2020 K3 League
# 2020 K3 League

The 2020 K3 League was the first season of the K3 League as a semi-professional league and the third tier of South Korean football league system. After the 2019 season, the former Korea National League and K3 League Advanced went defunct and rebranded into the K3 League. In the 2020 season, 16 teams are going to compete in the K3 League, and they are 8 teams from KNL, 6 teams from K3 League Advanced, and 2 teams from K3 League Basic. The teams for the 2020 season were announced by the Korea Football Association on 19 December 2019.

## Competition format

16 teams will compete in the 2020 season, including all 8 teams from the 2019 edition of the now-defunct Korea National League, six teams from the 2019 K3 League Advanced, and two teams from the 2019 K3 League Basic. Each team will play 22 games this season, 15 games in a round-robin way and 7 games in a split division. No team will be promoted to K League 2 this year. The 15th and 16th teams are to be relegated to K4 League, and the 14th team will qualify for the promotion/relegation playoff.

## Teams

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Busan TC | Busan | Busan Gudeok Stadium | 24,363 | Park Sang-In |
| Changwon City | Changwon | Changwon Football Center | 15,116 | Park Hang-seo |
| Cheonan City | Cheonan | Cheonan Football Center | 15,500 | Kim Tae-young |
| Cheongju FC | Cheongju | Cheongju Stadium | 17,264 | Kwon Oh-gyu |
| Chuncheon FC | Chuncheon | Chuncheon Stadium | 20,000 | Kim Yong-Ho |
| Daejeon Korail | Daejeon | Daejeon Hanbat Sports Complex | 17,371 | Kim Seung-hee |
| Gangneung City | Gangneung | Gangneung Stadium | 33,000 | Park Moon-Young |
| Gimhae FC | Gimhae | Gimhae Public Stadium | 25,000 | Kim Gwi-Hwa |
| Gimpo Citizen | Gimpo | Gimpo Sports Complex | 5,068 | Oh Jong-yeol |
| Gyeongju Citizen | Gyeongju | Gyeongju Civic Stadium | 12,199 | Kim Dae-geon |
| Gyeongju KHNP | Gyeongju | Gyeongju Civic Stadium | 12,199 | Uh Yong-kuk |
| Hwaseong FC | Hwaseong | Hwaseong Stadium | 35,270 | Kim Seong-nam |
| Jeonju Citizen | Jeonju | Jeonju Stadium | 30,000 | Jung Jin-hyuk |
| Mokpo City | Mokpo | Mokpo International Football Center | 5,952 | Kim Jung-Hyuk |
| Pyeongtaek Citizen | Pyeongtaek | Sosabeol Reports Town | 15,000 | Lee Ho-joon |
| Yangju Citizen | Yangju | Godeok Artificial Turf Ground | 5,000 | Lee Seung-Hee |

### Foreign players

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

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Gimhae (C) | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 39 | 18 | +21 | 49 | Qualification for K3 League championship final |
| 2 | Gyeongju KHNP (Q) | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 20 | +18 | 42 | Qualification for K3 League championship semi-final |
| 3 | Gangneung City (Q) | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 42 | Qualification for K3 League championship preliminary round |
| 4 | Busan TC (Q) | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 17 | +19 | 41 | Qualification for K3 League championship preliminary round |
| 5 | Mokpo City | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 39 | 30 | +9 | 33 | |
| 6 | Hwaseong | 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 | 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 | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 36 | −20 | 15 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 15 | Chuncheon Citizen (R) | 22 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 43 | −22 | 14 | Relegation to 2021 K4 League |
| 16 | Jeonju Citizen (R) | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 39 | −20 | 13 | Relegation to 2021 K4 League |

* ↑ Split A:Rank 1-8, Split B:Rank9-16 after 15 rounds

## Results

### Matches 1-15

| Home \ Away | BUS | CHA | CHC | CHE | CHU | DAE | GAN | GIH | GIM | GYC | GYE | HWA | JEO | MOK | PYE | YAN |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Busan TC | — | 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 | — |

### 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 TC | — | 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 | — |

**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 | — |

## Championship play-off

Championship Play-off start at 14 November to Final at 5 December. If scores are tied after regular time, the higher placed team advances to the next phase.

| 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | 2 | Gyeongju KHNP | 1 | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Gangneung City | 0 | | | | | |
| 3 | Gangneung City | 0 | 3 | Gangneung City | 0 | | | | | |
| 4 | Busan TC | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Busan TC | 0 | | | | 1 | Gimhae | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Gyeongju KHNP | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### 1R

Gangneung City advance to the next round as they are the higher seed.

### Final

1st;

2nd;

## Promotion–relegation play-off

Promotion–relegation play-off start at 6 December. The 14th position of K3 League will face winner of K4 League play-off for reach promotion to K3 League next season.

| Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - |
| 14 | Gyeongju Citizen | 2 |
| K4 | Jinju Citizen | 2 |

## Winner

* 2020 K3 League Winners
* Gimhae FC 1st Title
