Five K League 1 teams that had milestone seasons in 2025 | OneFootball

The 2025 Hana Bank K League 1 season is done and dusted, and for some teams, it was a year of milestone achievements.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Champions Jeonbuk became the first K League club to reach double figures in league titles. Their 2025 triumph was the first in four years, but 10th overall. Jeonbuk also became the first K League club to celebrate league titles with more than one foreign manager. Jose Morais won two in 2019 and 2020, before Gus Poyet guided the Green Warriors to glory this year.

Daejeon Hana Citizen

Runners-up marks Daejeon's best-ever finish. Their previous best was sixth in 2003 and 2007 in the old playoff format. Since the introduction of the split system in 2012, Daejeon had never finished in the top half in K League 1. The club have also qualified for AFC Champions League through league positioning for the first time. The Purples' only other appearance in ACL came in 2002-2003 following an FA Cup win in 2001. A total of 65 points matches the club's best at K League 1 level, and 18 wins also matches Citizen's record, but both were set in 2003 in a 44-game season. This means Daejeon have set new points per game and win percentage records of 1.71 points and 47.4%, respectively.

Gimcheon Sangmu

Third place is equal to any army team's highest-place finish, repeating Gimcheon Sangmu's fortunes from 2024. It is also the first time a K League army team has matched their best-ever finish in the following season. The previous best was fourth set by Sangju Sangmu in 2020 but the army team's relocation to Gimcheon meant relegation for the 2021 season.

Gwangju FC

Gwangju's achievements are away from the bread and butter of the league, and instead come in cup competitions. The Griffins reached a cup final for the first time ever, bettering the semifinal birth from 2024, and the quarters the year before, signalling steady progress under Lee Jung-hyo. A place in the quarters of the AFC Champions League Elite was also a high point  in what was the club's first-ever continental campaign.

In avoiding relegation, FC Anyang became the first brand new club to K League 1 to avoid an instant return to the second tier. Suwon FC in 2016 were the only other team to reach K League 1 for the first time, but suffered relegation.