2015 K League Challenge

The 2015 K League Challenge was the third season of the K League Challenge, the second tier South Korean professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2013. From the 2014 season, a top place team was promoted to the K League Classic and the promotion play-offs among three clubs ranked between 2nd and 4th took place after the regular season ends.[1]

Hyundai Oilbank
K League Challenge 2015

Season	2015
Champions	Sangju Sangmu (2nd title)
Promoted	Sangju Sangmu Suwon FC
Matches played	220
Goals scored	593 (2.7 per match)
Top goalscorer	Johnathan (26 goals)
Biggest home win	Gangwon 4–0 Bucheon (R3) & Seoul E 4-0 Chungju (R10)
Biggest away win	Goyang 0–5 Sangju (R9)
Highest scoring	Anyang 3–4 Seoul E (R36)
Highest attendance	20,157 Daegu v Gangwon (29 March)
Lowest attendance	249 Goyang v Gangwon (10 June)
Average attendance	1,606
← 2014 2016 →

Teams

Daejeon Citizen, the champions of the 2014 K League Challenge, and Gwangju FC, a promotion series winners, were promoted to 2015 K League Classic, then Gyeongnam FC and Sangju Sangmu were relegated from the top tier. A total of eleven teams contested the league, including a new team Seoul E-Land FC.

Participating clubs

Ansan

Anyang

Bucheon

Chungju

Daegu

Goyang

Gangwon

Gyeongnam

Sangju

Seoul E-Land

Suwon

Location of teams in 2015 K League Challenge

Team	City	Manager	Home venue	Capacity
Ansan Police	Ansan	Lee Heung-sil	Ansan Wa~ Stadium	35,000
FC Anyang	Anyang	Lee Woo-hyung	Anyang Stadium	18,216
Bucheon FC 1995	Bucheon	Choi Jin-han	Bucheon Stadium	34,545
Chungju Hummel	Chungju	Kim Jong-pil	Chungju Stadium	15,000
Daegu FC	Daegu	Lee Young-jin	Daegu Stadium	68,014
Gangwon FC	Gangneung	Choi Yun-kyum	Gangneung Stadium	22,333
Goyang Hi FC	Goyang	Lee Young-moo	Goyang Stadium	41,311
Gyeongnam FC	Changwon	Park Sung-hwa	Changwon Football Center	15,500
Sangju Sangmu	Sangju	Park Hang-seo	Sangju Civic Stadium	15,042
Seoul E-Land	Seoul	Martin Rennie	Seoul Olympic Stadium	69,950
Suwon FC	Suwon	Cho Duck-je	Suwon Stadium	24,670

Stadiums

Primary venues used in the K League Challenge:

Ansan Police	FC Anyang	Bucheon FC 1995	Chungju Hummel	Daegu FC	Gangwon FC
Ansan Wa~ Stadium	Anyang Stadium	Bucheon Stadium	Chungju Stadium	Daegu Stadium	Gangneung Stadium
Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 17,143	Capacity: 34,545	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 68,014	Capacity: 22,333
Goyang Hi FC	Gyeongnam FC	Sangju Sangmu	Seoul E-Land	Suwon FC
Goyang Stadium	Changwon Football Center	Sangju Stadium	Seoul Olympic Stadium	Suwon Stadium
Capacity: 41,311	Capacity: 15,500	Capacity: 15,042	Capacity: 69,950	Capacity: 24,670

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Managers	Kit Manufacturer^1	Main sponsor^1
Ansan Police		Zaicro
FC Anyang		Zaicro	KB Kookmin Bank
Bucheon FC 1995		Astore	Bucheon Government
Chungju Hummel		Hummel	Chungju Government
Daegu FC		Kelme	Daegu Government
Gyeongnam FC		Hummel
Gangwon FC		Hummel
Goyang Hi FC		New Balance
Sangju Sangmu		Atemi
Seoul E-Land		New Balance	E-Land
Suwon FC		Hummel	Suwon Government

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field each game.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Asian Player
FC Anyang	Austin Berry
Bucheon FC 1995	Rodrigo Paraná	Almir	Lukian
Chungju Hummel	Marcinho
Daegu FC	Léo Jaime	Johnathan	Serginho	Éder
Gyeongnam FC	Fauver	Miloš Stojanović	Imed Louati
Gangwon FC	Jonatas Belusso	Henan	Gil
Goyang Hi FC
Seoul E-Land	Carlyle Mitchell	Ryan Johnson	Tarabai	Robert Cullen
Suwon FC	Japa	Vladan Adžić	Sisi

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sangju Sangmu (C, P)	40	20	7	13	77	57	+20	67	Promotion to 2016 K League Classic
2	Daegu FC	40	18	13	9	67	47	+20	67	Qualification to K League Challenge play-offs
3	Suwon FC (O, P)	40	18	11	11	64	54	+10	65
4	Seoul E-Land	40	16	13	11	69	58	+11	61
5	Bucheon FC 1995	40	15	10	15	43	45	−2	55
6	FC Anyang	40	13	15	12	53	52	+1	54
7	Gangwon FC	40	13	12	15	64	56	+8	51
8	Goyang Hi FC	40	13	10	17	46	68	−22	49
9	Gyeongnam FC	40	10	13	17	30	43	−13	43
10	Ansan Police	40	9	15	16	31	48	−17	42
11	Chungju Hummel	40	10	11	19	49	65	−16	41

Updated to match(es) played on 22 November 2015. Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted.

Positions by matchday

  Leader & Promotion to the 2016 K League Classic
  Qualification to Relegation/promotion play-offs

Round 1-22

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Sangju Sangmu	2	4	1	1	2	3	2	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Daegu FC	9	6	6	6	4	1	1	1	1	2	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	2
Seoul E-Land	7	9	10	10	10	10	7	5	6	4	4	3	2	3	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3
Suwon FC	11	8	3	3	1	2	4	2	3	3	2	2	3	2	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Goyang Hi FC	4	7	2	2	3	4	3	4	4	5	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Bucheon FC 1995	3	5	9	8	5	5	6	8	8	8	9	7	8	9	9	8	8	6	6	8	7	6
Ansan Police	5	2	5	5	7	7	8	6	5	6	5	6	6	6	6	7	6	7	8	7	6	7
Chungju Hummel	8	10	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	11	10	10	7	7	8	9	9	8	9	10	8	8
Gyeongnam FC	5	2	7	7	8	8	10	11	11	10	7	8	10	8	7	6	7	9	7	6	9	9
Gangwon FC	10	11	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	11	11	9	11	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10
FC Anyang	1	1	4	4	6	6	5	7	7	7	8	9	11	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11

Source: kleague.com

Round 23-44

Team ╲ Round	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44
Sangju Sangmu	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	1	1
Daegu FC	2	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2
Suwon FC	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	3	3	3	4	3	4	4	3	3	3
Seoul E-Land	3	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	2	4	3	3	4	4	4
Bucheon FC 1995	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
FC Anyang	11	11	9	9	7	8	8	7	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	7	7	6	6	6	6
Gangwon FC	9	9	8	8	9	9	7	9	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	9	8	8	8	7	7
Goyang Hi FC	6	6	6	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	8	8
Gyeongnam FC	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9
Ansan Police	8	8	7	6	8	7	9	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	7	8	9	9	9	10	10
Chungju Hummel	7	7	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11

Source: kleague.com

Results

Matches 1-22 Home \ Away ASM ANY BUC CJH DGU GWN GHI GNM SJS SEL SUW Ansan Police 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–3 2–2 1–0 FC Anyang 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 0–0 1–5 0–1 3–0 Bucheon FC 1995 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 3–2 1–2 1–2 3–1 0–3 2–2 Chungju Hummel 3–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 3–1 0–1 0–0 3–3 1–2 0–2 Daegu FC 3–0 2–2 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–0 1–4 Gangwon FC 1–1 0–0 4–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 1–2 3–1 3–1 Goyang Hi FC 1–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–5 2–4 2–3 Gyeongnam FC 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–3 2–3 1–2 Sangju Sangmu 2–0 3–2 1–0 4–0 0–2 3–1 0–0 4–2 3–2 0–0 Seoul E-Land 2–2 1–1 0–0 4–0 1–1 2–4 2–0 1–1 2–3 2–0 Suwon FC 2–2 0–0 3–2 2–3 2–2 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–5 Updated to match(es) played on 29 Aug 2015. Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23-44

Home \ Away	ASM	ANY	BUC	CJH	DGU	GWN	GHI	GNM	SJS	SEL	SUW
Ansan Police		1–2	0–2	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–1	0–1
FC Anyang	2–1		0–0	1–0	0–2	1–2	3–0	2–0	2–1	3–4	3–2
Bucheon FC 1995	0–1	0–1		2–0	0–1	4–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	3–1	0–0
Chungju Hummel	0–0	2–2	2–0		1–1	0–2	1–2	0–2	4–1	1–3	1–3
Daegu FC	1–0	2–4	1–1	1–1		0–1	2–3	3–0	5–1	3–3	1–2
Gangwon FC	2–0	4–1	1–1	3–3	3–2		2–2	1–1	0–2	4–4	1–1
Goyang Hi FC	0–1	1–0	2–3	2–5	3–3	2–4		2–1	0–4	2–1	1–1
Gyeongnam FC	0–1	2–2	1–0	1–0	1–3	0–0	0–0		1–0	0–0	0–0
Sangju Sangmu	3–0	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	0–3	4–1	1–0		1–1	2–5
Seoul E-Land	1–1	1–0	1–0	4–2	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–1	1–0		1–4
Suwon FC	2–1	1–2	1–2	2–1	0–2	3–2	0–0	3–1	1–0	3–1

Updated to match(es) played on 22 November 2015. Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion-Relegation Playoffs

Promotion and relegation playoffs will be held between 2nd~4th clubs of 2015 K League Challenge and 11th club of 2015 K League Classic. If scores are tied after regular time at Semi-Playoff and Playoff, the higher placed team advances to the next phase. The same conditions do not apply to Promotion-Relegation Playoffs.

	Semi-Playoff					Playoff						Relegation/Promotion Playoffs
												1	Busan IPark		0	0
						2	Daegu FC	1				3	Suwon FC		1	2
	3	Suwon FC	3			3	Suwon FC	2
	4	Seoul E-Land FC	3

Semi-Playoff

25 November 2015

19:00 KST

Suwon FC	3–3	Seoul E-Land FC
Japa  20' Lim Seong-taek  45+2' Kim Young-kwang  55' (o.g.)	Report	Tarabai  33' (pen.) Yoon Sung-yeul  43' Jeon Min-gwang  52'

Suwon Sports Complex, Suwon

Attendance: 1,240

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin

Playoff

28 November 2015

14:00 KST

Daegu FC	1–2	Suwon FC
No Byung-jun  40'	Report	Bae Shin-young  19' Japa  79'

Daegu Stadium, Daegu

Attendance: 1,824

Referee: Song Min-seok

Promotion-Relegation Playoffs

First leg

2 December 2015

19:00 KST

Suwon FC	1–0	Busan IPark
Jung Min-woo  85'	Report

Suwon Sports Complex, Suwon

Attendance: 2,347

Referee: Lee Dong-jun

Second leg

5 December 2015

16:00 KST

Busan IPark	0–2	Suwon FC
	Report	Lim Seong-taek  80' Japa  90+4'

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 6,135

Referee: Woo Sang-il

Suwon FC secure promotion to the 2016 K League Classic season, 3–0 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Top scorers Rank Scorer Club Goals 1 Johnathan Daegu FC 26 2 Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land 23 3 Japa Suwon FC 19 Cho Seok-jae Chungju Hummel 5 Tarabai Seoul E-Land 17 6 Ko Kyung-min FC Anyang 16 7 Jonatas Belusso Gangwon FC 15 8 Lim Sang-hyub Sangju Sangmu 12 Kim You-sung Goyang Hi FC 10 Choi Seung-in Gangwon FC 11 Rodrigo Paraná Bucheon FC 1995

Top assists Rank Assistor Club Assists 1 Kim Jae-sung Seoul E-Land 11 2 Lim Chang-gyoon Gyeongnam FC 9 Seo Bo-min Gangwon FC Moon Ki-han Daegu FC 5 Kim Jong-woo Suwon FC 8 6 Jang Baek-gyu Daegu FC 7 Japa Suwon FC Choi Jin-soo FC Anyang Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land 10 Lee Jung-hyup Sangju Sangmu 6 Han Sang-woon Sangju Sangmu Kim Young-keun Seoul E-Land Kwon Yong-hyun Suwon FC Lee Hak-min Bucheon FC 1995 Jin Chang-soo Goyang Hi FC Johnathan Daegu FC

Attendance

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Daegu FC	60,569	20,157	504	3,028	+213.5%^†
2	Gyeongnam FC	37,835	5,214	311	1,892	−58.3%^†
3	Seoul E-Land	36,510	4,342	680	1,826	n/a^†
4	FC Anyang	34,003	10,147	583	1,700	+8.1%^†
5	Bucheon FC 1995	33,943	12,332	511	1,697	+57.7%^†
6	Ansan Police	33,298	10,094	304	1,665	+178.4%^†
7	Gangwon FC	27,137	7,051	438	1,357	+34.6%^†
8	Suwon FC	27,106	5,688	420	1,355	+36.9%^†
9	Sangju Sangmu	24,692	4,244	512	1,235	−51.7%^†
10	Chungju Hummel	24,553	3,925	514	1,228	+58.7%^†
11	Goyang Hi FC	13,764	3,083	249	688	+17.8%^†
	League total	353,410	20,157	249	1,606	+32.6%^†

Updated to games played on 22 November 2015
Source: K League
Notes:
Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.
^† Team played previous season in K League Classic.

Awards

Most Valuable Player of The Round

R MVP Club 1 Lee Jung-hyup Sangju Sangmu 2 Léo Jaime Daegu FC 3 Choi Seung-in Gangwon FC 4 Yeo Sung-hye Sangju Sangmu 5 Almir Bucheon FC 1995 6 No Byung-jun Daegu FC 7 Kim Jae-sung Seoul E-Land 8 Johnathan Daegu FC 9 Park Gi-dong Sangju Sangmu 10 Japa Suwon FC 11 Kim Young-keun Seoul E-Land 12 Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land 13 Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land 14 Lee Hyun-chang Chungju Hummel 15 Lim Sang-hyub Sangju Sangmu 16 Han Sang-woon Sangju Sangmu 17 Lee Jung-hyup Sangju Sangmu 18 Jeong Woo-jae Chungju Hummel 19 Johnathan Daegu FC 20 Henan Gangwon FC 21 Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land 22 Lim Sang-hyub Sangju Sangmu

R MVP Club 23 Cho Seok-jae Chungju Hummel 24 Kim Ryun-do Bucheon FC 1995 25 Seo Bo-min Gangwon FC 26 Kim Jae-woong Suwon FC 27 Kwon Young-hyun Suwon FC 28 Johnathan Daegu FC 29 Gil Gangwon FC 30 Han Sang-woon Sangju Sangmu 31 Jung Gi-woon Suwon FC 32 Johnathan Daegu FC 33 Choi Jin-soo FC Anyang 34 Johnathan Daegu FC 35 Johnathan Daegu FC 36 Tarabai Seoul E-Land 37 Vladan Adžić Suwon FC 38 Gong Min-hyun Bucheon FC 1995 39 Japa Suwon FC 40 Cho Dong-geon Sangju Sangmu 41 Gil Gangwon FC 42 Gil Gangwon FC 43 Henan Gangwon FC 44 Cho Seok-jae Chungju Hummel

Manager of the Month

Month	Manager	Club	Division
March	Nam Ki-il	Gwangju FC	K League Classic
April	Choi Kang-hee	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	K League Classic
May	Kim Hak-bum	Seongnam FC	K League Classic
June	Park Hang-seo	Sangju Sangmu	K League Challenge
July	Choi Kang-hee	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	K League Classic
August	Kim Hak-bum	Seongnam FC	K League Classic
September	Hwang Sun-hong	Pohang Steelers	K League Classic
October	Lee Young-jin	Daegu FC	K League Challenge
November	Cho Duck-je	Suwon FC	K League Challenge

Season Awards

The 2015 K League Awards was held on 1 December 2015.

K League Challenge Most Valuable Player

• The K League Challenge Most Valuable Player award was won by Johnathan (Daegu FC).

K League Challenge Top Scorer

• The K League Challenge Top Scorer award was won by Johnathan (Daegu FC).

K League Challenge Top Assistor

• The K League Challenge Top Assistor award was won by Kim Jae-sung (Seoul E-Land FC).

K League Challenge Best XI

Hyeon-woo Jin-po Hyung-min Min-soo Yong Kyung-min Seung-gi Won-hee Jae-sung Johnathan Min-kyu K League Best XI

Position	Player	Club
Goalkeeper	Jo Hyeon-woo	Daegu FC
Defender	Park Jin-po	Sangju Sangmu
Defender	Shin Hyung-min	Ansan Police
Defender	Kang Min-soo	Sangju Sangmu
Defender	Lee Yong	Sangju Sangmu
Midfielder	Ko Kyung-min	FC Anyang
Midfielder	Lee Seung-gi	Sangju Sangmu
Midfielder	Cho Won-Hee	Seoul E-Land
Midfielder	Kim Jae-sung	Seoul E-Land
Forward	Johnathan	Daegu FC
Forward	Joo Min-kyu	Seoul E-Land

K League Challenge Manager of the Year

• The K League Challenge Manager of the Year award was won by Cho Duck-je (Suwon FC).

References

1. "2014년 K리그, 달라지는 점은?" (in Korean). K League. 31 December 2014.

• 2014 Season Review at K League Website (in Korean)

External links

• Official K League Website (in Korean)