This year’s professional soccer K-League 1 opens with the ‘East Coast Derby’ between defending champion Ulsan HD and Pohang Steelers.The Korea Professional Football League confirmed and announced the schedule for rounds 1 to 33 of the 2024 K League 1 regular league on the 15th.A total of 12 clubs will participate in this season’s K-League 1, from defending champion Ulsan to promoted team Gimcheon Sangmu, and the regular round will feature a total of 198 games, with 33 games per team.In the final round that follows, each team will play 5 games from the 34th round to the final 38th round.The final round schedule will be released after the regular rounds have been played.
The official opening match is a match between Ulsan and Pohang held at Munsu Soccer Stadium in Ulsan at 2 p.m. on March 1st.Ulsan, who won two consecutive games last season, and Pohang, the FA Cup (Korea Football Association Cup) winners and last season’s league runners-up, will clash from the first game of the season.On the same day, Jeonbuk Hyundai and Daejeon Hana Citizen will meet at Jeonju World Cup Stadium at 4:30 p.m.Jeonbuk, which recruited a large number of proven resources from K-League 1 such as Kim Tae-hwan, Lee Young-jae, and Thiago in the winter transfer market, is fully motivated to regain the top spot after three years.
In response, Daejeon also recruited veteran players such as Kim Seung-dae and Hong Jeong-woon to add weight to both offense and defense.At 2 p.m. on March 2, a match between Gwangju FC and FC Seoul will be held at the Gwangju Soccer Stadium.A battle of wits unfolds between coach Lee Jeong-hyo, who took Gwangju’s third place by storm last season, and coach Kim Ki-dong, who left Pohang, where he had worked for five years, and was newly appointed to Seoul.On the same day, at 4:30 PM, Incheon United and Suwon FC meet at Incheon Soccer Stadium.Incheon, which advanced to Final A for two consecutive years last season, is trying to continue the good trend this season, while Suwon FC, which was on the verge of relegation, is aiming for a rebound with newly appointed coach Kim Eun-joong.
At the same time, at Chuncheon Songam Sports Town, Gangwon FC, who dramatically remained in K-League 1 last season, and Jeju United, led by coach Kim Hak-beom, who returned to the K-League leadership after six years, meet.Gangwon is also the team that coach Kim led from 2012 to 2013.At 2 p.m. on March 3, Daegu FC, who settled in Final A last season, and promoted team Gimcheon will face off at DGB Daegu Bank Park.‘Friday Night Football’, which will heat up Friday nights, continues this season.A total of 12 Friday night games will be held, one for each team.The first Friday Night Football will be held on July 5, with the Incheon-Gimcheon match being played at Incheon Soccer Stadium and the Suwon FC-Ulsan match being 스포츠토토존 played at Suwon Stadium.