Korea National League

National League
Current sport.svg 2010 National League
Founded
2003
Nation
 South Korea
Number of Teams
16
Higher Division
K-League
Lower Division
K3 League
Promotion / Relegation
None
League system
Two stages of thirteen matches each. The two stage winners and two runners-up progress to the post-season championship playoffs.
Cups
FA Cup
National Championship
Current Champions (2009)
Gangneung City FC
Website
Official
Korea National League
Hangul 내셔널 리그
Revised Romanization National League
BM Pharmacy Generic pharmaceuticals at unbeatable prices. Insomnia, men's health, hair health, pain control. bmpharmacy.com
Online Pharmacy Soma, Fioricet, Propecia and more... drugspark.com
MedBasket.com Discreet. Inexpensive. Fast shipping. Great selection. What more can we say? medbasket.com
Frugalmed 2000 reasons to shop with us first. frugalmed.com
Ads by Tiva

The Korea National League is a semi-professional football league, the second tier of South Korean football league system, consisting of fourteen member clubs. The season is composed of two sections with the fourteen member clubs playing each other once in each section. The two section winners and the two runners-up from both stages progress to the post-season season playoffs to decide the league champion. In the event of the same team winning both sections, that team is pronounced champion without the need for the playoffs.

Korea National League has been named after its sponsor, giving it the following names:

  • Intermax K2 League (2003), sponsored by Intermax AD
  • Hyundai Motors K2 League (2004), sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company
  • Kookmin Bank K2 League (2005), sponsored by Kookmin Bank
  • STC Korea National League (2006), sponsored by STC Life
  • Kookmin Bank Korea National League (2007-2008), sponsored by Kookmin Bank
  • Kyobo Life Korea National League (2009), sponsored by Kyobo Life Insurance

Contents

League History

The league was officially founded in 2003 as the K2 League, to raise the level of competition in Korea. Prior to that, various cup competitions were run by the governing body of semi-professional football. Competitions under the present body can be traced back to 1990, with the participants being mostly works sides of the major industries in Korea (banks, construction companies and the like). It was rebranded Korea National League at the beginning of 2006.

It had operated with a two stage season since its inception, with the two stage winners meeting in a two-legged championship playoff final at the end of the season before changing to a four team playoff in 2008. Kookmin Bank won the 2003 championship, and successfully defended their title in 2004. Incheon Korail claimed the title in 2005 before Kookmin Bank won it for a third time in 2006. Ulsan Mipo Dockyard won the championship in 2007.

On December 18, 2009, The league approved to join 2 clubs, Mokpo City FC & Yongin City FC, from the 2010 season.

Promotion Issue

Ever since the creation of the league, hopes had been high that a system of promotion and relegation would be implemented between the league and the K-League, the professional football league in Korea. In 2006, it was agreed that, subject to meeting certain financial requirements, the National League champions would be eligible for promotion. Goyang Kookmin Bank, who triumphed over Gimpo Hallelujah to win the 2006 title, were the first side eligible for promotion, however they controversially rejected the chance to return to the professional ranks.

The team received several threats from the National League ranging from being thrown out of the competition, to fines, to point deductions for the upcoming 2007 season. In the end the side received a points deduction penalty, to be split into ten point deductions in the first and second stages of the 2007 season.

Following the case involving Goyang, teams in the National League signed agreements indicating whether or not they would seek promotion to the K-League if they win the National League in 2007. Ulsan Mipo Dockyard, who won the championship in 2007, also rejected the chance to move up to the K-League despite previously indicating they would seek promotion.

In light of the issues surrounding the conditional promotion place in 2006 and 2007, the National League decided to end the system prior to the 2008 season.

On November 2, new commissioner, Kwon Oh-Gab, announced to push implementing a promotion system with K-league within 3 years.

Members for 2010 season

The following 15 clubs will compete in the Korea National League during the 2010 season.

All-time Member Clubs

There have been a total of 16 member clubs since the league was founded as the K2 League in 2003. Seoul City replaced Hallelujah for the second stage of the 2003 season after protests by radical Wonbuddhists forced the Christian club out of Iksan. Hallelujah returned to the league in 2004 after moving to Gimpo. Sangmu B withdrew their team from the league at the end of 2005 in order for the team, essentially the reserve side of K-League team Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix, to compete in the K-League reserve league. From 2010 season, Nowon Hummel FC moved to Chungju city in Chungbuk province & the name changed to Chungju Hummel FC.

Teams are listed with present-day names in the case of sides that have changed names or locations previously:

Club Duration City
Ansan Hallelujah FC 2003 First Stage, 2004–Present Ansan, Gyeonggi
Daejeon Hydro & Nuclear Power FC 2003–Present Daejeon Metropolitan City
Gangneung City FC 2003–Present Gangneung, Gangwon
Goyang Kookmin Bank FC 2003–Present Goyang, Gyeonggi
Incheon Korail FC 2003–Present Incheon Metropolitan City
Chungju Hummel FC 2003–Present Chungju, Chungbuk
Sangmu B 2003–2005 Icheon, Gyeonggi
Suwon City FC 2003–Present Suwon, Gyeonggi
Ulsan Mipo Dockyard FC 2003–Present Ulsan Metropolitan City
Yesan FC 2003–Present Yesan, Chungnam
Seoul City FC 2003 Second Stage Seoul Metropolitan City
Changwon City FC 2005–Present Changwon, Gyeongnam
Busan Transportation Corporation FC 2006–Present Busan Metropolitan City
Hongcheon Idu FC 2007–2009 Fisrt Stage Hongcheon, Gangwon
Cheonan City FC 2008–Present Cheonan, Chungnam
Gimhae City FC 2008–Present Gimhae, Gyeongnam
Mokpo City FC 2010–Present Mokpo, Jeonnam
Yongin City FC 2010–Present Yongin, Gyeonggi

Previous winners

Titles By Season

Season
Winners
Runners-up
2003
 Goyang Kookmin Bank FC Sangmu B
2004
 Kookmin Bank FC Gangneung City FC
2005
 Incheon Korail FC Suwon City FC
2006
 Kookmin Bank FC Gimpo Hallelujah FC
2007
 Ulsan Mipo Dockyard FC Suwon City FC
2008
 Ulsan Mipo Dockyard FC Suwon City FC
2009
 Gangneung City FC Gimhae City FC

Titles By Club

Club
Winners
Runner-up
Goyang Kookmin Bank FC 3 (2003, 2004, 2006)
Ulsan Hyundai Mipo Dockyard 2 (2007, 2008)
Gangneung City FC 1 (2009) 1 (2004)
Incheon Korail FC 1 (2005)
Suwon City 3 (2005, 2007, 2008)
Sangmu B 1 (2003)
Gimpo Hallelujah FC 1 (2006)
Gimhae City FC 1 (2009)

Notable players

Sangmu Players

Other Players

Year Sponsor
2003 Intermax AD
2004 Hyundai Motor
2005 Kookmin Bank
2006 STC Life
2007 Kookmin Bank
2008
2009 Kyobo Life Insurance
2010

See also

External links

Open source encyclopedia content modification information:

This page was last modified on 17 March 2010 at 16:42.

Authorship and Review

Open source encyclopedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Content is sourced directly from Wikipedia and is authored by an open community of volunteers. It is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Korea National League", which is available in its original form here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Korea_National_League

All material adapted used from Wikipedia is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Wikipedia® itself is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.