Suwon last year, Jeonbuk this year?… ‘20 billion annual salary’ K-League team’s cliffhanger match

The K-League promotion playoffs (PO) await. The K League increased the number of teams relegated to the second division from 2 to 3 starting in 2022. This year, last-place Incheon United was automatically relegated to the second division, and 10th-place Jeonbuk Hyundai and 11th-place Daegu FC, which had reigned as the strongest teams in the 21st century, were pushed into the relegation zone.

The two teams must compete in the final home and away match against Chungnam Asan, 2nd place in Division 2, who is dreaming of promotion for the first time, and PO winner (3rd to 5th place) to remain in Division 1.

The biggest concern among fans is whether Jeonbuk, which boasts the most wins in the K League (9 times), will be relegated. As of 2023, Jeonbuk ranked first in Division 1, spending nearly 20 billion won on player salaries alone.

If Jeonbuk is relegated to the second division, it will be an example showing the harshness of the promotion and relegation system along with Suwon Samsung, which was relegated to last place for the first time last year. Even if we look at past cases of ascending and descending POs, there is no guarantee that the first division will survive. Except for 2020, when Sangju Sangmu (currently Gimcheon Sangmu) did not hold the Seunggang PO due to his hometown relocation, the results of the 12 head-to-head matches between Division 1 and Division 2 were exactly 50 to 50.

The only hope is that the win rate in the first division will be higher at 75% from 2022, when the promotion PO has doubled.

In the promotion battle for Division 2, which was more intense than ever, South Chungcheong Asan, Seoul E-Land FC (3rd), Jeonnam Dragons (4th), and Busan I-Park (5th) took the opportunity.

Chungnam Asan and E-Land, founded in 2020, showed the importance of leadership ability. Chungnam Asan won the promotion PO ticket under the guidance of coach Kim Hyun-seok, who has nearly 20 years of coaching experience. Last year, the total labor cost in Asan, South Chungcheong Province was around 2.7 billion won, barely more than one-tenth of that in Jeonbuk Province.

E-Land, celebrating its 10th anniversary, relies only on coach Kim Do-gyun, who led Suwon FC to promotion to the first division once (2020) and retention in the first division (2023). E-Land was pushed to third place in the final match of the second division and is determined to win the promotion PO ticket against the semi-PO winners of Jeonnam and Busan. This is the first time that Daegu and Jeonnam Province have experienced relegation. Daegu was automatically relegated to 13th place in 2013, but rose to Division 1 as runner-up thanks to the 2017 championship team Ansan Mugunghwa becoming a citizen club. The key to survival on this unfamiliar stage is how quickly Sejingya, the essential solver, recovers from his rib injury.

Jeonnam’s best performance was that it fell to the second division in last place in 2018, then rose to semi-PO in 4th place in 2021 and then was eliminated.

On the other hand, Busan must shake off the pain of the boring promotion PO this time. Busan had 1 win and 1 draw against Gyeongnam FC in the 2019 promotion PO, but lost in all four remaining promotion POs (relegation in 2015, failure to promote in 2017, 2018, and 2023).

Reporter Hwang Min-guk stylelomo@kyunghyang.com