Alternative K League 2024 Awards
With the conclusion of the K League 2024 seasons comes the yearly awards, which often fosters huge debate amid claims of biasness etc among rival fans. Here is an alternative take on them.
Welcome to K League Unofficial Alternative Awards with the judging panel solely yours truly - it may be undiplomatic but we live in strange 2-hour long martial law
Goal of the Season
A nice, easy one to get us started—any other suggestions are simply wrong. Jeon Byung-kwan’s acrobatic and unconventional overhead goal in the 8th round against FC Seoul is the only answer. Sit back and enjoy!
MVP vs Player of the Year
This one caused the biggest stir, with title-winning Ulsan Hyundai’s goalkeeper Jo Hyun-woo picking up the award despite not being statistically the best goalkeeper in the league. Wyscout ranks him third in their goalkeeper index, with Jo falling behind players like Lee Chang-geun and Kim Dong-heon in metrics such as prevented goals per 90 minutes based on xG.
A clearer way to fix this category—which often stokes debate and frequently ends up going to a member of the title-winning team—would be to have two separate awards. The MVP could be reserved for a player from the league winners (fair enough), while the Player of the Year should recognize the best overall performer.
MVP
With that sorted, I believe Ko Seung-beom should be the MVP as the player who contributed most to Ulsan’s title-winning campaign. He scored two crucial goals during the run-in against Gimcheon Sangmu and East Coast rivals Pohang Steelers. While Ko has never been a prolific scorer, this season marked a personal best, with the most goals he’s ever scored in a single league season. Additionally, he played a vital role in the team’s buildup play and forward press.
Player of the Year
Similarly to Jeon’s indisputable Goal of the Season. Suwon FC’s Anderson takes home this award
Match of the Season
Daegu 4-3 Jeonbuk R33
A barnstormer of a game saw Daegu FC race into a two-goal lead, only for Jeonbuk to turn the match on its head in the second half, taking a 3-2 lead heading into injury time. Then, super-sub Edgar took center stage—first equalizing, then skillfully setting up Park Se-jin for the dramatic winner.
Signing of the Season
Anderson is, of course, the winner of this category as the Player of the Year, but a shout-out is well-deserved for Daegu’s Yoshino, Gangwon’s Lee Sang-heon, FC Seoul’s Jesse Lingard, and, of course, my MVP, Ko Seung-beom. The major impact of these signings during the 2024 season sets the stage for an exciting winter transfer window this offseason, ahead of the 2025 season kickoff on February 15, 2025.
Most Improved Player
Hwang Mun-ki (Gangwon FC), the converted midfielder, became Gangwon’s lethal weapon at right back this season, surprising many by earning a couple of caps for South Korea as a result. His aggressiveness in defense, coupled with great vision and boundless energy, made him the standout candidate for Right Back of the Season. Hwang contributed seven assists and two goals to Gangwon’s title push, forming a deadly partnership with Yang Min-hyuk down the right flank. Yang would carry the ball forward, vacating space for Hwang to exploit with devastating effect.
Hwang’s transformation was remarkable: from just 15 appearances (only three starts) in 2023, he made 36 starts this campaign. Unfortunately, this stellar season may be remembered as a one-off, as Hwang is set to join K4 to complete his military service after failing to secure a spot with Gimcheon Sangmu, the professional military side in K1. This means Hwang will be unavailable not only for the 2025 season but also for 2026—a massive blow to Gangwon’s hopes of replicating their best-ever season in the K League.
Disappointment of the Season
Lee Seung-woo’s move to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors didn’t work out to say the least. Lee was on course to challenge for the league’s top scorer with ten goals in the first half of the season at Suwon FC before his summer transfer move to struggling Jeonbuk curtailed not only his goals but his minutes as well. Since joining Jeonbuk he managed only three starts in the remaining 14 games of the season and only managed two goals. Amid allegations of poor training and excess body fat, both refuted by Lee, the one-time golden boy of Korean football struggled to get into Kim Do-heon’s plans but has been backed by the majority of Jeonbuk fans. WIth Kim’s future uncertain at the helm, a 2025 comeback player of the year award could be Lee’s for the taking if Jeonbuk return to their previous title-challenging form.
Alternative Team of the Year
GK - Lee Chang-geun - A goal prevention almost double all the other goalkeepers. His performances earned him a deserved call up to the national team, although his kicking deficiencies will likely continue to hold him back.
RB - Hwang Mun-ki - Most improved player and certain to get in this team just unfortunate it’s probably his last
CB - Kim Ju-sung - Could be in most improved player as well with vast improvements in his defending wide areas and distribution. Struck up an excellent partnership with Yazan in the second half of the season
CB - Tuci - Consistently one of the best centre backs in the league with the ability to charge up the pitch and provide an attacking outlet in a back three.
LB - Wanderson - Evergreen and performing seemingly better with every year. Led his team to retaining the FA Cup trophy.
CM - Kim Bong-soo - Mr. Consistent in an ever changing Gimcheon lineup who had to deal with the creation of the two teams this season due to the nature of the army side. Kim got a call up to the NT but didn’t feature. Jeong Seung-won a close call for this position as well
CM - Lee Dong-gyeong - No one lit the league on fire in the early months like Lee Dong-gyeong. 3rd highest on chance creation as well.
CM - Ko Seung-beom - Drove Ulsan HD to the title.
CF - Anderson - Best player in the league
CF - Cesinha - Rediscovered his form of previous campaigns and almost single-handedly kept Daegu FC in the league.
CF - Yang Min-hyuk - 18=year-old sensation walked the Young Player of the Year trophy and contributed an amazing 12 goals with great variety to each one.