The mighty fall again: Incheon United relegated to K League 2

Home > Sports > Football

The mighty fall again: Incheon United relegated to K League 2

Published: 11 Nov. 2024, 14:16 Updated: 11 Nov. 2024, 14:54

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Incheon United players react after losing a K League 1 match against Daejeon Hana Citizen 2-1 at Incheon Football Stadium in Incheon on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Incheon United will be relegated for the first time ever at the end of this season after losing the penultimate match of the campaign 2-1 to Daejeon Hana Citizen on Sunday.

The loss in front of their own fans at Incheon Football Stadium in Incheon locked in the last-place finish for Incheon, earning them automatic relegation straight to the K League 2.

That makes Incheon the second K League 1 giant to be dropped from the first tier in as many years. Last year the Suwon Samsung Bluewings also moved to the K League 2 for the first time ever.

In the K League 1, the last-place team faces direct relegation, while the 10th and 11th-placed clubs play the promotion-relegation playoffs against two K League 2 sides to decide which teams secure berths in the top tier next season. That means that the Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, yet another team that have never tasted K League 2 action, could also still face the chop this year.

Although the club has regularly flirted with the relegation zone in its history, this year's sudden drop came as a surprise. The club finished in fourth and fifth place in the 12-team league over the last two seasons, and even saw some AFC Champions League action.

Just what happened to Incheon this year?

Year-long struggle

Since taking the helm in 2020, manager Cho Sung-hwan had gradually brought better and better results to Incheon. His first season in charge ended with an 11th-place finish, followed by eighth, fourth and fifth over the following years.

But it was clear from the beginning of this season that Cho had lost the magic touch.

From practically the very start of the campaign, Incheon have been at or around the bottom of the table, the only brief respite coming when they climbed as high as fifth place a few times in April and May.

Since mid-May, the club has seen nothing but decline, prompting Cho to resign in July.

Cho was replaced by interim manager Byun Jae-sub and then new manager Choi Young-keun, neither of whom were able to do anything to improve the club's fortunes. Since September, Incheon have sat solidly in last place.

The most obvious issue was overreliance on forward Stefan Mugosa, whose goal tally accounted for nearly half the team’s goals in the league. Of the 35 goals scored by Incheon as of Monday, 15 of them come from Mugosa, making him the current K League top scorer even while Incheon are the team with the least goals scored.

Incheon United forward Stefan Mugosa, right, in aciton during a K League 1 match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla on Nov. 2. [YONHAP]

The rest of the squad failed to work around Mugosa despite a few changes from last season.

The team's performance was also overshadowed in the summer when Incheon fans threw water bottles onto the pitch after a match against FC Seoul following an interaction with FC Seoul goalkeeper Baek Jong-bum.

The spectators threw water bottles at him and other players, leading Incheon to give the involved supporters a choice between a lifetime ban from Incheon Football Stadium or completing 100 hours of community service to avoid the ban. Perhaps more importantly for the team, the club was also forced to close its main supporters' stand for home games for two months in the middle of the season.

New start for Incheon

Manager Choi, appointed in August, has not resigned from his position, saying after Sunday’s match that he will have to discuss his situation with the club as his contract runs through next year.

Incheon United manager Choi Young-keun walks off the pitch after his side's 2-1 loss to Daejeon Hana Citizen at Incheon Football Stadium in Incheon on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Now-relegated Incheon will swap their spot in the top tier with K League 2 winners FC Anyang next season.

Teams in the second devision, some of who have vied for years for promotion, await Incheon for the 2025 season.

Promotion to the top tier has proved to be tough even for those who had shone in the K League 1 for years, including five-time K League 1 champions Bluewings, who missed out on even a spot in the playoffs after finishing in sixth in the K League 2 this year.

Revamping the squad will likely be Choi’s top priority ahead of the new season.

“I think we need players who are good at pace duels,” Choi said Sunday. “In modern football, we cannot win games if we lose in pace. The pace of K League games becomes faster every year. I think we need challenging and technical players with delicacy.”

Keeping players may also be a struggle. Foreign players in the K League are typically held to one-year contracts, potentially meaning that Mugosa could be a target for another club over the offseason.

Season finale

Incheon could be joined in the second division by two other K League 1 sides, if they lose the promotion-relegation playoffs.

As things stand, Daejeon have avoided relegation by locking in a ninth-place finish, while No. 10 Jeonbuk and No. 11 Daegu FC have booked tickets to the playoffs against K League 2 teams.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, in green, play in a K League 1 match against Daegu FC at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla on Sunday. [NEWS1]

The team that finishes in 11th place will face K League 2 runners-up Chungnam Asan FC in the promotion-relegation playoffs, while the 10th-placed club will play the K League 2 winner of a series of other playoffs.

Over in the K League 2, No. 5 Busan IPark will play the first playoff against No. 4 Jeonnam Dragons, with the winner of that game playing another playoff against No. 3 Seoul E-Land. The winner of that match then play the promotion-relegation playoff against the No. 10 K League 1 club.

If Jeonbuk end up in the second division, it would mark their first time doing so and see the the most successful team in K League 1 history compete in the second division. Jeonbuk have won the most K League 1 titles, at nine.

As for Daegu, relegation would mean returning to the second division after seeing a few successful stints in the K League 1 over the last eight seasons, during which the team won the Korean FA Cup — now called the Korea Cup — in 2018 and finished in third place in 2021.

The regular 2024 K League 1 campaign will wrap up after the final games on Nov. 23 and 24, scheduled after the November international break.

The promotion-relegation playoffs then kick off on Nov. 28 with a home-and-away format.

Incheon’s last league match against Daegu on Nov. 24 will serve as a formality for both sides, as it will see how many points the relegated team can add before saying farewell to the top flight and whether Daegu can switch places with Jeonbuk on the last day before heading to the playoffs.

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