Home > Sports > Football

K League 2 sets new attendance record in Incheon-Bluewings match

Published: 03 Mar. 2025, 14:44 Updated: 03 Mar. 2025, 17:06

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Fans watch a K League 2 match between Incheon United and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Incheon Football Stadium on March 1. [YONHAP]

A K League 2 match between Incheon United and the Suwon Samsung Bluewings at Incheon Football Stadium in Incheon on Saturday saw a record 18,282 spectators, breaking the previous all-time high of 15,308 in 2024.

Saturday’s game was sold out as fans from both sides packed the stadium that used to be a battleground for K League 1 teams, including Incheon themselves.

This season is the first time Incheon have competed in the second division since the K League adopted the promotion-relegation system in 2013. Incheon slipped down to the K League 2 after finishing last in the K League 1 last season.

But Incheon’s berth in the K League 2 has yet to stop the club from attracting fans to their stadium, as seen with Saturday’s fixture. Incheon had a long history of surviving in the K League 1 before the 2024 season, routinely sitting at the bottom of the table until midseason and somehow managing to lift themselves up to avoid relegation.

This season offers Incheon a chance to make promotion history to the top tier against the Bluewings, who faced relegation to the K League 2 in 2023 by finishing in last place.

The Bluewings are a strong competitor in the K League 2 this campaign, with years of experience in the K League 1, where they won the league title four times, in addition to five Korean FA Cups — now called the Korea Cup.

The Suwon side was part of the reason the K League 2 saw the highest total number of spectators in the second division at 564,362 last season, as the club set the previous highest record in a single K League 2 game against the Ansan Greeners at 15,308 in November.

The K League 2 campaign will run through November this year, with the promotion-relegation playoffs kicking off soon after. The K League 2 winners will earn automatic promotion to the top tier.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]