2017 K League Classic

The 2017 K League Classic was the 35th season of the top division of South Korean professional football since its establishment in 1983, and the fifth season of the K League Classic.

KEB Hana Bank
K League Classic

Season	2017
Dates	4 March – 19 November 2017
Champions	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (5th title)
Relegated	Gwangju FC
Champions League	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Ulsan Hyundai Jeju United Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Matches played	228
Goals scored	626 (2.75 per match)
Best Player	Lee Jae-sung
Top goalscorer	Johnathan (22 goals)
Biggest home win	Jeonnam 5–0 Ulsan (22 April 2017) Jeonnam 5–0 Gwangju (7 May 2017) Pohang 5–0 Incheon (14 October 2017)
Biggest away win	Jeonbuk 0–4 Jeju (3 May 2017) Incheon 1–5 Seoul (19 July 2017) Pohang 0–4 Jeonbuk (17 September 2017) Gwangju 0–4 Pohang (18 November 2017)
Highest attendance	34,376 Seoul 1–1 Suwon (4 March 2017)
Lowest attendance	736 Sangju 0–0 Jeonnam (28 October 2017)
Average attendance	6,505
← 2016 2018 →

Teams

General information

Club	City/Province	Manager	Owner(s)	Other sponsor(s)
Daegu FC	Daegu	Son Hyun-jun	Daegu Government
Gangwon FC	Gangwon	Choi Yun-kyum	Gangwon Provincial Government
Gwangju FC	Gwangju	Nam Ki-il	Gwangju Government
Incheon United	Incheon	Lee Ki-hyung	Incheon Government	Shinhan Bank Incheon International Airport
Jeju United	Jeju	Jo Sung-hwan	SK Energy
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Jeonbuk	Choi Kang-hee	Hyundai Motor Company
Jeonnam Dragons	Jeonnam	Roh Sang-rae	POSCO
Pohang Steelers	Pohang, Gyeongbuk	Choi Soon-ho	POSCO
Sangju Sangmu	Sangju, Gyeongbuk	Kim Tae-wan	Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps
FC Seoul	Seoul	Hwang Sun-hong	GS Group
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Suwon, Gyeonggi	Seo Jung-won	Cheil Worldwide	Samsung Electronics Maeil Dairies Industry
Ulsan Hyundai	Ulsan	Kim Do-hoon	Hyundai Heavy Industries

Locations

Locations of the 2017 K League Classic clubs

Stadiums

Daegu FC	Gangwon FC	Gwangju FC	Incheon United	Jeju United	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Daegu Stadium	Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium	Gwangju World Cup Stadium	Incheon Football Stadium	Jeju World Cup Stadium	Jeonju World Cup Stadium
Capacity: 66,422	Capacity: 13,500	Capacity: 40,245	Capacity: 20,891	Capacity: 35,657	Capacity: 42,477
Jeonnam Dragons	Pohang Steelers	Sangju Sangmu	FC Seoul	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Ulsan Hyundai
Gwangyang Football Stadium	Pohang Steel Yard	Sangju Civic Stadium	Seoul World Cup Stadium	Suwon World Cup Stadium	Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium
Capacity: 13,496	Capacity: 17,443	Capacity: 15,042	Capacity: 66,704	Capacity: 44,031	Capacity: 44,102

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 including a least one player from the AFC confederation. Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

As of 13 July 2017

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Asian player	Former players
Daegu FC	Cesinha	Evandro Paulista	Júnior Negrão		Léo Mineiro Rodrigo[a]
Gangwon FC	Diego Maurício	Gerson	Jonathan Nanizayamo	Lương Xuân Trường	Serginho Valentinos Sielis
Gwangju FC	Wanderson Macedo	Olivier Bonnes	Niall McGinn		Tomoki Wada Ricardo Barros
Incheon United	Enzo Maidana	Weslley	Gordan Bunoza	Connor Chapman	Dalibor Veselinović
Jeju United	Magno Cruz	Mailson	Frédéric Mendy	Aleksandar Jovanović	Marcelo Toscano
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Edu	Ricardo Lopes		Éder[b]	Mazola
Jeonnam Dragons	Jair	Vedran Jugović	Róbert Feczesin	Tomislav Mrčela
Pohang Steelers	Lulinha	Muralha	Wanderson Carvalho		Ali Abbas Marcus Nilsson
FC Seoul	Ivan Kovačec	Dejan Damjanović	Osmar	Khaled Shafiei	Maurinho
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Johnathan	Júnior Santos	Damir Šovšić	Matt Jurman
Ulsan Hyundai	Richard Windbichler	Mislav Oršić	Danijel Subotić	Takuma Abe	Dimitri Petratos Ivan Kovačec

1. Could be deemed as an Asian player by owning Timorese passport.
2. Could be deemed as an Asian player by owning Palestinian passport.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (C)	38	22	9	7	73	35	+38	75	Qualification for Champions League group stage
2	Jeju United	38	19	9	10	60	37	+23	66
3	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	38	17	13	8	63	41	+22	64	Qualification for Champions League play-off round
4	Ulsan Hyundai	38	17	11	10	42	45	−3	62	Qualification for Champions League group stage[a]
5	FC Seoul	38	16	13	9	56	42	+14	61
6	Gangwon FC	38	13	10	15	59	65	−6	49
7	Pohang Steelers	38	15	7	16	63	60	+3	52
8	Daegu FC	38	11	14	13	50	52	−2	47
9	Incheon United	38	7	18	13	32	53	−21	39
10	Jeonnam Dragons	38	8	11	19	53	69	−16	35
11	Sangju Sangmu (O)	38	8	11	19	41	66	−25	35	Qualification for relegation play-offs
12	Gwangju FC (R)	38	6	12	20	33	60	−27	30	Relegation to K League 2

Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Qualified as champions of FA Cup.

Positions by matchday

  Leaders
  Qualification for Champions League
  Qualification for relegation play-offs
  Relegation to K League 2

Round 1–33

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	2	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Jeju United	4	1	1	1	1	3	2	2	1	1	2	1	2	4	5	3	3	4	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Ulsan Hyundai	1	7	8	6	6	7	8	7	6	3	4	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	6	11	11	10	10	10	7	6	4	6	5	5	6	7	6	6	4	6	4	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
FC Seoul	6	3	3	5	5	4	4	5	3	5	6	7	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Gangwon FC	1	6	6	7	8	5	6	11	10	9	7	6	5	3	4	4	5	3	2	3	4	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Pohang Steelers	8	5	5	3	3	2	3	4	7	4	3	2	3	5	3	5	6	5	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Daegu FC	11	9	9	11	7	8	10	9	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8
Jeonnam Dragons	8	12	12	12	12	11	9	8	9	8	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9
Sangju Sangmu	8	4	4	4	4	6	5	3	5	7	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	10	11	11	11	10	10	10	10
Incheon United	11	9	10	9	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	10	10	10	10	11	11	12	11	11	10	10	10	11	11	11	11
Gwangju FC	4	8	7	8	9	9	11	10	8	10	10	10	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Source: K League

Round 34–38

Team ╲ Round	34	35	36	37	38
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1	1	1	1	1
Jeju United	2	2	2	2	2
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	4	4	3	3	3
Ulsan Hyundai	3	3	4	4	4
FC Seoul	5	5	5	5	5
Gangwon FC	6	6	6	6	6
Pohang Steelers	7	7	7	7	7
Daegu FC	8	8	8	8	8
Incheon United	11	10	10	9	9
Jeonnam Dragons	9	11	11	10	10
Sangju Sangmu	10	9	9	11	11
Gwangju FC	12	12	12	12	12

Source: K League

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams play each other twice, once at home, once away.

Home \ Away	DGU	GWN	GWJ	ICU	JJU	JHM	JND	PHS	SJS	SEO	SSB	USH
Daegu FC	—	1–2	2–2	2–2	1–2	0–2	2–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	0–3	1–3
Gangwon FC	2–1	—	2–2	2–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	2–0	0–1	1–2	0–1
Gwangju FC	1–0	1–1	—	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–2	1–2	3–2	0–3	1–1
Incheon United	0–0	1–1	1–0	—	0–1	0–0	1–3	0–3	1–1	1–5	3–3	1–2
Jeju United	4–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	—	2–1	2–0	3–0	4–1	1–2	1–2	3–0
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–2	4–1	3–1	1–1	0–4	—	2–1	2–0	4–1	1–0	2–0	4–0
Jeonnam Dragons	4–3	2–1	5–0	3–2	2–2	0–3	—	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	5–0
Pohang Steelers	2–1	1–2	2–0	2–0	2–1	1–3	1–1	—	1–2	3–2	2–3	1–2
Sangju Sangmu	1–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–3	1–3	1–1	0–1	—	2–2	1–3	0–0
FC Seoul	0–0	2–3	2–1	3–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	—	1–1	0–0
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1–1	3–3	0–0	3–0	1–0	0–2	4–1	1–0	0–0	1–2	—	1–2
Ulsan Hyundai	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	2–1	—

Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Teams play every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away	DGU	GWN	GWJ	ICU	JJU	JHM	JND	PHS	SJS	SEO	SSB	USH
Daegu FC	—	—	—	1–1	—	—	—	2–1	2–2	2–2	0–0	—
Gangwon FC	0–1	—	—	2–0	0–2	—	3–3	—	—	—	—	1–1
Gwangju FC	0–1	1–1	—	—	—	—	2–1	—	—	1–4	0–1	1–1
Incheon United	—	—	0–0	—	0–0	1–3	—	2–0	—	1–0	1–1	—
Jeju United	2–0	—	1–1	—	—	0–1	3–1	3–2	—	—	—	2–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1–1	4–3	3–1	—	—	—	—	—	1–2	—	—	0–1
Jeonnam Dragons	1–4	—	—	0–0	—	1–1	—	—	2–0	0–1	—	—
Pohang Steelers	—	5–2	3–2	—	—	0–4	1–1	—	2–2	—	1–1	—
Sangju Sangmu	—	1–2	3–2	1–2	2–2	—	—	—	—	0–1	—	—
FC Seoul	—	3–1	—	—	0–0	1–2	—	1–1	—	—	—	1–1
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	—	2–3	—	—	2–3	1–1	3–0	—	3–0	0–1	—	—
Ulsan Hyundai	3–2	—	—	1–1	—	—	1–0	1–1	4–2	—	1–1	—

Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

After 33 matches, the league splits into two sections of six teams each, with teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches are determined upon the league table at the time of the split.

Group A Home \ Away GWN JJU JHM SEO SSB USH Gangwon FC — — 0–4 4–0 — 1–2 Jeju United 1–0 — — — 0–0 — Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors — 3–0 — 0–0 2–3 — FC Seoul — 3–2 — — 2–2 3–0 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2–1 — — — — 2–0 Ulsan Hyundai — 0–1 1–2 — — — Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group B Home \ Away DGU GWJ ICU JND PHS SJS Daegu FC — 2–0 0–0 1–0 — — Gwangju FC — — — — 0–4 1–0 Incheon United — 0–0 — — — 2–0 Jeonnam Dragons — 2–4 2–2 — 1–3 — Pohang Steelers 1–2 — 5–0 — — — Sangju Sangmu 2–2 — — 0–0 3–4 — Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

The promotion-relegation play-offs were held between the winners of the 2017 K League Challenge play-offs and the 11th-placed club of the 2017 K League Classic. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2018 K League 1.

Busan IPark	0–1	Sangju Sangmu
	Report	Yeo Reum 7'

22 November 2017

19:00 KST

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 1,322

Referee: Lee Dong-jun

---

Sangju Sangmu	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Busan IPark
	Report	Rômulo 16' (pen.)
Penalties
Yeo Reum Sin Jin-ho Lim Chae-min Kim Ho-nam Joo Min-kyu	5–4	Rômulo Léo Mineiro Lee Dong-jun Ko Kyung-min Lim You-hwan

26 November 2017

15:00 KST

Sangju Civic Stadium, Sangju

Attendance: 2,714

Referee: Kim Seong-ho

1–1 on aggregate. Sangju Sangmu won 5–4 on penalties and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.

Player statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Johnathan	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	22
2	Yang Dong-hyen	Pohang Steelers	19
	Dejan Damjanović	FC Seoul
4	Joo Min-kyu	Sangju Sangmu	17
	Lulinha	Pohang Steelers
6	Jair	Jeonnam Dragons	16
7	Edu	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	13
	Magno Cruz	Jeju United
	Diego Maurício	Gangwon FC
10	Júnior Negrão	Daegu FC	12

Source:^[1]

Top assist providers

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Son Jun-ho	Pohang Steelers	14
2	Yun Il-lok	FC Seoul	12
3	Yeom Ki-hun	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	11
4	Lee Jae-sung	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	10
5	Lee Keun-ho	Gangwon FC	9
6	Kim Young-wook	Jeonnam Dragons	8
	Kim Sun-min	Daegu FC
8	Cesinha	Daegu FC	7
	Kwon Soon-hyung	Jeju United
	Kim Tae-hwan	Sangju Sangmu

Source:^[1]

Awards

Main awards

The 2017 K League Awards was held on 20 November 2017.

Award	Winner	Club
Most Valuable Player	Lee Jae-sung	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Top goalscorer	Johnathan	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Top assist provider	Son Jun-ho	Pohang Steelers
Young Player of the Year	Kim Min-jae	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
FANtastic Player	Johnathan	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Manager of the Year	Choi Kang-hee	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Source:^[2]

Best XI

Position	Winner	Club
Goalkeeper	Jo Hyeon-woo	Daegu FC
Defenders	Kim Jin-su	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
	Kim Min-jae	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
	Oh Ban-suk	Jeju United
	Choi Chul-soon	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Midfielders	Yeom Ki-hun	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Lee Jae-sung	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
	Lee Chang-min	Jeju United
	Lee Seung-gi	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Forwards	Johnathan	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Lee Keun-ho	Gangwon FC

Source:^[2]

Player of the Round

Round Winner Club 1 Lee Keun-ho Gangwon FC 2 Yang Dong-hyen Pohang Steelers 3 Lee Chan-dong Jeju United 4 Moon Seon-min Incheon United 5 Lulinha Pohang Steelers 6 Éder Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 7 Frédéric Mendy Jeju United 8 Joo Min-kyu Sangju Sangmu 9 Marcelo Toscano Jeju United 10 Jair Jeonnam Dragons 11 Kim Seong-jun Sangju Sangmu 12 Lee Keun-ho Gangwon FC 13 Jair Jeonnam Dragons 14 Yun Il-lok FC Seoul 15 Kim Jin-su Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 16 Choi Jong-hoan Incheon United 17 Lee Dong-gook Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 18 Yang Dong-hyen Pohang Steelers 19 Kim Min-woo Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Round Winner Club 20 Johnathan Suwon Samsung Bluewings 21 Róbert Feczesin Jeonnam Dragons 22 Johnathan Suwon Samsung Bluewings 23 Johnathan Suwon Samsung Bluewings 24 Kim Won-il Jeju United 25 Lee Jong-ho Ulsan Hyundai 26 Yang Han-been FC Seoul 27 Lee Chang-min Jeju United 28 Lee Seung-gi Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 29 Lee Dong-gook Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 30 Yoon Bit-garam Jeju United 31 Joo Min-kyu Sangju Sangmu 32 Joo Min-kyu Sangju Sangmu 33 Júnior Negrão Daegu FC 34 Wanderson Macedo Gwangju FC 35 Ricardo Lopes Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 36 Lee Jae-sung Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 37 Lee Keun-ho Gangwon FC 38 Júnior Santos Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Manager of the Month

Month	Manager	Club	Division
March	Jo Sung-hwan	Jeju United	K League Classic
April	Kim Jong-boo	Gyeongnam FC	K League Challenge
May	Choi Yun-kyum	Gangwon FC	K League Classic
June	Choi Kang-hee	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	K League Classic
July	Seo Jung-won	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	K League Classic
August	Hwang Sun-hong	FC Seoul	K League Classic
September	Kim Do-hoon	Ulsan Hyundai	K League Classic
October	André	Daegu FC	K League Classic

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Attendance

Attendance by club

Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	FC Seoul	310,011	34,376	6,384	16,316	−9.4%†
2	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	222,029	20,935	6,190	11,686	−30.4%†
3	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	166,934	26,581	4,147	8,786	−17.4%†
4	Ulsan Hyundai	160,825	13,225	4,531	8,464	−3.2%†
5	Pohang Steelers	159,060	18,587	2,437	8,372	+9.0%†
6	Incheon United	112,708	13,301	2,930	5,932	−2.0%†
7	Jeonnam Dragons	78,093	10,579	1,565	4,110	−0.1%†
8	Jeju United	77,096	8,526	2,184	4,058	−28.7%†
9	Daegu FC	63,460	13,478	1,047	3,340	+23.2%†
10	Gwangju FC	57,858	11,830	1,020	3,045	−12.4%†
11	Gangwon FC	43,822	7,438	1,216	2,306	+116.3%†
12	Sangju Sangmu	31,254	5,523	736	1,645	−15.3%†
	League total	1,483,150	34,376	736	6,505	−17.4%†

Source: K League
Notes:
^† Teams that played previous season in K League Challenge.

Top matches

Rank	Date	Round	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Attendance
1	5 March 2017	1	FC Seoul	1–1	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Seoul World Cup Stadium	34,376
2	21 October 2017	35	FC Seoul	2–2	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Seoul World Cup Stadium	27,257
3	12 August 2017	26	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0–1	FC Seoul	Suwon World Cup Stadium	26,581
4	3 May 2017	9	FC Seoul	1–0	Jeonnam Dragons	Seoul World Cup Stadium	26,261
5	23 July 2017	23	FC Seoul	1–2	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Seoul World Cup Stadium	23,913
6	5 March 2017	1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–1	Jeonnam Dragons	Jeonju Stadium	20,935
7	18 June 2017	14	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1–2	FC Seoul	Suwon World Cup Stadium	20,140
8	2 April 2017	4	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1–0	FC Seoul	Jeonju Stadium	19,141
9	12 March 2017	2	Pohang Steelers	2–0	Gwangju FC	Pohang Steel Yard	18,587
10	19 August 2017	27	FC Seoul	1–1	Ulsan Hyundai	Seoul World Cup Stadium	18,087

See also

• 2017 in South Korean football
• 2017 K League Challenge
• 2017 Korean FA Cup