2020 K3 League

K3 League

Season	2020
Dates	16 May – 5 September 2020
Champions	Gimhae FC (1st title)
Relegated	Chuncheon Citizen Jeonju Citizen
Matches played	119
Goals scored	430 (3.61 per match)
Best Player	Choi Yong-woo [1]
Top goalscorer	Choi Yong-woo (15 goals) [1]
Biggest home win	KHNP 7–0 Yangju
Biggest away win	Yangju 0–5 Changwon
← 2019 National League 2021 → ← 2019 K3 Advanced

The 2020 K3 League was the first season of the K3 League as a semi-professional league. After the 2019 season, the former Korea National League and K3 League Advanced went defunct and rebranded as the K3 League.

Eight National League teams, six K3 League Advanced teams and two K3 League Basic teams entered in the 2020 season. ^[2] The 16 participating teams were divided into two groups, the top eight and the bottom eight, after playing each other once. Each team played 22 matches including 7 group stage matches. The 15th and 16th-placed teams were directly relegated to the K4 League, and the 14th-placed team advanced to the relegation play-off. ^[3]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity
Busan Transportation Corporation	Busan	Busan Gudeok Stadium	24,363
Changwon City	Changwon	Changwon Football Center	15,116
Cheonan City	Cheonan	Cheonan Football Center	15,500
Cheongju FC	Cheongju	Cheongju Stadium	17,264
Chuncheon FC	Chuncheon	Chuncheon Stadium	20,000
Daejeon Korail	Daejeon	Daejeon Hanbat Sports Complex	17,371
Gangneung City	Gangneung	Gangneung Stadium	33,000
Gimhae FC	Gimhae	Gimhae Public Stadium	25,000
Gimpo Citizen	Gimpo	Gimpo Sports Complex	5,068
Gyeongju Citizen	Gyeongju	Gyeongju Civic Stadium	12,199
Gyeongju KHNP	Gyeongju	Gyeongju Civic Stadium	12,199
Hwaseong FC	Hwaseong	Hwaseong Stadium	35,270
Jeonju Citizen	Jeonju	Jeonju Stadium	30,000
Mokpo City	Mokpo	Mokpo International Football Center	5,952
Pyeongtaek Citizen	Pyeongtaek	Sosabeol Reports Town	15,000
Yangju Citizen	Yangju	Godeok Artificial Turf Ground	5,000

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	AFC player	Former players
Changwon FC	Takuma Ishibashi
Cheonan City	Jerry van Ewijk
Gimhae FC	Carlinhos
Gimpo Citizen	Ismael Jorge Balea
Hwaseong FC	Olivier Bonnes
Pyeongtaek Citizen	Matheus	Wictor Hugo	Abdoulie Gomez	Hirotomo Kawazu
Yangju Citizen	Martin Sawi	Paul Puk Kun Pal

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Gimhae FC (C)	22	15	4	3	39	18	+21	49	Qualification for Championship final
2	Gyeongju KHNP	22	12	6	4	38	20	+18	42	Qualification for Championship semi-final
3	Gangneung City	22	13	3	6	30	15	+15	42	Qualification for Championship first round
4	Busan Transportation Corporation	22	12	5	5	36	17	+19	41
5	Mokpo City	22	10	3	9	39	30	+9	33
6	Hwaseong FC	22	9	6	7	29	27	+2	33
7	Daejeon Korail	22	8	8	6	30	18	+12	32
8	Gimpo Citizen	22	6	8	8	27	27	0	26
9	Changwon City	22	9	7	6	33	25	+8	34
10	Cheongju FC	22	9	7	6	25	25	0	34
11	Cheonan City	22	9	6	7	27	25	+2	33
12	Pyeongtaek Citizen	22	6	5	11	24	40	−16	23
13	Yangju Citizen	22	6	2	14	17	45	−28	20
14	Gyeongju Citizen (O)	22	3	6	13	16	36	−20	15	Qualification for relegation play-off
15	Chuncheon Citizen (R)	22	2	8	12	21	43	−22	14	Relegation to K4 League
16	Jeonju Citizen (R)	22	3	4	15	19	39	−20	13

Source: Soccerway Flashscore
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Wins
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–15

Home \ Away	BUS	CHA	CHC	CHE	CHU	DAE	GAN	GIH	GIM	GYC	GYE	HWA	JEO	MOK	PYE	YAN
Busan Transportation Corporation	—	0–0	1–1	—	—	3–1	—	1–2	1–1	—	2–2	0–1	—	—	—	—
Changwon City	—	—	3–3	—	0–0	—	0–1	—	0–0	—	—	2–1	—	0–3	—	3–1
Cheonan City	—	—	—	1–0	—	0–2	1–2	—	2–2	2–0	—	0–0	1–0	1–2	—
Cheongju FC	0–3	2–0	—	—	—	—	—	2–1	—	—	1–1	0–2	1–0	—	0–0	—
Chuncheon FC	0–4	—	1–2	2–1	—	1–2	—	—	2–2	—	—	—	—	—	2–3	—
Daejeon Korail	—	—	4–0	0–0	—	—	—	—		3–1	0–0	—	—	2–2	2–0	4–0
Gangneung City	1–4	—	—	—	5–0	1–1	—	0–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	—	—	—	—	—
Gimhae FC	—	1–0	1–1	—	4–2	1–0	—	—	—	—	—	—	2–1	2–1	5–0	3–0
Gimpo Citizen	—	—	—	1–1	4–2	1–0	—	2–3	—	1–1	2–0	—	2–0	—	—	—
Gyeongju Citizen	0–1	2–2	—	1–1	1–0	—	—	0–4	—	—	—	—	1–1	0–2	—	—
Gyeongju KHNP	—	2–0	1–0	—	—	—	—	2–0	0–2	1–0	—	4–0	2–1	—	4–2	7–0
Hwaseong FC	—	—	—	—	3–1	2–1	0–1	2–2	1–0	0–0	—	—	—	2–3	—	1–0
Jeonju Citizen	0–2	1–3	—	—	1–0	0–3	1–3	—		—	—	2–4	—	2–1	0–0	—
Mokpo City	2–2	—	—	0–1	5–1	—	2–2	—	0–1	—	1–2	—	—	—	—	3–0
Pyeongtaek Citizen	2–1	0–1	1–2	—	—	—	0–2	—	0–4	1–0	—	1–2	—	2–4	—	—
Yangju Citizen	0–2	—	4–2	0–2	0–0	—	1–0	—		3–2	—	—	1–2	—	1–1	—

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

Matches 16–22

After 15 matches, the league splits into two sections of eight 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.

Final A

Home \ Away	BUS	DAE	GAN	GIH	GIM	GYE	HWA	MOK
Busan Transportation Corporation	—	0–1	1–0	—	—	—	—	3–1
Daejeon Korail	—	—	—	0–0	1–1	—	1–1	—
Gangneung City	—	1–0	—	—	2–0	—	1–0	2–0
Gimhae FC	0–2	—	1–0	—	2–1	1–0	—	—
Gimpo Citizen	0–1	—	—	—	—	1–4	—	1–2
Gyeongju KHNP	2–1	1–1	0–0	—	—	—	—	0–2
Hwaseong FC	0–1	—	—	1–1	2–2	2–3	—	—
Mokpo City	—	2–1	—	0–1	—	—	1–2	—

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

Final B

Home \ Away	CHA	CHC	CHE	CHU	GYC	JEO	PYE	YAN
Changwon City	—	—	2–2	1–1	4–0	1–0	—	—
Cheonan City	0–3	—	—	0–0	—	—	3–0	0–1
Cheongju FC	—	1–3	—	3–1	1–1	—	—	2–1
Chuncheon FC	—	—	—	—	1–2	2–2	—	2–0
Gyeongju Citizen	—	0–1	—	—	—	—	1–3	0–1
Jeonju Citizen	—	0–1	2–3	—	1–3	—	—	—
Pyeongtaek Citizen	1–3	—	3–0	2–2	—	1–1	—	—
Yangju Citizen	0–5	—	—	—	—	2–1	0–1	—

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

Championship play-offs

When the first round and semi-final matches were finished as draws, their winners were decided on the regular season rankings without extra time and the penalty shoot-out. ^[4]

Bracket

	First round					Semi-final					Final
						2	Gyeongju KHNP	1
						3	Gangneung City	0
	3	Gangneung City	0
	4	Busan Transportation Corporation	0
											1	Gimhae FC	1	1	2
											2	Gyeongju KHNP	0	1	1

First round

14 November 2020 (2020-11-14)

14:00 KST

Gangneung City	0–0	Busan Transportation Corporation
	Report

Gangneung Stadium

Attendance: 155

Referee: Lee Youngkyun

Semi-final

21 November 2020 (2020-11-21)

14:00 KST

Gyeongju KHNP	1–0	Gangneung City
Kim Chan-hee 34'	Report

Gyeongju Civic Stadium

Attendance: 156

Referee: Choi Gyu-hyun

Final

28 November 2020 (2020-11-28)

14:00 KST

Gyeongju KHNP	0–1	Gimhae FC
		Joo Han-sung 80'

Gyeongju Civic Stadium

Attendance: 286

Referee: Seoul Tae-hwan

---

5 December 2020 (2020-12-05)

14:00 KST

Gimhae FC	1–1	Gyeongju KHNP
Joo Han-sung 31'	Report	Cho Woo-jin 51'

Gimhae Public Stadium

Attendance: 0

Referee: Choi Cheol-joon

Gimhae FC won 2–1 on aggregate.

Relegation play-off

The relegation play-off (K4 League promotion play-offs final) was contested between the 14th-placed team of K3 League and the winners of K4 League play-off (semi-final). When the match was finished as a draw, both clubs remained in their respective leagues.

21 November 2020 (2020-11-21)

14:00 KST

Gyeongju Citizen	2–2	Jinju Citizen
Min Jae-kwon 26' Seong Jun-jeong 57' (pen.)		Cho Seong-wook 78' Jun Beom-byun 90+1'

Gyeongju Civic Stadium

Attendance: 0

Referee: Choi Ki-chang

See also

• 2020 in South Korean football
• 2020 Korean FA Cup

References

1. 2020 K3·4리그 시상식 개최...최용우-허건, K3·4리그 MVP 수상 (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
2. "Breaking: K3 and K4 League Teams Confirmed". K League United. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
3. K3·K4리그 대표자회의 개최...3월 7일 개막 (in Korean). KFA. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
4. 3위 강릉, 4위 부산과 무승부...2R 진출 (in Korean). KFA. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2024.