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Ulsan HD FC forward Lee Dong-gyeong voted 2025 K League 1 MVP

Published: 01 Dec. 2025, 19:59

Ulsan HD FC forward Lee Dong-gyeong poses with his trophy as the K League 1 MVP during the annual awards ceremony at Swiss Grand Hotel in Seoul on Dec. 1. [YONHAP]

Ulsan HD FC forward Lee Dong-gyeong has been voted the MVP of the premier Korean football league in 2025.

Lee earned the top individual honor in the K League 1 at the annual awards ceremony held at Swiss Grand Hotel in Seoul on Monday, after collecting 71 out of 134 votes from media, five out of 12 votes from K League 1 head coaches and eight out of 12 votes from K League 1 club captains.

These totals amounted to 53.69 voting points, with Park Jin-seob of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motor finishing in second place with 35.71 points. Pablo Sabbag of Suwon FC was third with 10.6 points. Coaches and captains were not allowed to vote for players on their own clubs.

Lee, who also received 10 million won ($6,800) in prize money, is the fourth consecutive Ulsan player to win the MVP award and a record eighth overall.

Ulsan HD, after winning three straight titles from 2022 to 2024, finished in ninth this year ― the lowest placement ever for a club that produced an MVP winner. Lee is also the first K League 1 MVP to come from a club that didn't win a title since 2019, when then Ulsan midfielder Kim Bo-kyung was honored.

Lee started this season with Gimcheon Sangmu FC as he was fulfilling his mandatory military service. He had 13 goals and 11 assists in 34 matches for the military club.

Following his discharge in October, Lee returned to Ulsan, his original team, and had an assist in two matches. He missed the final two matches of the season with a broken rib.

Overall, Lee led the K League 1 with 25 goal contributions, 115 shot attempts and 71 key passes.

Jeonbuk head coach Gus Poyet was voted the Coach of the Year, after leading his team to a K League-record 10th title in his first season in South Korea. Jeonbuk narrowly avoided being relegated to the second-tier K League 2 last year but soared to the top of the tables this year under the Uruguayan boss.

Jeonbuk finished with 79 points from 23 wins, 10 draws and five losses, a 37-point turnaround from 2024, and clinched the title in October with five matches left in the season.

Poyet earned 75.63 points, well over Daejeon Hana Citizen FC coach Hwang Sun-hong, who had 15.19 points after guiding them to a runner-up finish.

Poyet is the fourth foreign-born tactician to win the Coach of the Year award in the K League 1.

Gangwon FC midfielder Lee Seung-won grabbed the Young Player of the Year award, given to the top player at age 23 or younger with less than three years of professional experience.

Lee had 66.87 points to become the second straight Gangwon player to win this honor, after current Portsmouth attacker Yang Min-hyeok.

Yonhap