The 2020 K League 1 was the 38th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea, and the eighth season of the K League 1. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won their eighth title, becoming the most successful K League club which had the most titles.
The regular season was scheduled to begin on 29 February and to end on 4 October, but was postponed until 8 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 24 April 2020, the K League Federation confirmed that they would adopt a modified plan for the season, reducing the number of matchdays to 27 including five matchdays of each divided final league.
Sangju Sangmu and the lowest-placed team at the end of the season were relegated to the K League 2 for the 2021 season.
In this season, one additional spot for players from ASEAN countries was added regardless of the "3+1" foreign players rule.
Teams Team changes Relegated to K League 2 Gyeongnam FC Jeju United
Promoted from K League 2 Gwangju FC Busan IPark
Locations
The following twelve teams competed in the 2020 K League 1.
Team City/Province Busan IPark Busan Daegu FC Daegu Gangwon FC Gangwon Gwangju FC Gwangju Incheon United Incheon Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonbuk Pohang Steelers Pohang Sangju Sangmu Sangju Seongnam FC Seongnam FC Seoul Seoul Suwon Samsung Bluewings Suwon Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan
Stadiums Busan IPark Daegu FC Incheon United Busan Gudeok Stadium DGB Daegu Bank Park Incheon Football Stadium Capacity: 12,349 Capacity: 12,415 Capacity: 20,891 Pohang Steelers Sangju Sangmu Seongnam FC Pohang Steel Yard Sangju Civic Stadium Tancheon Stadium Capacity: 17,443 Capacity: 15,042 Capacity: 16,146 FC Seoul Suwon Samsung Bluewings Ulsan Hyundai Seoul World Cup Stadium Suwon World Cup Stadium Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium Capacity: 66,704 Capacity: 44,031 Capacity: 44,102 Gwangju FC Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Gwangju World Cup Stadium Gwangju Football Stadium Jeonju World Cup Stadium Capacity: 40,245 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 42,477 Gangwon FC Chuncheon Songam Leports Town Gangneung Stadium Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 22,333
Personnel and sponsoring Team Manager Main sponsor Kit manufacturer Other sponsor(s) Busan IPark Lee Ki-hyung (caretaker) Hyundai Development Company Adidas Daegu FC Lee Byung-keun (caretaker) Daegu Government Forward DGB Daegu BankAJIN Industrial Co., Ltd. Gangwon FC Kim Byung-soo Gangwon Provincial Government Applerind Kangwon Land Gwangju FC Park Jin-sub Gwangju Government Kelme Incheon United Jo Sung-hwan Incheon Government Macron Shinhan BankIncheon International Airport Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors José Morais Hyundai Motor Company Hummel Pohang Steelers Kim Gi-dong POSCO Astore Pohang Government Sangju Sangmu Kim Tae-wan Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps Kelme Seongnam FC Kim Nam-il Seongnam Government Umbro FC Seoul Park Hyuk-soon (caretaker) GS Group Le Coq Sportif Suwon Samsung Bluewings Park Kun-ha Cheil Worldwide Puma Samsung Electronics Ulsan Hyundai Kim Do-hoon Hyundai Heavy Industries Hummel Hyundai Oil Bank
Foreign players Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to five per team, including a slot for a player from the Asian Football Confederation countries and a slot for a player from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A team could use five foreign players on the field each game, including at least one player from the AFC confederation.
Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player ASEAN player Former player(s) Busan IPark Vintecinco Rômulo Dostonbek Tursunov Reis Daegu FC Césinha Edgar Dejan Damjanović Tsubasa Nishi Gangwon FC Takahiro Nakazato Gwangju FC Felipe Willyan Marco Ureña Rustam Ashurmatov Incheon United Stefan Mugoša Elías Aguilar Gustavo Rashid Mahazi Lanre Kehinde Gordan Bunoza Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Murilo Modou Barrow Gustavo Takahiro Kunimoto Lars Veldwijk Pohang Steelers Manuel Palacios Stanislav Iljutcenko Aleksandar Paločević Brandon O’Neill Seongnam FC Igor Jovanović Tomislav Kiš Jamshid Iskanderov FC Seoul Adriano Michael Jackson Osmar Ikromjon Alibaev Aleksandar Pešić Suwon Samsung Bluewings Doneil Henry Terry Antonis Adam Taggart Sulejman Krpić Ulsan Hyundai Júnior Negrão Dave Bulthuis Bjørn Maars Johnsen Jason Davidson
League table
Positions by matchday
Round 1–22
Round 23–27 The league was divided into two groups, the top six and the bottom six, after the 22nd matchday.
Results
Matches 1–22
Matches 23–27
Final A
Final B
Statistics Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Júnior Negrão Ulsan Hyundai 26 2 Stanislav Iljutcenko Pohang Steelers 19 3 Cesinha Daegu FC 18 4 Aleksandar Paločević Pohang Steelers 14 5 Stefan Mugoša Incheon United 12 Felipe Gwangju FC 7 Han Kyo-won Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 11 8 Song Min-kyu Pohang Steelers 10 9 Dejan Damjanović Daegu FC 9 Adam Taggart Suwon Samsung Bluewings Ko Moo-yeol Gangwon FC
Top assist providers RankPlayerClubAssists 1 Kang Sang-woo Sangju Sangmu Pohang Steelers 12 2 Jeong Seung-won Daegu FC 7 3 Kim Seung-dae Gangwon FC 6 Aleksandar Paločević Pohang Steelers Kim In-sung Ulsan Hyundai Manuel Palacios Pohang Steelers Stanislav Iljutcenko Pohang Steelers Song Min-kyu Pohang Steelers 9 Son Jun-ho Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 5 10 12 players 4
Awards Weekly awards
RoundPlayer of the RoundPlayerClub1 Júnior NegrãoUlsan Hyundai2 Júnior NegrãoUlsan Hyundai3 Kang Sang-wooSangju Sangmu4 Stanislav IljutcenkoPohang Steelers5 Lee Chung-yongUlsan Hyundai6 Stanislav IljutcenkoPohang Steelers7 Kim Min-hyeokJeonbuk Hyundai Motors8 CesinhaDaegu FC9 Takahiro KunimotoJeonbuk Hyundai Motors10 Lee Dong-junBusan IPark11 Júnior NegrãoUlsan Hyundai12 Oh Se-hunSangju Sangmu13 Lee Seung-giJeonbuk Hyundai Motors14 Um Won-sangGwangju FC
RoundPlayer of the RoundPlayerClub15 Na Sang-hoSeongnam FC16 Han Seung-gyuFC Seoul17 Kim Jin-suJeonbuk Hyundai Motors18 FelipeGwangju FC19 Stefan MugošaIncheon United20 Song Min-kyuPohang Steelers21 Dejan DamjanovićDaegu FC22 Aleksandar PaločevićPohang Steelers23 Adam TaggartSuwon Samsung Bluewings24 Jung Seung-hyunUlsan Hyundai25 Stanislav IljutcenkoPohang Steelers26 CesinhaDaegu FC27 Hong Si-hooSeongnam FC
Monthly awards MonthPlayer of the MonthManager of the MonthGoal of the MonthPlayerClubManagerClubDivisionPlayer ClubMay Júnior NegrãoUlsan Kim Nam-ilSeongnam1 Cho Jae-wanGangwonJune CesinhaDaegu José MoraisJeonbuk1 CesinhaDaeguJuly Júnior NegrãoUlsan Kim Do-hoonUlsan1 Lee Dong-gyeongUlsanAugust Moon Seon-minSangju Nam Ki-ilJeju2 Moon Seon-minSangjuSeptember Stefan MugošaIncheon Kim Gi-dongPohang1 Adam TaggartSuwonOctober Stanislav IljutcenkoPohang Nam Ki-ilJeju2 Hong Si-hooSeongnam
Annual awards The 2020 K League Awards was held on 5 November 2020.
AwardWinnerClubMost Valuable Player Son Jun-hoJeonbuk Hyundai MotorsYoung Player of the Year Song Min-kyuPohang SteelersTop goalscorer Júnior NegrãoUlsan HyundaiTop assist provider Kang Sang-wooSangju Sangmu Pohang SteelersManager of the Year Kim Gi-dongPohang Steelers PositionBest XIGoalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan)Defenders Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan) Kwon Kyung-won (Sangju) Hong Jeong-ho (Jeonbuk) Kang Sang-woo (Sangju, Pohang)Midfielders Aleksandar Paločević (Pohang) Cesinha (Daegu) Son Jun-ho (Jeonbuk) Han Kyo-won(Jeonbuk)Forwards Stanislav Iljutcenko (Pohang) Júnior Negrão (Ulsan)
Attendance Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.
See also 2020 in South Korean football 2020 Korean FA Cup
References
External links