FC Anyang win K League 2 title and historic promotion to top flight

FC Anyang have won promotion to K League 1 for the first time in the club's history, following a 0-0 draw away to Bucheon FC 1995 in Round 38 of the 2024 Hana Bank K League 2 season.

The point moved Anyang five points clear of Chungnam Asan in second with just one match left of the 2024 season.

Founded in 2013, FC Anyang have played their entire history in K League 2 but came close to promotion in 2022 via the playoffs. Making it through to the two-leg promotion-relegation playoff with Suwon Samsung Bluewings, the Violets lost via a 120th-minute Oh Hyeon-gyu goal in the second leg that kept the Bluewings in K League 1. Anyang also suffered K League 2 playoff heartbreak in 2019 and 2021.

But FC Anyang were able to earn a long-awaited promotion under Ryu Byeong-hun who was appointed as manager over the winter, taking over from Lee Woo-hyung who he'd served as assistant manager. 

Anyang led the league for a total of 32 matchdays throughout the 2024 season, first reaching the K League 2 summit in Round 5. Only four other teams had reached the top of K League 2 in 2024 - Suwon Bluewings for two matchdays (Rounds 8 and 9), Seoul E-Land (Rounds 1 and 2), Chungnam Asan (Round 4), and Chungbuk Cheongju (Round 3).

K League 2 Past Winners

Three clubs have won K League 2 on two separate occasions - Gwangju FC (2019, 2022), Gimcheon Sangmu (2021, 2023), and Sangju Sangmu (2013, 2015). Gyeongnam (2017), Daejeon Citizen (2014), Ansan Police (2016), Asan Mugunghwa (2018), and Jeju United (2020) have each won K League 2 once.

Title-Winning Managers in First Season

With FC Anyang's title win, Ryu Byeong-hun has become the fifth manager to win the K League 2 championship in their first season in charge. It also means that a manager has won the title in their first season for the last three years. Park Dong-hyuk (Asan 2018) was the first manager to win the second tier title in his first season in charge, followed by Kim Tae-wan (Gimcheon 2021), Lee Jung-hyo (Gwangju 2022), and Chung Jung-yong (Gimcheon 2023)

Via K League, FC Anyang press releases