Home > Sports > Football

2025 K League 1 season preview: Can anyone haul Ulsan’s dominance?

Published: 13 Feb. 2025, 15:09 Updated: 13 Feb. 2025, 16:46

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Ulsan HD celebrate winning the 2024 K League 1 title at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Nov. 23, 2024. [YONHAP]

The 2025 K League 1 season kicks off on Saturday with 12 clubs embarking on a nine-month journey for the league title, which Ulsan HD has clinched for the past three seasons.

This season will determine whether any of the 11 other clubs can prevent Ulsan from making more history in the K League, where the club secured their second and third straight league titles for the first time in 2023 and 2024.

The coming campaign will mark manager Kim Pan-gon’s first full season with Ulsan after taking the helm midway through the 2024 campaign in July last year, following the departure of Hong Myung-bo, who led the back-to-back league titles in 2022 and 2023.

The 2025 campaign presents Kim with the challenge of whether he can continue the club’s attacking football without veteran striker Joo Min-kyu, who left the team to join fellow K League 1 side Daejeon Hana Citizen.

Joo was one of the key players behind Ulsan’s attacking prowess last season, during which the reigning champions scored the most goals in the league, with 62 across 38 fixtures. Joo scored 10 of them.

But the club still has Yago Cariello, who led the team’s attack with 13 goals as the team’s top scorer last season, in addition to new forward Heo Yool.

Gangwon FC, who were Ulsan’s biggest competitor last season, return to action after their runner-up finish — Gangwon’s highest yet — in the 2024 season. Whether Gangwon can carry their momentum from the last campaign into this year is partly up to new manager Jeong Kyeong-ho, who took the helm in December last year after the departure of Yoon Jong-hwan.

Gangwon FC pose for a photo at Gangneung Sports Complex in Gangneung, Gangwon on Nov. 23, 2024. [YONHAP]

The squad misses winger Yang Min-hyeok, who rose to prominence last season with impressive form and joined Tottenham Hotspur, but still includes key players such as forward Lee Sang-heon and midfielder Hwang Mun-ki.

Military club Gimcheon Sangmu, meanwhile, will be back in action after their strong performance in the 2024 season, which also earned them their highest finish in the league — third place.

A potential challenge again this season is forming cohesion with new players set to join after the season begins.

More than 10 players will be joining Gimcheon from fellow K League clubs in April, with multiple players such as goalkeeper Kim Dong-heon, defender Park Seung-wook and forward Kim Dae-won set to leave in June upon completing their military service.

Gimcheon experiences this unintentional squad change as they are a military club, with players joining to complete their mandatory 18-month military service. But this did not prove to be a challenge for the military club last season, when they even came close to winning the league despite changes midway through.

For FC Seoul, winning the league will end the capital side’s trophy drought, which has lasted since their league victory in 2016.

FC Seoul midfielder Jesse Lingard poses with the K League trophy during a media day event at Nuritkum Square in western Seoul on Oct. 16, 2024. [YONHAP]

A trophy in the 2025 season will also mark the club’s first under new captain Jesse Lingard, who was appointed to lead the team after joining FC Seoul ahead of the 2024 campaign.

K League veterans who joined FC Seoul in the winter will feature alongside the new captain, with forward Moon Seon-min and fullback Kim Jin-su set to make their debuts following years of experience at K League giants Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

For Jeonbuk, the 2025 season will be about redeeming themselves after their humiliation last year, when the club saw their worst finish in the league, placing 10th on the 12-team table and rescuing themselves from relegation by winning the promotion-relegation playoffs.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors manager Gus Poyet speaks during a media day event at the KFA House in central Seoul on Feb. 5. [YONHAP]

New manager Gus Poyet will be in charge of the nine-time K League 1 champions this season after nearly 20 years of experience around the world, including his stint with Sunderland in the Premier League in the 2010s and his role at the Greek national team from 2022 to 2024.

Daegu FC also kicks off the 2025 season after barely surviving in K League 1 by winning the promotion-relegation playoffs last year.

For Suwon FC, this season will be about whether they can maintain their form from last season under manager Kim Eun-jung, who transitioned the team from securing a place in the top tier in 2023 by winning the promotion-relegation playoffs to a club that finished in fifth place last year.

The Pohang Steelers head into the 2025 season with mixed results from last year, when they finished in sixth place but still defended their title in the Korea Cup.

The Pohang Steelers celebrate winning the 2024 Korea Cup at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Nov. 30, 2024. [YONHAP]

The Steelers already tuned up for the 2025 K League 1 campaign in the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) league phase on Tuesday, although the result was a crushing 4-0 loss to Kawasaki Frontale.

Gwangju FC also suffered a 3-1 loss to Shandong Taishan in the ACLE on Tuesday, but the southern club still secured a place in the round of 16.

Gwangju will have a busier schedule at least until March, as the ACLE round of 16 fixtures will overlap with the K League 1 season.

An attack-boosted Daejeon, which acquired veteran striker Joo, is heading into their third season in K League 1 since their promotion to the top tier. This season will be about whether the club can challenge title favorites more and manage a higher finish than eighth — the finish Daejeon has seen in the past two seasons.

Jeju SK, formerly called Jeju United, will need to improve their attack this season with new forward signees Lee Kun-hee and Yoo In-soo, as the fewest goals scored — 38 in 38 matches — was partly to blame for their average performance that placed them in seventh on the table.

The 11 teams in the top flight from last season will also welcome newly-promoted FC Anyang, who earned a coveted promotion by winning the 2024 K League 2 season.

This will be FC Anyang’s first time competing in the top tier, where the Gyeonggi club must finish in the top ninth to avoid the risk of returning to the second division.

The top nine teams each season retain their spots in K League 1 for the following campaign, while 10th and 11th-placed clubs enter the promotion-relegation playoffs against two K League 2 teams to determine which sides secure places in the top tier next season.

The last-placed team in K League 1 faces automatic relegation to the second division.

The Steelers will play the season opener at home against Daejeon on Saturday, followed by clashes between FC Seoul and Jeju, and Gwangju and Suwon.

Reigning champions Ulsan will host FC Anyang the following day, with Daegu facing Gangwon and Jeonbuk taking on Gimcheon later that day.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]