The 2021 K League 2 was the ninth season of the K League 2, the second-tier South Korean professional football league. The champions and the winners of the promotion play-offs could be promoted to the K League 1.
Teams Team changes Sangju Sangmu was renamed Gimcheon Sangmu and moved its city to Gimcheon before the season.
Relegated from K League 1 Sangju Sangmu (renamed Gimcheon Sangmu) Busan IPark
Promoted to K League 1 Jeju United Suwon FC
Locations
Team City/Province Abbreviation Ansan Greeners Ansan Ansan FC Anyang Anyang Anyang Bucheon FC 1995 Bucheon Bucheon Busan IPark Busan Busan Chungnam Asan Asan Chungnam Asan Daejeon Hana Citizen Daejeon Daejeon Gimcheon Sangmu Gimcheon Gimcheon Gyeongnam FC Gyeongnam Gyeongnam Jeonnam Dragons Jeonnam Jeonnam Seoul E-Land Seoul Seoul E
Stadiums Ansan Greeners FC Anyang Bucheon FC 1995 Busan IPark Chungnam Asan Ansan Wa~ Stadium Anyang Stadium Bucheon Stadium Busan Gudeok Stadium Yi Sun-sin Stadium Capacity: 35,000 Capacity: 17,143 Capacity: 34,456 Capacity: 12,349 Capacity: 17,376 Daejeon Hana Citizen Gimcheon Sangmu Gyeongnam FC Jeonnam Dragons Seoul E-Land Daejeon World Cup Stadium Gimcheon Stadium Changwon Football Center Gwangyang Stadium Seoul Olympic Stadium Capacity: 40,535 Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 15,074 Capacity: 13,496 Capacity: 69,950
Personnel and sponsoring
Team Manager Kit manufacturer Main sponsor Ansan Greeners Kim Gil-sik Kappa Ansan Government FC Anyang Lee Woo-hyung Joma Anyang Government Bucheon FC 1995 Lee Young-min Kappa Bucheon Government Busan IPark Ricardo Peres Adidas HDC Group Chungnam Asan Park Dong-hyuk Mizuno Asan Government Daejeon Hana Citizen Lee Min-sung Astore Hana Financial Group Gimcheon Sangmu Kim Tae-wan Kelme Korea Armed Forces Athletic CorpsGimcheon Government Gyeongnam FC Seol Ki-hyeon Hummel Gyeongnam Provincial Government Jeonnam Dragons Jeon Kyung-jun Puma POSCO Seoul E-Land Chung Jung-yong New Balance E-Land Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoingMannerDateIncomingDateTableBusan IPark Lee Ki-hyung (caretaker)Caretaker25 November 2020 Ricardo Peres25 November 2020Pre-season
Foreign players Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to five per team, including a slot for a player from AFC and ASEAN countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field each game.
Military-owned team Gimcheon Sangmu is not allowed to sign any foreign players.
North Korean player An Byong-jun was deemed as a native player in K League by South Korean nationality law and passport.
Players in bold are players who join midway through the competition.
Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player ASEAN player Former player(s) Ansan Greeners Santiago De Sagastizabal Anderson Canhoto Róbson Duarte Go Iwase Asnawi Mangkualam FC Anyang Nilson Júnior Jonathan Moya Maxwell Acosty Ryosuke Tamura Bucheon FC 1995 Crislan Wataru Murofushi Busan IPark Domagoj Drožđek Valentinos Sielis Renato Santos Ryan Edwards Chungnam Asan Alex Sandro Matheus Alves Ryohei Michibuchi Daejeon Hana Citizen Bruno Baio Matheus Pato Masatoshi Ishida Ikromjon Alibaev Edinho Gyeongnam FC Hernandes Willyan Jeonnam Dragons Alex Martins Jonathan Balotelli Samuel Nnamani Oleg Zoteyev Seoul E-Land Nicolás Benegas William Barbio Leandro Ribeiro Yuki Kobayashi
League table
Positions by matchday
Results Matches 1–18
Matches 19–36
Promotion play-offs The first round was contested between the third and fourth-placed teams, and the runners-up directly advanced to the second round. When the first and second round matches were finished as draws, their winners were decided on the regular season rankings without extra time and penalty shoot-outs. The winners of the second round competed with eleven-placed team of the K League 1 in the two-legged final for a K League 1 spot of the next season.
Bracket
First round
Semi-final
Final
Gangwon FC won 4–2 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.
Statistics Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals 1 An Byong-jun Busan IPark 23 2 Jonathan Moya FC Anyang 13 Park Chang-joon Bucheon FC 1995 4 Willyan Gyeongnam FC 11 Jonathan Balotelli Jeonnam Dragons 6 Hernandes Gyeongnam FC 10 7 Masatoshi Ishida Daejeon Hana Citizen 9 Park Dong-jin Gimcheon Sangmu Kim Ryun-do Ansan Greeners 10 Cho Gue-sung Gimcheon Sangmu 8 Lee Jong-ho Jeonnam Dragons Park Jeong-in Busan IPark Róbson Duarte Ansan Greeners Kim In-kyun Chungnam Asan
Top assist providers RankPlayerClubAssists 1 Joo Hyeon-woo FC Anyang 8 2 Leandro Ribeiro Seoul E-Land 7 3 Park Tae-jun FC Anyang 6 Baek Sung-dong Gyeongnam FC Lee Sang-min Ansan Greeners 6 Kim Seung-seob Daejeon Hana Citizen 5 Lee Hyeon-sik Daejeon Hana Citizen 8 9 players 4
Awards Weekly awards
RoundPlayer of the Round Player Club1 Jang Yun-hoSeoul E-Land2 Nicolás BenegasSeoul E-Land3 WillyanGyeongnam FC4 An Byong-junBusan IPark5 Go Jae-hyunSeoul E-Land6 Mo Jae-hyeonFC Anyang7 Kim Hyeon-ukJeonnam Dragons8 HernandesGyeongnam FC9 Chang Hyuk-jinGyeongnam FC10 Jung Min-kiFC Anyang11 Hwang Jun-hoBusan IPark12 Kim Dong-jinGyeongnam FC13 Park In-hyeokDaejeon Hana Citizen14 Kim Kyung-jungFC Anyang15 Jonathan BalotelliJeonnam Dragons16 An Byong-junBusan IPark17 Jonathan MoyaFC Anyang18 Heo Yong-joonGimcheon Sangmu
RoundPlayer of the Round Player Club19 Choi Cheol-wonBucheon FC 199520 Hong Chang-beomFC Anyang21 Park Jeong-inBusan IPark22 Kim Seung-seobDaejeon Hana Citizen23 Hwang Il-suGyeongnam FC24 Kim In-kyunChungnam Asan25 Seo Young-jaeDaejeon Hana Citizen26 Heo Yong-joonGimcheon Sangmu27 Lee Si-heonBucheon FC 199528 Oh Hyeon-gyuGimcheon Sangmu29 Kim In-sungSeoul E-Land30 Cho Gue-sungGimcheon Sangmu31 Park Ji-sooGimcheon Sangmu32 Choi JunBusan IPark33 Masatohsi IshidaDaejeon Hana Citizen34 Lee Hyeon-sikDaejeon Hana Citizen35 Masatohsi IshidaDaejeon Hana Citizen36 Lee Sang-minAnsan Greeners
Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthManagerClubDivisionMarch Kim Sang-sikJeonbuk Hyundai Motors1April Lee Woo-hyungFC Anyang2May Park Kun-haSuwon Samsung Bluewings1June Kim Tae-wanGimcheon Sangmu2July Jo Sung-hwanIncheon United1August Hong Myung-boUlsan Hyundai1September Lee Byung-keunDaegu FC1October Nam Ki-ilJeju United1November An Ik-sooFC Seoul1
Annual awards The 2021 K League Awards was held on 18 November 2021.
AwardWinnerClubMost Valuable Player An Byong-junBusan IParkYoung Player of the Year Kim In-kyunChungnam AsanTop goalscorer An Byong-junBusan IParkTop assist provider Joo Hyeon-wooFC AnyangManager of the Year Kim Tae-wanGimcheon Sangmu
PositionBest XIGoalkeeper Gu Sung-yun (Gimcheon)Defenders Choi Jun (Busan) Joo Hyeon-woo (Anyang) Jung Seung-hyun (Gimcheon) Seo Young-jae (Daejeon)Midfielders Masatoshi Ishida (Daejeon) Park Jin-seob (Daejeon) Kim Hyeon-uk (Jeonnam) Kim Kyung-jung (Anyang)Forwards Jonathan Moya (Anyang) An Byong-jun (Busan)
Controversies On 12 December 2021, Gangwon FC and Daejeon Hana Citizen faced one another in the second leg of the Promotion-relegation play-offs, with the latter team finding himself in advantage after winning the first leg 1–0. Played at Gangneung Stadium, Gangwon's home soil, the match saw the hosts secure a 4–1 comeback victory and maintain their spot in K League 1. However, the game was marred by a series of incidents, occurring between the first and the second half. After Han Kook-young had scored Gangwon's third goal in the 31st minute, the ball boys around the stadium reportedly started to delay giving the ball back to Daejeon players, an event that happened multiple times during the match and was possibly meant to waste time in favour of the hosts: the fans in the away sector reacted furiously, with some of them throwing plastic bottles in direction of one of the ball boys. The game still went ahead, as six minutes of extra time were added at the end of the second half. The K League administration decided to open an official investigation on the controversial events.
When asked to talk about the incidents, Gangwon's director Lee Young-pyo originally dismissed them, pointing out that similar instances were already common in European football, but later apologized, saying that he felt "direct responsibility" for the "unsmooth match" and promising that he would work so that Gangwon FC would become "a mature club" in the future. Meanwhile, on 21 December, just hours before K League's final disciplinary meeting took place, the Daejeon board released an official response to the matter, stating that there was "clear evidence of the game delays being intentional and organized", as well as noticing that such acts violated the league's Code of Ethics for fair play and respect.
In the end, the league's administration decided to keep the final score unchanged: however, Gangwon FC was fined 30 million South Korean Won (US$25,000) for the episodes of time wasting, whereas Daejeon Hana Citizen was fined 2 million South Korean Won (US$1,677) for their fans' behavior towards one of the ball boys.
See also 2021 in South Korean football 2021 Korean FA Cup
References
External links Official website