The 2015 K League Challenge was the third season of the K League 2, the second-highest division in the South Korean football league system. Champions and winners of promotion playoffs could be promoted to the K League Classic.[1]

Teams

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Locations of the 2015 K League Challenge clubs

Team changes

Relegated from K League Classic

Promoted to K League Classic

Newly joined

Stadiums

Ansan Police FC Anyang Bucheon FC 1995
Ansan Wa~ Stadium Anyang Stadium Bucheon Stadium
Capacity: 35,000 Capacity: 17,143 Capacity: 34,545
Chungju Hummel Daegu FC Gangwon FC
Chungju Stadium Daegu Stadium Gangneung Stadium
Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 68,014 Capacity: 22,333
Goyang Hi FC Gyeongnam FC Sangju Sangmu
Goyang Stadium Changwon Football Center Sangju Stadium
Capacity: 41,311 Capacity: 15,500 Capacity: 15,042
Seoul E-Land Suwon FC
Seoul Olympic Stadium Suwon Stadium
Capacity: 69,950 Capacity: 24,670

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 Police South Korea Lee Heung-sil Zaicro
FC Anyang South Korea Lee Woo-hyung Zaicro KB Kookmin Bank
Bucheon FC 1995 South Korea Choi Jin-han Astore Bucheon Government
Chungju Hummel South Korea Kim Jong-pil Hummel Chungju Government
Daegu FC South Korea Lee Young-jin Kelme Daegu Government
Gyeongnam FC South Korea Park Sung-hwa Hummel
Gangwon FC South Korea Choi Yun-kyum Hummel
Goyang Hi FC South Korea Lee Young-moo New Balance
Sangju Sangmu South Korea Park Hang-seo Atemi
Seoul E-Land Scotland Martin Rennie 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.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player
FC Anyang United States Austin Berry
Bucheon FC 1995 Brazil Rodrigo Paraná Brazil Almir Brazil Lukian
Chungju Hummel Brazil Marcinho
Daegu FC Brazil Léo Jaime Brazil Johnathan Brazil Serginho Palestine Éder Lima
Gyeongnam FC Brazil Fauver Serbia Miloš Stojanović Tunisia Imed Louati
Gangwon FC Brazil Jonatas Belusso Brazil Henan Brazil Gil
Goyang Hi FC
Seoul E-Land Trinidad and Tobago Carlyle Mitchell Jamaica Ryan Johnson Brazil Tarabai Japan Robert Cullen
Suwon FC Brazil Japa Montenegro Vladan Adžić Spain Sisi

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Sangju Sangmu (C, P) 40 20 7 13 77 57 +20 67 Promotion to the K League Classic
2 Daegu FC 40 18 13 9 67 47 +20 67 Qualification for the promotion playoffs semi-final
3 Suwon FC (O, P) 40 18 11 11 64 54 +10 65 Qualification for the promotion playoffs first round
4 Seoul E-Land 40 16 13 11 69 58 +11 61
5 Bucheon FC 1995 40 15 10 15 43 45 −2 55
6 FC Anyang 40 13 15 12 53 52 +1 54
7 Gangwon FC 40 13 12 15 64 56 +8 51
8 Goyang Hi FC 40 13 10 17 46 68 −22 49
9 Gyeongnam FC 40 10 13 17 30 43 −13 43
10 Ansan Police 40 9 15 16 31 48 −17 42
11 Chungju Hummel 40 10 11 19 49 65 −16 41
Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Positions by matchday

  Leaders
  Qualification for the promotion playoffs

Round 1–22

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Sangju Sangmu2411232321111111111111
Daegu FC9666411112344443332222
Seoul E-Land79101010107564432322223333
Suwon FC11833124233223234444444
Goyang Hi FC4722343445655555555555
Bucheon FC 19953598556888978998866876
Ansan Police5255778656566667678767
Chungju Hummel8101111111111101011101077899891088
Gyeongnam FC527788101111107810876797699
Gangwon FC1011899999991111911101010101091010
FC Anyang11446657778911101111111111111111
Source: K League

Round 23–44

Team ╲ Round23242526272829303132333435363738394041424344
Sangju Sangmu1111111111112223222211
Daegu FC2333322222221111111122
Suwon FC4444444443343334344333
Seoul E-Land3222233334434442433444
Bucheon FC 19955555555555555555555555
FC Anyang111199788798888889776666
Gangwon FC9988997977777778988877
Goyang Hi FC6667666666666666667788
Gyeongnam FC101011111111111010101011101010101010101099
Ansan Police887687988999999789991010
Chungju Hummel771010101010111111111011111111111111111111
Source: K League

Results

Matches 1–20

Home \ Away ASM ANY BUC CJH DGU GWN GHI GNM SJS SEL SUW
Ansan Police — 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–3 2–2 1–0
FC Anyang 0–1 — 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 0–0 1–5 0–1 3–0
Bucheon FC 1995 0–1 1–1 — 0–0 2–1 3–2 1–2 1–2 3–1 0–3 2–2
Chungju Hummel 3–2 1–1 0–1 — 1–1 3–1 0–1 0–0 3–3 1–2 0–2
Daegu FC 3–0 2–2 2–0 2–1 — 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–0 1–4
Gangwon FC 1–1 0–0 4–0 0–1 1–2 — 0–1 0–1 1–2 3–1 3–1
Goyang Hi FC 1–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 — 0–1 0–5 2–4 2–3
Gyeongnam FC 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 — 1–3 2–3 1–2
Sangju Sangmu 2–0 3–2 1–0 4–0 0–2 3–1 0–0 4–2 — 3–2 0–0
Seoul E-Land 2–2 1–1 0–0 4–0 1–1 2–4 2–0 1–1 2–3 — 2–0
Suwon FC 2–2 0–0 3–2 2–3 2–2 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–5 —
Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 21–40

Home \ Away ASM ANY BUC CJH DGU GWN GHI GNM SJS SEL SUW
Ansan Police — 1–2 0–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–2 2–2 2–2 0–1 0–1
FC Anyang 2–1 — 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–2 3–0 2–0 2–1 3–4 3–2
Bucheon FC 1995 0–1 0–1 — 2–0 0–1 4–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 0–0
Chungju Hummel 0–0 2–2 2–0 — 1–1 0–2 1–2 0–2 4–1 1–3 1–3
Daegu FC 1–0 2–4 1–1 1–1 — 0–1 2–3 3–0 5–1 3–3 1–2
Gangwon FC 2–0 4–1 1–1 3–3 3–2 — 2–2 1–1 0–2 4–4 1–1
Goyang Hi FC 0–1 1–0 2–3 2–5 3–3 2–4 — 2–1 0–4 2–1 1–1
Gyeongnam FC 0–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 1–3 0–0 0–0 — 1–0 0–0 0–0
Sangju Sangmu 3–0 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–3 4–1 1–0 — 1–1 2–5
Seoul E-Land 1–1 1–0 1–0 4–2 0–2 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 — 1–4
Suwon FC 2–1 1–2 1–2 2–1 0–2 3–2 0–0 3–1 1–0 3–1 —
Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion playoffs

When the first round and semi-final match were finished as draws, their winners were decided on the regular season rankings without extra time and the penalty shoot-out.

Bracket

First round Semi-final Final
           
2 Daegu FC 1
3 Suwon FC 2
3 Suwon FC 3
4 Seoul E-Land 3
Suwon FC 1 2 3
Busan IPark 0 0 0

First round

Suwon FC3–3Seoul E-Land
 Report
Attendance: 1,240
Referee: Ko Hyung-jin

Semi-final

Daegu FC1–2Suwon FC
No Byung-jun 40' Report
Attendance: 1,824
Referee: Song Min-seok

Final

The promotion-relegation playoffs were held between the winners of the 2015 K League Challenge playoffs and the 11th-placed club of the 2015 K League Classic. The winners on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2016 K League Classic.

Suwon FC1–0Busan IPark
Jung Min-woo 85' Report
Attendance: 2,347
Referee: Lee Dong-jun
Busan IPark0–2Suwon FC
Report
Attendance: 6,135
Referee: Woo Sang-il

Suwon FC won 3–0 on aggregate and were promoted to the K League Classic, while Busan IPark were relegated to the K League Challenge.

Player statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Brazil Johnathan Daegu FC 26
2 South Korea Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land 23
3 Brazil Japa Suwon FC 19
South Korea Cho Seok-jae Chungju Hummel
5 Brazil Tarabai Seoul E-Land 17
6 South Korea Ko Kyung-min FC Anyang 16
7 Brazil Jonatas Belusso Gangwon FC 15
8 South Korea Lim Sang-hyub Sangju Sangmu 12
South Korea Kim You-sung Goyang Hi FC
10 South Korea Choi Seung-in Gangwon FC 11
Brazil Rodrigo Paraná Bucheon FC 1995

Top assist providers

Rank Player Club Assists
1 South Korea Kim Jae-sung Seoul E-Land 11
2 South Korea Lim Chang-gyoon Gyeongnam FC 9
South Korea Seo Bo-min Gangwon FC
South Korea Moon Ki-han Daegu FC
5 South Korea Kim Jong-woo Suwon FC 8
6 South Korea Jang Baek-gyu Daegu FC 7
Brazil Japa Suwon FC
South Korea Choi Jin-soo FC Anyang
South Korea Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land
10 South Korea Lee Jung-hyup Sangju Sangmu 6
South Korea Han Sang-woon Sangju Sangmu
South Korea Kim Young-keun Seoul E-Land
South Korea Kwon Yong-hyun Suwon FC
South Korea Lee Hak-min Bucheon FC 1995
South Korea Jin Chang-soo Goyang Hi FC
Brazil Johnathan Daegu FC

Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket were not counted.

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Daegu FC 60,569 20,157 504 3,028 +213.5%†
2 Gyeongnam FC 37,835 5,214 311 1,892 −58.3%†
3 Seoul E-Land 36,510 4,342 680 1,826 n/a†
4 FC Anyang 34,003 10,147 583 1,700 +8.1%†
5 Bucheon FC 1995 33,943 12,332 511 1,697 +57.7%†
6 Ansan Police 33,298 10,094 304 1,665 +178.4%†
7 Gangwon FC 27,137 7,051 438 1,357 +34.6%†
8 Suwon FC 27,106 5,688 420 1,355 +36.9%†
9 Sangju Sangmu 24,692 4,244 512 1,235 −51.7%†
10 Chungju Hummel 24,553 3,925 514 1,228 +58.7%†
11 Goyang Hi FC 13,764 3,083 249 688 +17.8%†
League total 353,410 20,157 249 1,606 +32.6%†

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

Awards

The 2015 K League Awards was held on 1 December 2015.[2]

Main awards

Best XI

Position Player Club
Goalkeeper South Korea Jo Hyeon-woo Daegu FC
Defenders South Korea Park Jin-po Sangju Sangmu
South Korea Shin Hyung-min Ansan Police
South Korea Kang Min-soo Sangju Sangmu
South Korea Lee Yong Sangju Sangmu
Midfielders South Korea Ko Kyung-min FC Anyang
South Korea Lee Seung-gi Sangju Sangmu
South Korea Cho Won-hee Seoul E-Land
South Korea Kim Jae-sung Seoul E-Land
Forwards Brazil Johnathan Daegu FC
South Korea Joo Min-kyu Seoul E-Land

Player of the Round

Manager of the Month

Month Manager Club Division
March South Korea Nam Ki-il Gwangju FC K League Classic
April South Korea Choi Kang-hee Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors K League Classic
May South Korea Kim Hak-bum Seongnam FC K League Classic
June South Korea Park Hang-seo Sangju Sangmu K League Challenge
July South Korea Choi Kang-hee Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors K League Classic
August South Korea Kim Hak-bum Seongnam FC K League Classic
September South Korea Hwang Sun-hong Pohang Steelers K League Classic
October South Korea Lee Young-jin Daegu FC K League Challenge
November South Korea Cho Duck-je Suwon FC K League Challenge

See also

References

  1. ^ 2014년 K리그, 달라지는 점은? (in Korean). K League. 31 December 2014.
  2. ^ [K리그 어워즈] '킬러' 조나탄-주민규, 챌린지 베스트 11 선정 (in Korean). InterFootball. 1 December 2015.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_K_League_Challenge
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