1996 K League Explained

Season:	1996
Competition:	Rapido Cup Professional Football League
Winners:	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i (1st title)
Continentalcup1:	Asian Club Championship
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i Pohang Atoms
Continentalcup2:	Cup Winners' Cup
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Matches:	144
Total Goals:	448
Best Player:	Kim Hyun-seok
League Topscorer:	Shin Tae-yong (18 goals)
Prevseason:	1995
Nextseason:	1997

The 1996 Korean Professional Football League was the 14th season of K League since its establishment in 1983. South Korean government and the Korean Professional Football Federation introduced a decentralization policy to proliferate the popularity of football nationally in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which they wanted to host, so some clubs located in the capital Seoul (LG Cheetahs, Ilhwa Chunma) moved to other cities according to the new policy in this season.

Regular season

Second stage

Championship playoffs

See main article: 1996 K League Championship.

Final table

Awards

Main awards

Award	Winner	Club
Most Valuable Player	Kim Hyun-seok	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Top goalscorer^[1]	Shin Tae-yong	Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma
Top assist provider	Rade Bogdanović	Pohang Atoms
Rookie of the Year	Park Kun-ha	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Manager of the Year^[2]	Ko Jae-wook	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i

Best XI

Position	Winner	Club
Goalkeeper	Kim Byung-ji	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Defenders	Yoon Sung-hyo	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Kim Joo-sung	Busan Daewoo Royals
	Huh Ki-tae	Bucheon SK
Midfielders	Shin Tae-yong	Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma
	Pavel Badea	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Hong Myung-bo	Pohang Atoms
	Ha Seok-ju	Busan Daewoo Royals
	Kim Hyun-seok	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Forwards	Rade Bogdanović	Pohang Atoms
Forwards	Sergey Burdin	Bucheon SK

Source:^[3]

External links

RSSSF

Notes and References

Web site: https://newslibrary.naver.com/viewer/index.nhn?articleId=1996110700209113001&editNo=45&printCount=1&publishDate=1996-11-07&officeId=00020&pageNo=13&printNo=23360&publishType=00010 . ko:프로축구 올 정규리그 각종기록 해트트릭 7번"요란한 골잔치" . ko . . . 1996-11-07 . 2021-01-20.
Web site: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/sports/view/2014/12/1481980/ . ko:[프로축구] 역대 감독상·MVP·신인상 수상자(표) . ko . . 1 December 2014 . 20 January 2021 . 28 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210128010145/https://www.mk.co.kr/news/sports/view/2014/12/1481980/ . dead .
Web site: http://newslibrary.naver.com/viewer/index.nhn?articleId=1996113000289118001&editNo=5&printCount=1&publishDate=1996-11-30&officeId=00028&pageNo=18&printNo=2740&publishType=00010 . ko:프로축구 MVP 김현석 뽑혀 . . . ko . 30 November 1996.