The R League (Korean: R리그), also known as the Korean Professional Football Reserve League, is the league for reserve teams of professional football clubs in South Korea.
History
The Korean Reserve League was started in 1990 with reserve teams of five K League clubs.
It was not held for nine years after the inaugural season, but was relaunched in a new format in 2000. The participating teams were split into two or three group leagues, and the highest ranking teams of each league qualified for playoffs to determine the overall champions. It was renamed "R League" in 2009. The Korea Police FC participated in the R League until 2012, although it was not a reserve team of a K League club.
The R League was abolished in 2013 following the foundation of the K League 2, which needed participating players, but was restarted in 2016. It was once again ceased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Korea Football Association (KFA) allowed reserve teams to join the football league pyramid through the semi-professional K3 League and K4 League. Plans to resume the R League were scrapped due to a lack of participating teams as a number of teams elected to participate in the K4 League instead.
Champions
Champions by season
Reserve League (1990)
Reserve League (2000–2005)
Reserve League (2006–2008)
R League (2009)
R League (2010–present)
Performance by club
K League's principle of official statistics is that final club succeeds to predecessor club's history & records.
Awards
Most Valuable Player
Top goalscorer
Top assist provider
See also
- K League
- U-League (association football)
References
External links
- Results (2000–2002) at Soccer World (in Korean)
