2018 K League 2

The 2018 K League 2 was the sixth season of the K League 2, the second-highest division in the South Korean football league system.[2]

KEB Hana Bank
K League 2
Season2018
ChampionsAsan Mugunghwa
(1st title)
PromotedSeongnam FC
Matches played180
Goals scored426 (2.37 per match)
Best PlayerNa Sang-ho[1]
Top goalscorerNa Sang-ho
(16 goals)[1]
Biggest home winGwangju 5–0 Suwon FC
(21 April 2018)
Biggest away winSeoul E 0–5 Busan
(11 August 2018)
Highest scoringBusan 4–3 Anyang
(29 July 2018)
Highest attendance6,532
Busan 2–2 Gwangju
(4 November 2018)
Lowest attendance312
Seoul E 1–0 Anyang
(14 April 2018)
Average attendance1,672
← 2017
2019 →

Asan Mugunghwa once again grabbed an opportunity for promotion by winning its second K League 2 title (officially first title after Ansan era), but its owner Korean Police Agency did not recruit new players who could meet clubs' requisite for maintenance before the end of the season. Asan Mugunghwa, which was in the process of being dissolved, was finally disqualified from promoting.[3]

Runners-up Seongnam FC directly qualified for the K League 1 instead of Asan Mugunghwa, and the third, fourth, and fifth-placed team advanced to the promotion playoffs.

Teams

Team changes

Relegated from K League Classic

Promoted to K League 1

Stadiums
Ansan Greeners FC Anyang Asan Mugunghwa Bucheon FC 1995 Busan IPark
Ansan Wa~ Stadium Anyang Stadium Yi Sun-sin Stadium Bucheon Stadium Busan Gudeok Stadium
Capacity: 35,000 Capacity: 17,143 Capacity: 19,283 Capacity: 34,545 Capacity: 12,349
Daejeon Citizen Gwangju FC Seongnam FC Seoul E-Land Suwon FC
Daejeon World Cup Stadium Gwangju World Cup Stadium Tancheon Stadium Seoul Olympic Stadium Suwon Sports Complex
Capacity: 40,535 Capacity: 40,245 Capacity: 16,146 Capacity: 69,950 Capacity: 11,808

Personnel and sponsoring

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 Main sponsor
Ansan Greeners South Korea Lee Heung-sil Kelme Ansan Government
FC Anyang South Korea Ko Jeong-woon Zaicro Anyang Government
Asan Mugunghwa South Korea Park Dong-hyuk Puma Asan Government
Bucheon FC 1995 South Korea Jeong Gab-seok Astore Bucheon Government
Busan IPark South KoreaChoi Yun-kyum Adidas Hyundai Development Company
Daejeon Citizen South Korea Ko Jong-soo Astore Daejeon Government
Gwangju FC South Korea Park Jin-sub Joma Gwangju Government
Seongnam FC South Korea Nam Ki-il Umbro Seongnam Government
Seoul E-Land Argentina In Chang-soo New Balance E-Land
Suwon FC South Korea Cho Duck-je 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.

As of 24 July 2018.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player
Ansan Greeners Brazil Fidel Liberia Seku Conneh Uruguay Raúl Tarragona
FC Anyang Brazil Wesley Alex Brazil Marcos Antônio
Bucheon FC 1995 Brazil Cristovam Brazil Nilson Júnior Brazil Willian Popp China Nan Song
Busan IPark Brazil Rômulo Netherlands Arsenio Valpoort Netherlands Sherjill MacDonald
Daejeon Citizen Romania Aurelian Chițu Slovakia Filip Hlohovský Uzbekistan Sanzhar Tursunov Uzbekistan Shohrux Gadoyev
Gwangju FC Brazil Gil Brazil Felipe Silva Brazil Róbson Duarte Japan Minori Sato
Chinese Taipei Wang Chien-ming[lower-alpha 1]
Seongnam FC Brazil Éder Lima Niger Olivier Bonnes
Seoul E-Land Argentina Diego Bielkiewicz Chile Ignacio Herrera Croatia Ivan Herceg
Suwon FC Brazil Alex Lima Brazil Alex Bruno Brazil Fernando Viana Australia Adrian Leijer
  1. Wang Chien-ming represented Chinese Taipei at international level, but he was considered Korean in the K League 2.

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Asan Mugunghwa[lower-alpha 1] (C) 36 21 9 6 54 27 +27 72
2 Seongnam FC (P) 36 18 11 7 49 36 +13 65 Promotion to the K League 1
3 Busan IPark 36 14 14 8 53 35 +18 56 Qualification for the promotion playoffs semi-final
4 Daejeon Citizen 36 15 8 13 47 44 +3 53 Qualification for the promotion playoffs first round
5 Gwangju FC 36 11 15 10 51 41 +10 48
6 FC Anyang 36 12 8 16 44 50 −6 44
7 Suwon FC 36 13 3 20 29 46 −17 42
8 Bucheon FC 1995 36 11 6 19 37 50 −13 39
9 Ansan Greeners 36 10 9 17 32 45 −13 39
10 Seoul E-Land 36 10 7 19 30 52 −22 37
Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. Asan Mugunghwa was disqualified from promoting to the K League 1 due to lack of players who could meet clubs' requisite for maintenance. Therefore, runner-up Seongnam FC was directly promoted, and 5th-placed team Gwangju FC qualified for the promotion playoffs.[3]

Positions by matchday

  Leaders
  Qualification for the promotion playoffs

Round 1–18
Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718
Asan Mugunghwa 223453244333322121
Seongnam FC464524311111111212
Busan IPark455235556444444443
Bucheon FC 1995111111122222233334
Gwangju FC678888865677756755
Ansan Greeners 932342433555565566
Suwon FC247777679989999987
Daejeon Citizen8106666787766677678
FC Anyang691010101010101010101010101010109
Seoul E-Land9889999988988888910
Source: K League

Round 19–36
Team ╲ Round192021222324252627282930313233343536
Asan Mugunghwa222221122211111111
Seongnam FC111112211122222222
Busan IPark433333333344433333
Daejeon Citizen889877654433344444
Gwangju FC554444545555557555
FC Anyang10910999988988665666
Suwon FC776665466666876777
Bucheon FC 1995345556777777789888
Ansan Greeners667101010101010899998999
Seoul E-Land9108788899101010101010101010
Source: K League

Results

Matches 1–18
Home \ Away ANS ANY ASM BUC BIP DJC GWJ SEN SEL SUW
Ansan Greeners — 2–1 0–2 3–1 1–3 3–2 2–0 2–1 0–2 1–0
FC Anyang 1–0 — 0–3 0–3 2–2 1–1 3–2 2–3 2–0 0–1
Asan Mugunghwa 1–0 1–1 — 4–2 1–1 0–1 1–2 4–2 3–0 2–0
Bucheon FC 1995 1–1 1–2 0–1 — 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–2 0–3 4–1
Busan IPark 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–2 — 3–3 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1
Daejeon Citizen 1–1 3–2 1–2 1–2 0–1 — 1–2 1–2 1–0 0–2
Gwangju FC 0–0 0–0 2–2 1–2 1–1 0–1 — 1–3 3–0 5–0
Seongnam FC 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 4–2 0–0 — 1–1 2–1
Seoul E-Land 2–1 1–0 0–0 2–4 2–2 0–2 0–0 1–1 — 0–1
Suwon FC 1–0 1–0 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–4 1–0 —
Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36
Home \ Away ANS ANY ASM BUC BIP DJC GWJ SEN SEL SUW
Ansan Greeners — 0–2 0–1 3–1 0–1 1–1 3–2 0–1 0–0 0–1
FC Anyang 3–2 — 3–0 3–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 3–1
Asan Mugunghwa 2–0 2–1 — 0–0 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–0 3–1 2–1
Bucheon FC 1995 1–2 0–1 0–1 — 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 2–0
Busan IPark 0–0 4–3 1–2 1–1 — 1–2 2–2 2–0 3–1 0–1
Daejeon Citizen 1–0 2–2 2–1 3–0 0–1 — 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0
Gwangju FC 4–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 3–3 1–2 — 3–1 2–2 0–2
Seongnam FC 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 2–2 — 1–2 0–0
Seoul E-Land 2–0 0–1 0–4 0–1 0–5 1–0 1–4 1–2 — 1–0
Suwon FC 1–2 3–0 0–1 2–0 0–3 3–2 1–1 0–1 0–2 —
Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion playoffs

Bracket
First round Semi-final Final
           
3 Busan IPark 3
4 Daejeon Citizen 0
4 Daejeon Citizen 1
5 Gwangju FC 0
Busan IPark 1 1 2
FC Seoul 3 1 4

First round
Daejeon Citizen1–0Gwangju FC
Chițu 68' Report
Attendance: 3,121
Referee: Kim Hee-gon

Semi-final
Busan IPark3–0Daejeon Citizen
 Report
Attendance: 8,132
Referee: Lee Dong-jun

Final

The promotion-relegation playoffs were held between the winners of the 2018 K League 2 playoffs and the 11th-placed club of the 2018 K League 1. The winners on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2019 K League 1.

Busan IPark1–3FC Seoul
 Report
Attendance: 10,127
Referee: Kim Woo-sung
FC Seoul1–1Busan IPark
 Report
Attendance: 8,554
Referee: Kim Dae-yong

FC Seoul won 4–2 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.

Player statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 South Korea Na Sang-ho Gwangju FC 16
2 Brazil Wesley Alex FC Anyang 15
3 Romania Aurelian Chițu Daejeon Citizen 11
4 South Korea Jung Sung-min Seongnam FC 10
Brazil Willian Popp Bucheon FC 1995
6 South Korea Ko Kyung-min Busan IPark 9
Brazil Rômulo Busan IPark
8 Uzbekistan Shohrux Gadoyev Daejeon Citizen 8
9 7 players 7

Top assist providers
Rank Player Club Assists
1 Brazil Rômulo Busan IPark 9
2 South Korea Park Soo-il Daejeon Citizen 8
South Korea Chang Hyuk-jin Ansan Greeners
4 South Korea Moon Sang-yun Seongnam FC 7
5 South Korea Jo Seong-joon Asan Mugunghwa 6
6 South Korea Lee Euddeum Asan Mugunghwa 6
South Korea Cho Chan-ho Seoul E-Land
South Korea Lee Jae-kwon Busan IPark
South Korea Lee Myung-joo Asan Mugunghwa
South Korea Moon Ki-han Bucheon FC 1995
South Korea Kim Dong-hyun Gwangju FC

Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket were not counted.

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Busan IPark 44,572 6,532 1,008 2,476 +3.0%†
2 Seongnam FC 43,208 4,167 1,128 2,400 −14.3%†
3 Suwon FC 33,792 3,060 815 1,877 −11.0%†
4 Ansan Greeners  32,775 5,532 645 1,820 −32.6%†
5 Asan Mugunghwa  31,594 4,039 844 1,755 −10.3%†
6 Daejeon Citizen 29,617 4,142 418 1,645 −26.5%†
7 Gwangju FC 27,393 5,439 464 1,522 −51.8%†
8 FC Anyang 27,090 6,503 405 1,505 −54.9%†
9 Bucheon FC 1995 18,464 1,655 618 1,026 −50.2%†
10 Seoul E-Land 12,410 1,349 312 689 −57.2%†
League total 300,895 6,532 312 1,672 −28.2%†

Source: K League
Notes:
† Team played previous season in K League Classic.

See also

References
  1. 나상호, K리그2 가장 빛난 별…MVP·득점왕·베스트11 3관왕(종합) (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  2. "South Korea 2018". RSSSF. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  3. [공식 발표] 아산, 승격 자격 박탈…성남 1부 승격, 28일 대전-광주 준플레이오프. SPOTV News. 19 November 2018.
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