| Competition: | Hana 1Q K League 1 |
| Pixels: | 160 |
| Season: | 2021 |
| Dates: | 27 February – 5 December 2021 |
| Winners: | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (9th title) |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Ulsan Hyundai Daegu FC |
| Relegated: | Gwangju FC |
| Best Player: | Hong Jeong-ho |
| League Topscorer: | Joo Min-kyu (22 goals) |
| Matches: | 228 |
| Total Goals: | 563 |
| Biggest Home Win: | Ulsan 5–0 Gangwon (1 March 2021) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Daegu 0–5 Jeju (31 October 2021) |
| Highest Scoring: | Seoul 3–4 Jeonbuk (5 September 2021) |
| Highest Attendance: | 6,199 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,218 |
| Prevseason: | 2020 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
The 2021 K League 1, also known as the Hana 1Q K League 1 for sponsorship reasons, was the 39th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea, and the ninth season of the K League 1. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won their ninth title and fifth consecutive title.
After progressing 33 regular rounds, the league was divided into two groups, the top six and the bottom six, and each team played five matches against other teams in its group.
Relegated to K League 2
Promoted from K League 2
The following twelve clubs competed in the K League 1 during the 2021 season.[1]
| Team | City/Province | Abbreviation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daegu FC | Daegu | Daegu | |
| Gangwon FC | Gangwon | Gangwon | |
| Gwangju FC | Gwangju | Gwangju | |
| Incheon United | Incheon | Incheon | |
| Jeju United | Jeju | Jeju | |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Jeonbuk | Jeonbuk | |
| Pohang Steelers | Pohang | Pohang | |
| Seongnam FC | Seongnam | Seongnam | |
| FC Seoul | Seoul | Seoul | |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Suwon | Suwon | |
| Suwon FC | Suwon | Suwon FC | |
| Ulsan Hyundai | Ulsan | Ulsan |
| Jeju United | Daegu FC | Incheon United | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeju World Cup Stadium | DGB Daegu Bank Park | Incheon Football Stadium | |
| Capacity: 29,791 | Capacity: 12,415 | Capacity: 20,891 | |
| Pohang Steelers | Suwon FC | Seongnam FC | |
| Pohang Steel Yard | Suwon Stadium | Tancheon Stadium | |
| Capacity: 17,443 | Capacity: 11,808 | Capacity: 16,146 | |
| FC Seoul | Suwon Samsung Bluewings Suwon FC | ||
| Seoul World Cup Stadium | Seoul Olympic Stadium | Suwon World Cup Stadium | |
| Capacity: 66,704 | Capacity: 69,950 | Capacity: 44,031 | |
| Gwangju FC | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | ||
| Gwangju World Cup Stadium | Gwangju Football Stadium | Jeonju World Cup Stadium | |
| Capacity: 40,245 | Capacity: 12,000 | Capacity: 42,477 | |
| Gangwon FC | Ulsan Hyundai | ||
| Chuncheon Songam Leports Town | Gangneung Stadium | Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium | |
| Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 22,333 | Capacity: 44,102 | |
| Team | Manager | Main sponsor | Kit manufacturer | Other sponsor(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daegu FC | Daegu Government | Goal Studio | DGB Daegu Bank AJIN Industrial Co., Ltd. | ||
| Gangwon FC |  | Gangwon Provincial Government | Applerind | Kangwon Land | |
| Gwangju FC | Kim Ho-young | Gwangju Government | Kelme | ||
| Incheon United | Jo Sung-hwan | Incheon Government | Macron | ||
| Jeju United | Nam Ki-il | SK Energy | Puma | ||
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Kim Sang-sik | Hyundai Motor Company | Hummel | ||
| Pohang Steelers | Kim Gi-dong | POSCO | Puma | Pohang Government | |
| Seongnam FC | Kim Nam-il | Seongnam Government | Umbro | ||
| FC Seoul | Park Jin-sub | GS Group | Le Coq Sportif | ||
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Park Kun-ha | Cheil Worldwide | Puma | Samsung Electronics | |
| Suwon FC | Kim Do-kyun | Suwon Government | Hummel | ||
| Ulsan Hyundai | Hyundai Heavy Industries | Hummel | Hyundai Oil Bank |
Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to five per team, including a slot for a player from the Asian Football Confederation countries and a slot for a player from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A team could use five foreign players on the field each game, including at least one player from the AFC confederation. Samuel Pungi, who played for Pohang Steelers, was deemed to be a native player as he had been granted South Korean nationality.
Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Teams played each other once, either at home or away.
Teams played each other once, either at home or away.
The promotion-relegation play-offs were contested between the winners of K League 2 play-offs and the eleventh-placed team in K League 1.
----Gangwon FC won 4–2 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.
| Rank | Player[2] | Club | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joo Min-kyu | Jeju United | 22 | ||
| 2 | Lars Veldwijk | Suwon FC | 18 | ||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 3 |  Gustavo | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | align=center rowspan=2 | 15 |
 Stanislav Iljutcenko | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | ||||
| 5 |  Fejsal Mulić | Seongnam FC | 13 | ||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 6 | Lee Dong-jun | Ulsan Hyundai | align=center rowspan=2 | 11 |
| Lim Sang-hyub | Pohang Steelers | ||||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 8 | Edgar | Daegu FC | align=center rowspan=3 | 10 |
| Song Min-kyu | Pohang Steelers Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | ||||
| Aleksandar Paločević | FC Seoul | ||||
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=2 | 1 | Kim Bo-kyung | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | align=center rowspan=2 | 10 |
| Murilo | Suwon FC | ||||
| 3 | Kang Sang-woo | Pohang Steelers | 8 | ||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 4 | Lee Yeong-jae | Suwon FC | align=center rowspan=3 | 7 |
| Cesinha | Daegu FC | ||||
| Sin Jin-ho | Pohang Steelers | ||||
| align=center rowspan=4 | 7 | Elías Aguilar | Incheon United | align=center rowspan=4 | 6 |
| Na Sang-ho | FC Seoul | ||||
| Kim Tae-hwan | Ulsan Hyundai | ||||
| Lars Veldwijk | Suwon FC | ||||
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lim Sang-hyub | Pohang Steelers | Suwon FC | 3–4 | 18 May 2021 | |
| Gustavo4 | Jeonbouk Hyundai Motors | Seongnam FC | 1–5 | 6 June 2021 | |
| Lars Veldwijk4 | Suwon FC | Ulsan Hyundai | 2–5 | 25 July 2021 |
| Month | Player of the Month | Young Player of the Month | Manager of the Month | Goal of the Month | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | Player | Club | Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||||
| March | Ki Sung-yueng | Seoul | — | Kim Sang-sik | Jeonbuk | 1 | Kim Min-woo | Suwon | |||
| April | Edgar | Daegu | — | bgcolor=darkgray | Lee Woo-hyung | bgcolor=darkgray | Anyang | bgcolor=darkgray align=center | 2 | Fejsal Mulić | Seongnam |
| May | Cesinha | Daegu | — | Park Kun-ha | Suwon | 1 | Lee Ki-je | Suwon | |||
| June | — | — | bgcolor=darkgray | Kim Tae-wan | bgcolor=darkgray | Gimcheon | bgcolor=darkgray align=center | 2 | Paik Seung-ho | Jeonbuk | |
| July | — | — | Jo Sung-hwan | Incheon | 1 | Lars Veldwijk | Suwon FC | ||||
| August | Gustavo | Jeonbuk | Eom Ji-sung | Gwangju | Hong Myung-bo | Ulsan | 1 | Lee Chung-yong | Ulsan | ||
| September | Cho Young-wook | Seoul | Seol Young-woo | Ulsan | Lee Byung-keun | Daegu | 1 | Paik Seung-ho | Jeonbuk | ||
| October | Lee Dong-gyeong | Ulsan | Um Won-sang | Gwangju | Nam Ki-il | Jeju | 1 | Lee Hee-gyun | Gwangju | ||
| November | Hong Jeong-ho | Jeonbuk | Seol Young-woo | Ulsan | An Ik-soo | Seoul | 1 | Moon Seon-min | Jeonbuk | ||
The 2021 K League Awards was held on 7 December 2021.[3]
| Position | Best XI | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan) | ||||
| Defenders | Kang Sang-woo (Pohang) | Hong Jeong-ho (Jeonbuk) | Dave Bulthuis (Ulsan) | Lee Ki-je (Suwon) | |
| Midfielders | Lee Dong-jun (Ulsan) | Cesinha (Daegu) |  Valeri Qazaishvili(Ulsan) | Lim Sang-hyub (Pohang) | |
| Forwards | Lars Veldwijk (Suwon FC) | Joo Min-kyu (Jeju) | |||
On 12 December 2021, Gangwon FC and Daejeon Hana Citizen faced one another in the second leg of the Promotion-relegation play-offs, with the latter team finding himself in advantage after winning the first leg 1–0. Played at Gangneung Stadium, Gangwon's home soil, the match saw the hosts secure a 4–1 comeback victory and maintain their spot in K League 1. However, the game was marred by a series of incidents, occurring between the first and the second half. After Han Kook-young had scored Gangwon's third goal in the 31st minute, the ball boys around the stadium reportedly started to delay giving the ball back to Daejeon players, an event that happened multiple times during the match and was possibly meant to waste time in favour of the hosts: the fans in the away sector reacted furiously, with some of them throwing plastic bottles in direction of one of the ball boys. The game still went ahead, as six minutes of extra time were added at the end of the second half. The K League administration decided to open an official investigation on the controversial events.[4] [5]
When asked to talk about the incidents, Gangwon's director Lee Young-pyo originally dismissed them, pointing out that similar instances were already common in European football, but later apologized, saying that he felt "direct responsibility" for the "unsmooth match" and promising that he would work so that Gangwon FC would become "a mature club" in the future.[4] Meanwhile, on December 21, just hours before K League's final disciplinary meeting took place, the Daejeon board released an official response to the matter, stating that there was "clear evidence of the game delays being intentional and organized", as well as noticing that such acts violated the league's Code of Ethics for fair play and respect.[4] [6]
In the end, the league's administration decided to keep the final score unchanged: however, Gangwon FC was fined 30 million South Korean Won (US$25,000) for the episodes of time wasting, whereas Daejeon Hana Citizen was fined 2 million South Korean Won (US$1,677) for their fans' behavior towards one of the ball boys.[4] [5]
