The K-League in 2021 is less than a month old, and the changes to the K-League schedule for the 2022 season have been finalized. As a key year before the conclusion of the professional "pyramid model" (Korean 1-7 leagues to achieve promotion and relegation), this year the K League has changed differently from the past in terms of competition format, rules, and access, and has achieved a new upgrade. So the three major changes of the year, have you got it? If not, please take a look at it with us.
Many points in the new season are worth getting
Changes in the format – the change of the promotion and relegation system from "1+1" to "1+2"
In 2012, South Korean professional football began to introduce a relegation system, and at the same time abolished the original N League, combined with the relegation of Sangju Sangmu and Gwangju FC in the K League that year, plus the new team and the original N League citizen teams to form the new league K2 League, thus fully introducing the promotion and relegation system. Regarding the promotion and relegation system, in 2013, Korean professional football created a "Korean special" model, that is, the K1 League was directly relegated to the K2 League after the end of all the relegation group competitions, and the team with the third-to-last relegation group in that year will compete with the K2 League regular season champion first and then the host, and finally decide the league place for the next year. It is important to note that this is an extremely special year. Due to the K League's "downsizing" policy, the final three K1 teams daejeon, Daegu and Gangwon were all relegated that year, and Sangmu returned to K1 through the play-offs. After K1 identified as 12 teams, in 2014, the Korean Pro League changed the rules. The K1 League relegation group is directly relegated directly, the K2 League regular season champion is directly promoted, and the K2 League regular season 2 to 4 places are played in a single round robin format (90 minutes to draw the home team to advance), and the regular season champion is finally determined. Their opponents will be the second-to-last team in the relegation group of the K1 League, and the league format is also home and then away, with two legs deciding to promote or relegate. It can be said that the Korean professional football league is rich in "Korean characteristics" of the promotion and relegation system, which is rare in the whole world, it draws on the model of the Scottish Premier League on the one hand, and also draws on the model of the American league, combining the two according to The national conditions of South Korea to develop such a strategy. On the one hand, it increases the competitiveness of the K2 team, and on the other hand, it increases the tension of the K1 team, especially the cruelty of the promotion and relegation play-offs. Since the introduction of the promotion and relegation play-off system, there have been four consecutive years of K1 team elimination, until 2017, when Sangju Sangmu killed Busan IPark, this record was ended. With the official acceptance of the K3 League into the big cycle in 2023, the promotion and relegation system has changed in 2022.
If such a format emerges in 2021, perhaps Daejeon's fate will change
The 2022 K League promotion and relegation system was changed from the original "1+1" to "1+2", which is mainly aimed at K2 teams. The so-called "1" refers to K2's regular season champion of the year, and "2" is very different from the past. That is, the original K2 League playoff 2 to 4 place competition, in 2022 was subverted as the second to go in the regular season and the K1 relegation group to go directly to the main away knockout game to determine the fate of promotion and relegation, and the playoff team became K2's 3 to 5 place, the way to follow the past, resulting in the regular season championship, but the difference is that their opponent is no longer the penultimate K1, but the third from the bottom of the K1 relegation group. Taking 2021 as an example, K2 champion Naotake Kanezumi directly promoted K1, K2's regular season runner-up FC Anyang went to Die Kowon FC, while K2 regular season 3-5 places Daejeon, Jeonnam and Busan will have to go to Die Koku a playoff spot, and then go to K1's penultimate third city Minami FC to "play for their lives". As a result, the relegation group of the K1 League will be even more miserable, because the third-to-last will be relegated. The fifth place of K2, which also has playoff qualifications, will also stimulate the competitiveness of K2 teams. It can be said that the change in the format has also made this year's K1 and K2 leagues more ornamental and more cruel. Maybe the relegation battle and the K2 playoff spot battle, or even the second place battle, will be killed until the last round.
Rule changes – K2 League substitutions from "3" to "5"
Let's look at the changes in the rules, which mainly refer to the change in the number of substitutions. In the 2021 season, in order to comply with FIFA's new rules, the Korean Football Professional League revised the K League substitution rules, changing the original 3 playing places to 5, but with additional conditions, that is, it is linked to the U22 debut rules: First, the starting list of each team must contain at least 1 U22 player per game (Note: The 2021 season U22 players are players born after 1999), and the bench must contain at least 1 U22 player; second, If there are 2 U22 players in the starting list, the bench can be without U22 players; third, if any of the above two conditions are met, each team can change five people in a single game, if the two conditions cannot be met, then the single game can only change up to 2 people; fourth, if the U22 player has not been replaced on the field, even if there is no U22 player on the bench, then the substitution place can be given to the team 3; fifth, if the team has 1 player called to the national name, then the team can meet 1 U22 starter, Sixth, if the team has 2 or more players recruited to the national brand, then the team does not need to consider whether U22 starts or substitutes, and directly enjoys the right to change 5 people in a single game. Because such a rule is extremely difficult to operate, at that time, the Korean Professional League only considered the application of the K1 League, and the K2 League in the 2021 season still continued the rule of changing 3 people.
The K2 league can also change five people like K1 in the new season
But in the 2022 season, the K2 league also enjoys the right to change people like the K1 league, and can replace 5 people in a single game. The "3" to "5" reflects the pragmatic working attitude and equality of the Korean Football League. K1 and K2 teams enjoy the same rights and treatment, and can also encourage more teams to boldly use U22 players. With the development of the Korean league, U22 players have become a new force that more and more teams rely on. In this year's transfer market, K1 and K2 teams have also put the power of transfer on the investigation of U22, a group of university, and even high school elites have entered the professional stage, most of which are Players of the South Korean Olympic Team, the National Youth Team and even the National Junior Team, training players through the professional league stage, discovering seedlings, such a rule change is obviously very direct.
Changes in access – R-League breaks and restarts + semi-professional contracts are expanded
The third change in the K-League in 2022 is a change in access. The first is the restart of the Reserve League. Due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the R League system created in 1990 was pressed at the beginning of 2020, and the R League is an important stage for Korean professional clubs to examine new talents and substitute players, as well as an important platform for practicing internal skills. Due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, many young players and substitute players have lost such a stage, and they cannot play in the league and can only sit on the bench. For example, FC Seoul veteran Park Joo-young, before 2020, he was a regular visitor to the R League, has been relying on the wind and rain of this league to prove that his sword is not old, and after losing such a platform, with the increase in the number of clubs and the intensification of competition, Park Joo-yong also has no chance to play, and finally sadly left. If there is a platform like the R League, maybe he will stick to it. In order to make up for the loss of R League cancellation to each team, in the 2021 season, the Korean Professional Football League encouraged teams to participate in the newly formed K4 League in the form of "B team", and in 2021, only Lee Young-woo of Gangwon saw the opportunity and sent Gangwon B team to play in the K4 League for a year, training substitutes and young people with strength. With the success of Gangwon, this year's K4 League, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Daegu FC and Daejeon Hana Citizens also sent B teams to sign up. And the restart of the R League, obviously let them fall into some of the "happiness troubles", is it to play the R League or K4? Specific questions to analyze it, the response given by the Korean Professional Football League is: "Choose to join or refuse the R League according to their own situation." But in any case, the restart of the R League is undoubtedly a good exercise opportunity for the teams.
Gangwon FC tried to fill the gap that the R League did not have by participating in the K4 League
Another change in access is the "expansion of the number of places on semi-professional contracts". The "semi-professional contract", which South Korea calls a "quasi-professional contract", was originally intended to give each team's high school potential stocks the opportunity to adapt to the career stage in advance. Since under the age of 18 cannot sign a professional contract, in order to give 16-17-year-olds the opportunity to play on the professional stage, and at the same time avoid players such as Huang Xican, who are trained by professional teams, from being poached by bad agents and sacrificing the interests of the former youth club. In April 2018, the Korean Professional Football League pioneered the proposal of a "semi-professional contract", that is, the youth performance stocks of each team aged 16 to 17, the club can "privately make a lifetime" with them in advance to avoid the poaching of unscrupulous agents. According to the regulations, the contract period of all high school first/ second student players who sign a contract is from the date of signing the contract to December 31 of the year of the third year of high school, until the age of 18. The club will pay a basic salary of 12 million won per year, and the off-site allowance is determined by the agreement between the club and the players. Players who sign a quasi-professional contract can participate in the official K League competitions, junior clubs belonging to the club, and can also participate in junior competitions sponsored by the K League junior and championships. If you have signed this contract and have made more than 1 appearance in the K League, you will not be able to represent your school (not the K League Youth School) in any competition. Such measures have also made many young people stand out. Up to now, a total of 19 people have signed this contract, of which Suwon Samsung Blue Wing has benefited the most, they have signed a total of 6 people, there is no shortage of young elites such as Zheng Xiangbin and Wu Xianyun. However, the quota set in April 2018 was only 3 members per year for the team, so the club had to "endure the pain" of some high-performing stocks. In the 2022 season, such a move has changed, the number of places has been expanded from 3 to 5, and each team has 2 more choices, which will also benefit more clubs that have been committed to youth training, and will also encourage clubs to invest in the cultivation of youth training.
Zheng Xiangbin is the beneficiary of the quasi-professional contract
The K League in the 2022 season is being upgraded in all aspects. These points, I believe you have read the article has been completely get, how, is there an expectation for the new season of the Korean K League? On February 19th, the new season of the K-League is about to start, when we will witness it together!