Pohang Steelers 4 13 0.31
2004   Jang Dong-hyun Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 5 17 0.29
2005   Yu Hyun-goo Jeju United 8 21 0.38
2006   Lee Keun-ho Incheon United 7 20 0.35
2007   Hwang Jin-sung Pohang Steelers 5 5 1.00
2008   Lee Tae-young Pohang Steelers 7 21 0.33
2009   Choi Sung-hyun Suwon Samsung Bluewings 5 7 0.71
2010   Kim Eun-hu Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 10 0.60
2011   Sin Jin-ho Pohang Steelers 7 17 0.41
2012   Choi Jin-soo Ulsan Hyundai 5 10 0.50
2016   Kim Dae-won Daegu FC 5 13 0.38
2017   Kim Soo-beom Jeju United 5 9 0.56
2018   Song Min-kyu Pohang Steelers 8 18 0.44
2019   Park Tae-jun Seongnam FC 7 8 0.88

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ 프로축구 2군리그 5개구단 내년 창설 (in Korean). Mail Business Newspaper. 6 December 1989.
  2. ^ 도시연고제 도입 등 탈바꿈 시도 (in Korean). K League.
  3. ^ K-리그-2군 리그 'R-리그', 30일 개막 (in Korean). K League. 30 March 2009.
  4. ^ R리그 내년부터 폐지 왜? (in Korean). Sports Donga. 16 September 2011.
  5. ^ K리그 챌린지, 3월 26일 개막... 부산 vs 안산 격돌 (in Korean). InterFootball. 26 January 2016.
  6. ^ K3·K4리그 대표자회의 개최...3월 7일 개막 (in Korean). KFA. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  7. ^ "The Official K-League Almanac" (in Korean). K-League editorial division.
  8. ^ a b "K League Data Portal" (in Korean). K League. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
edit