User:Holyjoe/K-League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Korea Professional Soccer League, more commonly known today as the K-League was founded in 1983 with five member clubs. The five clubs were Hallelujah, Daewoo, POSCO, Yukong Elephants and Kookmin Bank. Hallelujah won the inaugural title, finishing one point ahead of Daewoo to lift the crown.
K-League |
---|
K-League Logo |
Founded |
1983 |
Current member clubs |
14 |
Current Champions |
Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i |
League system |
Two sections of 13 matches each.
Both section winners join the two teams with the best overall record in an end-of-season Championship playoff. |
Since 1983 the league has expanded from the initial five teams to fourteen teams for the 2006 season. Of the five initial clubs, only Daewoo, POSCO and Yukong Elephants remain in the K-League; Kookmin Bank FC dropped out of the league at the end of 1984, and Hallelujah followed the season after.
Most of the member clubs in the league are owned by major Korean Chaebols, and the club names reflect that fact. Teams have adopted local city names in an effort to integrate themselves more with the local communities; for example, Daewoo evolved over the years into Daewoo Royals, Busan Daewoo Royals, Busan I'cons and latterly Busan I'Park. The Lucky Goldstar (LG) corporation caused a huge controversy at the end of 2003 when they made the decision to uproot their Anyang LG Cheetahs team from the Seoul satellite city of Anyang and move into the empty Seoul World Cup stadium, becoming FC Seoul.