| Competition: | Hana 1Q K League 2 |
| Season: | 2021 |
| Dates: | 27 February – 31 October 2021[1] |
| Winners: | Gimcheon Sangmu (1st title) |
| Promoted: | Gimcheon Sangmu |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Jeonnam Dragons (via Korean FA Cup) |
| Best Player: | An Byong-jun |
| League Topscorer: | An Byong-jun (23 goals) |
| Matches: | 180 |
| Total Goals: | 435 |
| Prevseason: | 2020 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
The 2021 K League 2 was the ninth season of the K League 2, the second-tier South Korean professional football league. The champions and the winners of the promotion play-offs could be promoted to the K League 1.
Sangju Sangmu was renamed Gimcheon Sangmu and moved its city to Gimcheon before the season.
Relegated from K League 1
Promoted to K League 1
| Team | City/Province | Abbreviation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ansan Greeners | Ansan | Ansan | |
| Anyang | Anyang | ||
| Bucheon FC 1995 | Bucheon | Bucheon | |
| Busan IPark | Busan | Busan | |
| Chungnam Asan | Asan | Chungnam Asan | |
| Daejeon Hana Citizen | Daejeon | Daejeon | |
| Gimcheon Sangmu | Gimcheon | Gimcheon | |
| Gyeongnam FC | Gyeongnam | Gyeongnam | |
| Jeonnam Dragons | Jeonnam | Jeonnam | |
| Seoul E-Land | Seoul | Seoul E |
| Ansan Greeners | FC Anyang | Bucheon FC 1995 | Busan IPark | Chungnam Asan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ansan Wa~ Stadium | Anyang Stadium | Bucheon Stadium | Busan Gudeok Stadium | Yi Sun-sin Stadium | |
| Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 17,143 | Capacity: 34,456 | Capacity: 12,349 | Capacity: 17,376 | |
| Daejeon Hana Citizen | Gimcheon Sangmu | Gyeongnam FC | Jeonnam Dragons | Seoul E-Land | |
| Daejeon World Cup Stadium | Gimcheon Stadium | Changwon Football Center | Gwangyang Stadium | Seoul Olympic Stadium | |
| Capacity: 40,535 | Capacity: 25,000 | Capacity: 15,074 | Capacity: 13,496 | Capacity: 69,950 | |
| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Main sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ansan Greeners | Kim Gil-sik | Kappa | Ansan Government | |
| FC Anyang | Lee Woo-hyung | Joma | Anyang Government | |
| Bucheon FC 1995 |  Lee Young-min | Kappa | Bucheon Government | |
| Busan IPark | Ricardo Peres | Adidas | HDC Group | |
| Chungnam Asan | Park Dong-hyuk | Mizuno | Asan Government | |
| Daejeon Hana Citizen | Lee Min-sung | Astore | Hana Financial Group | |
| Gimcheon Sangmu | Kim Tae-wan | Kelme | Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps Gimcheon Government | |
| Gyeongnam FC | Seol Ki-hyeon | Hummel | Gyeongnam Provincial Government | |
| Jeonnam Dragons | Jeon Kyung-jun | Puma | POSCO | |
| Seoul E-Land | Chung Jung-yong | New Balance | E-Land |
Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to five per team, including a slot for a player from AFC and ASEAN countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field each game.
Military-owned team Gimcheon Sangmu is not allowed to sign any foreign players.
North Korean player An Byong-jun was deemed as a native player in K League by South Korean nationality law and passport.
Players in bold are players who join midway through the competition.[3]
The first round was contested between the third and fourth-placed teams, and the runners-up directly advanced to the second round. When the first and second round matches were finished as draws, their winners were decided on the regular season rankings without extra time and penalty shoot-outs. The winners of the second round competed with eleven-placed team of the K League 1 in the two-legged final for a K League 1 spot of the next season.
----Gangwon FC won 4–2 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.
| Rank | Player[4] | Club | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  An Byong-jun | Busan IPark | 23 | ||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 2 | Jonathan Moya | FC Anyang | align=center rowspan=2 | 13 |
| Park Chang-joon | Bucheon FC 1995 | ||||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 4 |  Willyan | Gyeongnam FC | align=center rowspan=2 | 11 |
| Jonathan Balotelli | Jeonnam Dragons | ||||
| 6 | Hernandes | Gyeongnam FC | 10 | ||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 7 |  Masatoshi Ishida | Daejeon Hana Citizen | align=center rowspan=3 | 9 |
| Park Dong-jin | Gimcheon Sangmu | ||||
| Kim Ryun-do | Ansan Greeners | ||||
| align=center rowspan=5 | 10 | Cho Gue-sung | Gimcheon Sangmu | align=center rowspan=5 | 8 |
| Lee Jong-ho | Jeonnam Dragons | ||||
| Park Jeong-in | Busan IPark | ||||
| Róbson Duarte | Ansan Greeners | ||||
| Kim In-kyun | Chungnam Asan | ||||
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joo Hyeon-woo | FC Anyang | 8 | ||
| 2 | Leandro Ribeiro | Seoul E-Land | 7 | ||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 3 | Park Tae-jun | FC Anyang | align=center rowspan=3 | 6 |
| Baek Sung-dong | Gyeongnam FC | ||||
| Lee Sang-min | Ansan Greeners | ||||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 6 | Kim Seung-seob | Daejeon Hana Citizen | align=center rowspan=2 | 5 |
| Lee Hyeon-sik | Daejeon Hana Citizen | ||||
| 8 | 9 players | 4 | |||
| Round | Player of the Round | |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | |
| 19 | Choi Cheol-won | Bucheon FC 1995 |
| 20 | Hong Chang-beom | FC Anyang |
| 21 | Park Jeong-in | Busan IPark |
| 22 | Kim Seung-seob | Daejeon Hana Citizen |
| 23 | Hwang Il-su | Gyeongnam FC |
| 24 | Kim In-kyun | Chungnam Asan |
| 25 | Seo Young-jae | Daejeon Hana Citizen |
| 26 | Heo Yong-joon | Gimcheon Sangmu |
| 27 | Lee Si-heon | Bucheon FC 1995 |
| 28 | Oh Hyun-gyu | Gimcheon Sangmu |
| 29 | Kim In-sung | Seoul E-Land |
| 30 | Cho Gue-sung | Gimcheon Sangmu |
| 31 | Park Ji-soo | Gimcheon Sangmu |
| 32 | Choi Jun | Busan IPark |
| 33 | Masatohsi Ishida | Daejeon Hana Citizen |
| 34 | Lee Hyeon-sik | Daejeon Hana Citizen |
| 35 | Masatohsi Ishida | Daejeon Hana Citizen |
| 36 | Lee Sang-min | Ansan Greeners |
| Month | Manager of the Month | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Division | |||||
| March | bgcolor=darkgray | Kim Sang-sik | bgcolor=darkgray | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 1 | |
| April | Lee Woo-hyung | FC Anyang | 2 | ||||
| May | bgcolor=darkgray | Park Kun-ha | bgcolor=darkgray | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 1 | |
| June | Kim Tae-wan | Gimcheon Sangmu | 2 | ||||
| July | bgcolor=darkgray | Jo Sung-hwan | bgcolor=darkgray | Incheon United | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 1 | |
| August | bgcolor=darkgray | Hong Myung-bo | bgcolor=darkgray | Ulsan Hyundai | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 1 | |
| September | bgcolor=darkgray | Lee Byung-keun | bgcolor=darkgray | Daegu FC | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 1 | |
| October | bgcolor=darkgray | Nam Ki-il | bgcolor=darkgray | Jeju United | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 1 | |
| November | bgcolor=darkgray | An Ik-soo | bgcolor=darkgray | FC Seoul | align=center bgcolor=darkgray | 1 | |
The 2021 K League Awards was held on 18 November 2021.
| Award | Winner | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player | An Byong-jun | Busan IPark | |
| Young Player of the Year | Kim In-kyun | Chungnam Asan | |
| Top goalscorer | An Byong-jun | Busan IPark | |
| Top assist provider | Joo Hyeon-woo | FC Anyang | |
| Manager of the Year | Kim Tae-wan | Gimcheon Sangmu |
| Position | Best XI | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Gu Sung-yun (Gimcheon) | ||||
| Defenders | Choi Jun (Busan) | Joo Hyeon-woo (Anyang) | Jung Seung-hyun (Gimcheon) | Seo Young-jae (Daejeon) | |
| Midfielders | Masatoshi Ishida (Daejeon) | Park Jin-seop (Daejeon) | Kim Hyeon-uk (Jeonnam) | Kim Kyung-jung (Anyang) | |
| Forwards | Jonathan Moya (Anyang) | An Byong-jun (Busan) | |||
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.[5] [6]
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.[5] 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.[5] [7]
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.[5] [6]
