R League

Korea Professional Football Reserve League (Hangul: R리그), or R League for short, is the league for reserve teams of professional association football clubs in South Korea.

R League
Founded1990
Country Korea Republic
Number of teams14
Current championsGLA FC Seoul (5th title)
GLB Daegu FC (1st title)
(2016)

The league started in 1990 with five reserve teams of K League member clubs -POSCO Atoms, Yukong Elephants, Daewoo Royals, Hyundai Horangi and Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso.[1][2] POSCO Atoms won the inaugural title, finishing two point ahead of Yukong Elephants to lift the crown.[3] But league was shortlived for only 1 year and reserve teams participated in semi-professional tournaments such as the National Football Championship.[4]

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]

Members for seasons

Since 2016 season, R league's participating teams are changing depending on the choice of each K league team.

Club 2016[8] 2017[9] 2018[10] 2019
Daegu FCPPPP
Gangwon FCNPPP
Gyeongnam FCNNPP
Incheon UnitedPPPP
Jeju UnitedNPPP
Jeonbuk Hyundai MotorsPNPP
Pohang SteelersNNPP
Sangju SangmuNNNN
Seongnam FCPPNP
FC SeoulPPPP
Suwon Samsung BluewingsPPPP
Ulsan HyundaiPPPP
Busan IParkPPPP
Daejeon CitizenPNPP
Bucheon FC 1995NPPP
Ansan GreenersPPPP
Suwon FCNNNP
Seoul E-LandPPNN
Jeonnam DragonsNNPN
Goyang Zaicro FCP dissolved
Chungju HummelP dissolved

P: Participate R League
N: Not participate R League

The following 16 clubs will compete in the R-League during the 2019 season.

Central League (Group League A) Southern League (Group League B)
Gangwon FC Gyeongnam FC
Bucheon FC 1995 Daegu FC
FC Seoul Daejeon Citizen
Seongnam FC Busan IPark
Suwon Samsung Bluewings Ulsan Hyundai
Suwon FC Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Ansan Greeners Pohang Steelers
Incheon United
Jeju United

Previous winners

Champions
Season Central League Southern League R League Championship
Winner Runner-up Winner Runner-up Winner Runner-up MVP
1990 Single League POSCO Atoms Yukong Elephants Choi Moon-Sik (POSCO Atoms)
1991–1999 Competition Not Held
2000 Anyang LG Cheetahs Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Jeonnam Dragons Ulsan Hyundai Anyang LG Cheetahs Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Kim Woo-Jae (Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma)
2001 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Anyang LG Cheetahs Pohang Steelers Jeonnam Dragons Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Anyang LG Cheetahs Back Young-Chul (Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma)
2002 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Anyang LG Cheetahs Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo Jeonnam Dragons Anyang LG Cheetahs Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Park Dong-Suk (Anyang LG Cheetahs)
2003 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Anyang LG Cheetahs Jeonnam Dragons Ulsan Hyundai Championship Not Held (Shared Title)
2004 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma FC Seoul Pohang Steelers Jeonnam Dragons FC Seoul Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Han Dong-Won (FC Seoul)
2005 FC Seoul Bucheon SK Jeonnam Dragons Pohang Steelers Bucheon SK FC Seoul Yoo Hyun-Goo (Bucheon SK)
Season Group A Winner
(Central League)		 Group B Winner
(Central+Southern)		 Group C Winner
(Southern League)		 Wild Card
(Best Runner-up)		 R League Championship
Winner Runner-up MVP
2006 FC Seoul Incheon United Jeonnam Dragons Busan I'Park Incheon United Busan I'Park Lee Keun-Ho (Incheon United)
2007 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Jeju United Pohang Steelers Suwon Samsung Bluewings Pohang Steelers Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Lee Won-Jae (Pohang Steelers)
Season Central League Southern League R League Championship
Winner Runner-up Winner Runner-up Winner Runner-up MVP
2008 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Incheon United Gyeongnam FC Pohang Steelers Incheon United Pohang Steelers Kang Su-Il (Incheon United)
Season Group A Winner
(Central League)		 Group B Winner
(Central+Southern)		 Group C Winner
(Southern League)		 Wild Card
(Best Runner-up)		 R League Championship
Winner Runner-up MVP
2009 Incheon United Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Pohang Steelers Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Incheon United Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Kim Sun-Woo (Incheon United)
Season Group League A Group League B R League Championship
Winner Runner-up Winner Runner-up Winner Runner-up MVP
2010 FC Seoul Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Pohang Steelers Gyeongnam FC Championship Not Held (Shared Title)
2011 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Police Sangju Sangmu Phoenix Pohang Steelers Championship Not Held (Shared Title)
2012 Police Incheon United Busan IPark Ulsan Hyundai Championship Not Held (Shared Title)
2013–2015 Competition Not Held
2016 FC Seoul Suwon Samsung Bluewings Daegu FC Busan IPark Championship Not Held (Shared Title)

Titles By Club
  • K-League's principle of official statistics is that final club succeeds to predecessor club's history & records.[11]
Club League & Titles Winners Runners-up
FC Seoul Central (GL A) 5 (2000, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2016) 5 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016) 3 (2001, 2003, 2005)
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Central (GL A) 7 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011) 3 (2001, 2003, 2011) 6 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010)
Pohang Steelers Southern (GL B) 5 (2001, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010) 3 (1990, 2007, 2010) 2 (2008, 2011)
Incheon United Central (GL A) 2 (2006, 2009) 3 (2006, 2008, 2009) 1 (2012)
Busan IPark Southern (GL B) 1 (2012) 1 (2012) 2 (2006, 2016)
Jeju United Southern (GL B) 1 (2007) 1 (2005) 1 (1990)
Ansan Mugunghwa Central (GL A) 1 (2012) 1 (2012) 1 (2011)
Jeonnam Dragons Southern (GL B) 4 (2000, 2003, 2005, 2006) 1 (2003) -
Sangju Sangmu Southern (GL B) 2 (2002, 2011) 1 (2011) -
Daegu FC Southern (GL B) 1 (2016) 1 (2016) -
Ulsan Hyundai Southern (GL B) - - 2 (2003, 2012)
Gyeongnam FC Southern (GL B) 1 (2008) - 1 (2010)
Suwon Samsung Bluewings Central (GL A) - - 1 (2016)
Goyang Zaicro FC Central (GL A) - - -
Daejeon Citizen Southern (GL B) - - -
Bucheon FC 1995 Central (GL A) - - -
Seoul E-Land FC Central (GL A) - - -

See also
  • K-League
  • High School Club Challenge League

References
  1. 프로축구 2군리그 5개구단 내년 창설 (in Korean). Mail Business Newspaper. 1989-12-06.
  2. 도시연고제 도입 등 탈바꿈 시도 (in Korean). K-League Official Website.
  3. 프로축구 2군 리그 종료 포항제철, 첫 우승 차지 (in Korean). Monthly Football. November 1990.
  4. 대우2군 "프로가 한수위" (in Korean). Donga Newspaper. 1991-11-26.
  5. "K-리그-2군 리그 'R-리그(Reserve League), 30일 개막" (in Korean). K-League Official Website. 2009-03-30.
  6. "R리그 내년부터 폐지 왜?" (in Korean). Sports Dong-a. 2011-09-16.
  7. "K리그 챌린지, 3월 26일 개막... 부산 vs 안산 격돌". InterFootball. 2016-01-26.
  8. "[반쪽 R리그 부활]①구단의 미래이자 철학의 문제다". Sports Chosun. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  9. "2017년 R리그 개막…U-23 리그적응 및 경기력 발전 도모". Sports Chosun. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  10. "R리그 2018 일정 공개, 3월 20일 킥오프". 20 Feb 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  11. "The Official K-League Almanac" (in Korean). K-League editorial division.
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