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.
| Season | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 27 February – 31 October 2021[1] |
| Champions | Gimcheon Sangmu (1st title) |
| Promoted | Gimcheon Sangmu |
| Champions League | Jeonnam Dragons (via Korean FA Cup) |
| Matches played | 180 |
| Goals scored | 435 (2.42 per match) |
| Best Player | An Byong-jun |
| Top goalscorer | An Byong-jun (23 goals) |
← 2020 2022 → | |
Teams
editTeam changes
editSangju 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
Locations
edit
| 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
edit| 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
edit| 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 Corps Gimcheon 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
edit| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Date | Incoming | Date | Table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Busan IPark | Lee Ki-hyung (caretaker)
|
Caretaker | 25 November 2020 | Ricardo Peres
|
25 November 2020[2] | Pre-season |
Foreign players
editRestricting 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.[3]
League table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gimcheon Sangmu (C) | 36 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 60 | 34 | 26 | 71 | Promotion to K League 1 |
| 2 | FC Anyang | 36 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 51 | 37 | 14 | 62 | Qualification for promotion play-offs semi-final |
| 3 | Daejeon Hana Citizen | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 53 | 48 | 5 | 58 | Qualification for promotion play-offs first round |
| 4 | Jeonnam Dragons | 36 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 38 | 33 | 5 | 52 | Qualification for Champions League group stage and promotion play-offs first round[a] |
| 5 | Busan IPark | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 46 | 56 | −10 | 45 | |
| 6 | Gyeongnam FC | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 40 | 45 | −5 | 43 | |
| 7 | Ansan Greeners | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 37 | 49 | −12 | 43 | |
| 8 | Chungnam Asan | 36 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 38 | 41 | −3 | 41 | |
| 9 | Seoul E-Land | 36 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 40 | 39 | 1 | 37 | |
| 10 | Bucheon FC 1995 | 36 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 37 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points
(C) Champions
Notes:
- ^ Qualified as Korean FA Cup champions.
Positions by matchday
edit Leaders, promotion to K League 1
Qualification for promotion play-offs semi-final
Qualification for promotion play-offs first round
Results
editMatches 1–18
editMatches 19–36
editPromotion play-offs
editThe 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
edit| First round | Semi-final | Final | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | FC Anyang | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Daejeon Hana Citizen | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Daejeon Hana Citizen | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Jeonnam Dragons | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Daejeon Hana Citizen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Gangwon FC | 0 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||
First round
editSemi-final
edit| FC Anyang | 1–3 | Daejeon Hana Citizen |
|---|---|---|
Jonathan Moya  12' |
Report | Park Jin-sub 32' Bruno Baio 69', 85' |
Final
edit| Gangwon FC | 4–1 | Daejeon Hana Citizen |
|---|---|---|
|
Lee Jong-hyeon 17' |
Gangwon FC won 4–2 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.
Statistics
editTop goalscorers
editTop assist providers
edit| Rank | Player[4] | Club | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
editWeekly awards
editMonthly awards
edit| Month | Manager of the Month | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Division | |
| March | Kim Sang-sik
|
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 1 |
| April | Lee Woo-hyung
|
FC Anyang | 2 |
| May | Park Kun-ha
|
Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1 |
| June | Kim Tae-wan
|
Gimcheon Sangmu | 2 |
| July | Jo Sung-hwan
|
Incheon United | 1 |
| August | Hong Myung-bo
|
Ulsan Hyundai | 1 |
| September | Lee Byung-keun
|
Daegu FC | 1 |
| October | Nam Ki-il
|
Jeju United | 1 |
| November | An Ik-soo
|
FC Seoul | 1 |
Annual awards
editThe 2021 K League Awards was held on 18 November 2021.
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player |  An Byong-jun
|
Busan IPark |
| Young Player of the Year | Kim In-kyun
|
Chungnam Asan |
| Top goalscorer | An Byong-jun
|
Busan IPark |
| Top assist provider | Joo Hyeon-woo
|
FC Anyang |
| Manager of the Year | Kim Tae-wan
|
Gimcheon Sangmu |
| Position | Best XI | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | 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-seop (Daejeon) |
Kim Hyeon-uk (Jeonnam) |
Kim Kyung-jung (Anyang) |
| Forwards |  Jonathan Moya (Anyang)
|
An Byong-jun (Busan)
| ||
Controversies
editOn 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.[5][6]
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.[5] Meanwhile, on December 21, 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.[5][7]
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.[5][6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ [공식발표] K리그2, 2월 27일 개막..경남vs안양으로 스타트 (in Korean). InterFootball. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
- ^ "OFFICIAL | Busan IPark have appointed ex-Casa Pia manager Ricardo Peres as a new manager of the team". Twitter.com. Korea Football News. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- ^ "2021 K League 2 Foreign Players" (in Korean). K League. February 2022. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Record". K League. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d Neat, Paul (21 December 2021). "Gangwon FC fined for Playoff Final "ballboy controversy"". K League United. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ a b Lee, Seok-moo (21 December 2021). '볼보이 고의 지연 논란' 강원FC, 제재금 3천만원..."구단 책임 커". Naver (in Korean). Edaily. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ Kim, Myeong-seok (21 December 2021). "강원 볼보이 논란, 누군가 지시 없이는 불가능" 대전, 철저한 진상조사 요구. Naver (in Korean). Starnews Korea. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.