Suwon FC, Gangwon secure first division survival in promotion-relegation playoffs

Football

Published: 09 Dec. 2023, 16:49 Updated: 11 Dec. 2023, 17:52

Suwon FC, Gangwon secure first division survival in promotion-relegation playoffs

Suwon FC players celebrate Lee Gwang-hyeok’s goal during a K League promotion-relegation playoff match against Busan IPark at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Saturday. [NEWS1]

K League 1 sides Suwon FC and Gangwon FC will stay in the first division next year after winning the promotion-relegation playoffs Saturday.

Suwon secured a 6-4 victory on aggregate against K League 2 side Busan IPark and Gangwon FC claimed a 2-1 win on aggregate over K League 2 team Gimpo FC.

Gimpo perched on edge of top tier two years after going pro

After Busan won the first playoff game 2-1 on Wednesday, Suwon had to bounce back on Saturday at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi to survive in the first division.

And they did so with a huge comeback. A victory seemed more promising for Busan as the score was 1-1 — Busan was leading 3-2 on aggregate — until Lee Yeong-jae’s goal in the 85th minute made it 2-1 to force extra time.

Suwon then turned things around in extra time with Lee Gwang-hyeok’s goal in the 95th minute, followed by another from Jeong Jae-yeong in the 101th minute.

The took the score to 4-1, but more goals followed. Busan’s Kim Jeong-hwan pulled one back for the team in the 115th minute, but Suwon’s Ricardo Lopes’s goal in the 117th minute ended the game at 5-2, sealing the team’s 6-3 win on aggregate as well as a place in the first division.

Over at Gangneung Sports Complex in Gangwon, the K League 1 side ended Gimpo’s dream of reaching the top division for the very first time with a double by Vitor Gabriel.

Gimpo’s Cho Sung-gwon scored in the 58th minute, but that was it for the Gyeonggi side. The game ended at 2-1 on aggregate after the first playoff match ended goalless.

It was a tough result for Gimpo to swallow. Had the club won the playoffs, they would have made reached the top tier after just two seasons as a fully professional team.

Founded in 2013, Gimpo competed in the depths of the K3 system until the end of the 2019 season. The club turned semi-pro that year, playing in the more formally organized K3 League until 2021 when they turned fully professional and joined the K League 2 ahead of the 2022 season.

Gimpo have made gradual improvements since then, finishing eighth in their debut season and managing a third-place finish in the K League 2 this year.

Saturday’s playoff matches wrapped up the 2023 K League 1 and 2 schedule. Only the Suwon Samsung Bluewings switched their spot in the K League 1 with Gimcheon Sangmu of the second division this year.

The Bluewings finished the 2023 K League 1 in last place and faced immediate relegation to the second division, while Gimcheon won the K League 2 this year and earned promotion to the top tier.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]