2004 K League
The 2004 season of the K-League kicked off on April 3. The league's previous single-season format was replaced by a separated twice 12-game split-season schedule. Each team will play 12 matches consisting of a home or away fixture against every other team in each stage. After both stages have been played, First Stage table plus Second Stage and the First Stage and Second Stage winners and table the top 2 teams will enter the championship playoffs to determine the overall champion. The playoff fixtures are set to take place in early December.
First stage
Final table
- The first place team qualify for the championship playoffs.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pohang Steelers | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 23 | First Stage Champion |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 20 | |
| Ulsan Hyundai Horangi | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 20 | |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 16 | +3 | 18 | |
| FC Seoul | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 16 | |
| Chunnam Dragons | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 15 | |
| Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 15 | |
| Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 16 | −3 | 15 | |
| Busan I'Cons | 12 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 14 | |
| Daegu FC | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 12 | |
| Daejeon Citizen | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 12 | |
| Bucheon SK | 12 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 11 | |
| Incheon United | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 20 | −11 | 9 |
Source: [citation needed]
Second stage
Final table
- The first place team qualify for the championship playoffs.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 23 | Second Stage Champion |
| Chunnam Dragons | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 22 | |
| Ulsan Hyundai Horangi | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 21 | |
| Incheon United | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 17 | |
| FC Seoul | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 17 | |
| Busan I'Cons | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 16 | |
| Daegu FC | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 16 | |
| Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 14 | |
| Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 14 | |
| Bucheon SK | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 14 | |
| Daejeon Citizen | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 14 | |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 12 | |
| Pohang Steelers | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 9 |
Source: [citation needed]
Overall table
- First Stage table plus Second Stage table.
- Top two teams in this table qualify for the Championship playoffs (other than the First Stage and Second Stage winners which qualify automatically).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulsan Hyundai Horangi | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 22 | 14 | +8 | 41 | Qualification for playoffs |
| 2 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings (C) | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 41 | Second Stage Champion Qualification for playoffs and 2005 AFC Champions League |
| 3 | Chunnam Dragons | 24 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 29 | 20 | +9 | 37 | Qualification for playoffs |
| 4 | FC Seoul | 24 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 33 | |
| 5 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 18 | +5 | 32 | |
| 6 | Pohang Steelers | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 24 | −1 | 32 | First Stage Champion Qualification for playoffs |
| 7 | Busan I'Cons | 24 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 30 | FA Cup winner |
| 8 | Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo | 24 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 20 | −2 | 29 | |
| 9 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 28 | −5 | 29 | |
| 10 | Daegu FC | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 28 | |
| 11 | Daejeon Citizen | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 26 | −8 | 26 | |
| 12 | Incheon United | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 29 | −9 | 26 | |
| 13 | Bucheon SK | 24 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 19 | 27 | −8 | 25 |
Note: 2004 Korean FA Cup winner also qualified for 2005 AFC Champions League
Top scorers
This list is including championship playoff goals
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | Pld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mota
|
Chunnam Dragons | 14 | 22 |
| 2 | Nonato
|
Daegu FC | 13 | 23 |
| 3 | Nadson
|
Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 12 | 26 |
| 4 |  Woo Sung-Yong
|
Pohang Steelers | 10 | 26 |
| 5 | Kim Eun-Jung
|
FC Seoul | 8 | 24 |
| = | Marcel
|
Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 8 | 26 |
| 7 | Zé Carlos
|
Ulsan Hyundai Horangi | 7 | 12 |
| = | Ricardo Irineu
|
Bucheon SK | 7 | 22 |
| 9 |  Cheick Oumar Dabo
|
Bucheon SK | 6 | 15 |
| = |  Andy Cooke
|
Busan I'Cons | 6 | 20 |
| = | Itamar
|
Chunnam Dragons | 6 | 22 |
| = | Tavares
|
Pohang Steelers | 6 | 23 |
Championship playoffs
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1 | ||||||||
| Chunnam Dragons | 0 | ||||||||
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 00(0)-4PSO | ||||||||
| Pohang Steelers | 00(0)-3PSO | ||||||||
| Pohang Steelers | 1 | ||||||||
| Ulsan Hyundai Horangi | 0 | ||||||||
Participants
- First Stage winners: Pohang Steelers
- Second Stage winners: Suwon Samsung Bluewings
- Top two teams in the overall table (stage one and stage two combined table) other than the winners of each stage: Ulsan Hyundai Horangi and Chunnam Dragons.
Results
Semi-finals
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1 – 0 | Chunnam Dragons |
|---|---|---|
Javier Musa  4' |
Attendance: 26,445
| Pohang Steelers | 1 – 0 | Ulsan Hyundai Horangi |
|---|---|---|
| Tavares 36' |
Attendance: 18,237
Final
First leg
| Pohang Steelers | 0 – 0 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings |
|---|---|---|
Attendance: 15,206
Second leg
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 0 – 0 | Pohang Steelers |
|---|---|---|
Attendance: 36,490
Suwon Samsung Bluewings win 4-3 on penalties
| 2004 K-League Winners |
|---|
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings 3rd title |