R League
The R League (Korean: R리그), also known as the Korean Professional Football Reserve League, is the league for reserve teams of professional association football clubs in South Korea. The league started in 1990 with five reserve teams of K League member clubs: Pohang Steelworks, Yukong Elephants, Daewoo Royals, Hyundai Horang-i and Lucky-Goldstar.[1][2] Pohang Steelworks won the inaugural title, finishing two point ahead of Yukong Elephants to lift the crown.[3] But league was shortlived for only one year and reserve teams participated in semi-professional tournaments such as the National Football Championship.[4]
| Founded | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Country |  South Korea |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Current champions | FC Seoul (Group A) Pohang Steelers (Group B) |
The competition was relaunched in 2000 with a dual league format. Nine reserve teams were divided into the Central League (currently Group League A) and the Southern League (currently Group League B). Each team played against the other teams in the same league for four times. In 2001, Police FC joined the R League and Gwangju Sangmu's reserve team joined in 2002.
For the 2009 season, the R League was renamed to its current name[5] and thirteen of the fifteen K League clubs are fielding reserve teams in the league along with the Police FC, giving a total of fourteen participating clubs. Gangwon FC and Jeju United did not participate.
As part of the plan to form the system of promotion and relegation in the K League starting from the 2013 season, the R League was planned to downsize after the 2012 season.[6] The competition was ceased until 2015. Starting from the 2016 season, K League clubs officially announced that they will resume the R League.[7]
Appearances
Since 2016 season, R league's participating teams are changing depending on the choice of each K league team.
Entered
Did not enter
| Season | 1990 I |
2000 II |
2001 III |
2002 IV |
2003 V |
2004 VI |
2005 VII |
2006 VIII |
2007 IX |
2008 X |
2009 XI |
2010 XII |
2011 XIII |
2012 XIV |
2016 XV |
2017 XVI |
2018 XVII |
2019 XVIII |
2022 XIX |
2023 XX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Seoul | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | ||
| Ulsan Hyundai | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | ||
| Busan IPark | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | - | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | ||
| Pohang Steelers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | - | - | 15 | 16 | ||
| Jeju United | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | - | 11 | 12 | - | - | 13 | 14 | 15 | ||
| Seongnam FC | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | - | 16 | ||
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | |||
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | - | 13 | - | 14 | 15 | |||
| Jeonnam Dragons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | - | - | - | 13 | - | |||
| Ansan Mugunghwa | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | - | - | - | |||
| Sangju Sangmu | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | - | - | - | - | ||
| Incheon United | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||||||
| Gyeongnam FC | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | - | - | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
| Daegu FC | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||
| Daejeon Citizen | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | 5 | - | 6 | 7 | |||
| Gangwon FC | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Bucheon FC 1995 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Seoul E-Land | 1 | 2 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||
| Chungju Hummel | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | ||||||
| Goyang Zaicro | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | ||||||
| Ansan Greeners | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Suwon FC | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 5 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 16 | ||
Winners
Championship/Single league
| Season | Champions | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | POSCO Atoms | Yukong Elephants |
| 1991–1999 | No competition | |
| 2000 | Anyang LG Cheetahs | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma |
| 2001 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | Anyang LG Cheetahs |
| 2002 | Anyang LG Cheetahs | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma |
| 2003 | No competition | |
| 2004 | FC Seoul | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma |
| 2005 | Bucheon SK | FC Seoul |
| 2006 | Incheon United | Busan IPark |
| 2007 | Pohang Steelers | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma |
| 2008 | Incheon United | Pohang Steelers |
| 2009 | Incheon United | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma |
| 2010–2016 | No competition | |
| 2017 | Ulsan Hyundai | Suwon Samsung Bluewings |
| 2018–2021 | No competition | |
Regional leagues
| Season | Central league | Southern league | South-central league |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Anyang LG Cheetahs | Jeonnam Dragons | N/A |
| 2001 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | Pohang Steelers | |
| 2002 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | Gwangju Sangmu | |
| 2003 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | Jeonnam Dragons | |
| 2004 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | Pohang Steelers | |
| 2005 | FC Seoul | Jeonnam Dragons | |
| 2006 | FC Seoul | Jeonnam Dragons | Incheon United |
| 2007 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | Pohang Steelers | Jeju United |
| 2008 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | Gyeongnam FC | N/A |
| 2009 | Incheon United | Pohang Steelers | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
| Season | Group A | Group B | N/A |
| 2010 | FC Seoul | Pohang Steelers | N/A |
| 2011 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | Sangju Sangmu | |
| 2012 | Police FC | Busan IPark | |
| 2013–2015 | No competition | ||
| 2016 | FC Seoul | Daegu FC | |
| 2017 | Held single league | ||
| 2018 | FC Seoul | Daejeon Citizen | |
| 2019 | FC Seoul | Pohang Steelers | |
| 2020–2021 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||
Titles by club
K League's principle of official statistics is that final club succeeds to predecessor club's history & records.[8]
| Club | Group | National titles | Regional 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 | B | — | 2 (2002, 2011) | 2 |
| Gyeongnam FC | B | — | 1 (2008) | 1 |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | B | — | 1 (2009) | 1 |
| Police FC | A | — | 1 (2012) | 1 |
| Busan IPark | B | — | 1 (2012) | 1 |
| Daegu FC | B | — | 1 (2016) | 1 |
| Daejeon Citizen | B | — | 1 (2018) | 1 |
Individual awards
Most Valuable Player
| Season | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} 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 |
| 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
Source:[9]
| Year | Player | Club | Goals | Apps | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |  Gomes |
Jeju United | 7 | 3 | 2.33 |
| 2011 | Jung Sung-min |
Gangwon FC | 10 | 17 | 0.59 |
| 2012 | Kim Young-hoo |
Police FC | 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
Source:[9]
| Year | Player | Club | Assists | Apps | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
References
- 프로축구 2군리그 5개구단 내년 창설 (in Korean). Mail Business Newspaper. 6 December 1989.
- 도시연고제 도입 등 탈바꿈 시도 (in Korean). K League.
- 프로축구 2군 리그 종료 포항제철, 첫 우승 차지 (in Korean). Best Eleven. November 1990.
- 대우2군 "프로가 한수위" (in Korean). Dong-A Ilbo. 26 November 1991.
- K-리그-2군 리그 'R-리그', 30일 개막 (in Korean). K League. 30 March 2009.
- R리그 내년부터 폐지 왜? (in Korean). Sports Donga. 16 September 2011.
- K리그 챌린지, 3월 26일 개막... 부산 vs 안산 격돌 (in Korean). InterFootball. 26 January 2016.
- "The Official K-League Almanac" (in Korean). K-League editorial division.
- "K League Data Portal" (in Korean). K League. Retrieved 19 June 2021.