K-Pop, K-Drama, K-Food, K-Beauty, etc., are always followed by the letter ‘K’ in ‘Korean things’ that are not inferior to those presented to the world. Knowing the professional soccer K-League, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, has grown into content that we can be proud of.

On May 8, 1983, 40 years ago, Korea’s first professional soccer league, the ‘Super League’, took its first steps at the now-defunct Dongdaemun Stadium. A total of five teams, including Hallelujah Eagle, the first professional soccer club in Korea, and Elephants of Merit (currently Jeju United), as well as the unemployed team Pohang Steel Dolphins (currently Pohang Steelers), Daewoo Royals, and Kookmin Bank Magpie, who promised to become professional, shared a moment of history together. did.

The Super League went through the names of ‘Football Festival’ and ‘K-League’ and continues to exist as the current ‘K League’. The K-League, which enters its 40th season this year, will kick off the grand finale with a derby between Ulsan and Jeonbuk’s Hyundai at the Ulsan Munsu World Cup Stadium at 2:00 pm on the 25th.

The K-League has constantly changed and grown, just like its name changed over the past 40 years. Looking at the external size alone, it has grown five times. Since 2012, the promotion and relegation system for divisions 1 and 2 has been introduced. As of the 2023 season, a total of 25 teams will participate in the league, including 12 teams in the first division, K League 1, and 13 teams in K League 2 (second division).

It wasn’t just the expansion of the scale, such as the expansion of the number of clubs and the establishment of the promotion and relegation system. Since Kwon Oh-gap (Chairman of HD Hyundai) took office as president 10 years ago, the K-League has been striving to strengthen internal stability along with external growth. After the launch of the K-League in 2013, the first management disclosure was conducted, and devices for strengthening financial transparency were prepared, such as disclosing unit prices and counting paid spectators. For the sustainable growth of the K-League, we focused on strengthening the fan base through institutionalization of the youth development system, local contact, and social contribution activities. 메이저놀이터

These efforts led to K-League teams’ performance in international competitions such as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League. are constantly being born. Recently, Jeong Sang-bin (Grasshofer) and Oh Hyun-kyu (Celtic) achieved their dream of advancing to Europe purely based on their performances in the K-League.

An agent working in Europe said, “In recent years, local scouts in Europe have been paying attention to young players in the K-League.” trend,” he explained. This means that the status of the K-League has risen.

The K-League ranked 18th in the world professional soccer league rankings released last month by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). It has risen 4 places from 22nd last year and has maintained its position in Asia’s top league for 12 consecutive years. It is 12 steps higher than the Japanese J-League (30th), which is second in Asia. It is rated higher than the Scottish Professional Football Premiership (21st).

The K-League has set 2023, which marks the 40th anniversary of its launch, as the first year of another leap forward. Jo Yeon-sang, secretary-general of the Professional Football Federation, said, “To be honest, the K-League is not the number one professional sport in Korea. We judge that innovation is necessary to overcome the wall, so we are constantly making new attempts.” Through this, we will move forward to a league that is sustainable and self-sustaining.”