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DPR Korea Premier Football League

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DPR Korea Premier Football League
Organising bodyDPR Korea Football Association
Founded1960; 64 years ago (1960) (original)
2017; 7 years ago (2017) (current form)
CountryNorth Korea
ConfederationAFC
Number of clubs12
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toDPR Korea Football League 2
Domestic cup(s)Hwaebul Cup
DPR Korea Championship
Mangyongdae Prize
Paektusan Prize
Pochonbo Torch Prize
Osandok Prize
International cup(s)AFC Challenge League
Current championsApril 25 (21 titles)
(2022–23)
Most championshipsApril 25 (21 titles)
TV partnersKorean Central Television[1]
Current: 2024–25 DPR Korea Premier Football League

The DPR Korea Premier Football League (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 1부류축구련맹전) is the men's top professional football division of the North Korean football league system. The DPR Korea Premier Football League was established in 2017, replacing previous football tournaments held in a knockout format which served as a highest-level football competition in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Overview

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Initially, all sports in the country were on an amateur basis with competitions called Technical Innovation Contests[2] being held several times a year since the 1960s until 2009. Technical Innovation Games typically started in February each year.

In 1977, sport in the country was reformed, creating professional teams with paid players for each sport.[3] Since then, an annual championship, called the National Championship, also known as the DPR Korea Championships, has been held September through each year.

Several other competitions held together with the National Championship each year include the Man'gyŏndae Prize held since at least 2002 in March through April in honour of Kim Il Sung's birthday,[4] the Paektusan Prize held since at least 2010 in February in honour of Kim Jong Il's birthday,[5] and the Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize held since 2010 in May through June to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Poch'ŏnbo.[6] The Osandŏk Prize competition, held in December in honour of Kim Jong-suk, was originally the primary tournament of North Korean ice hockey and other winter sports, but football was added in 2015.[7] Hwaebul Cup was first held in 2013.[8]

In 2010, football's National Championship was renamed Top Class Football League or Highest Class Football League,[9][10] but was still held together with the National Championships of other sports, and the other football competitions of the year. This competition was last held in October 2017, after which it was replaced by the current DPR Korea Premier Football League[nb 1] held in the home-and-away round-robin style used in most other countries.[16]

As of the 2017–18 season, featuring thirteen teams that play a full season of home-and-away matches. The 2018-2019 season started on 1 December 2018 and was scheduled to end October 2019.[16]

Participation in Asian club competitions

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Due to the unusual nature of the domestic football competitions, North Korean teams only rarely took part in international club competitions of the Asian Football Confederation. The first time a North Korean club took part in an AFC club competition was the 1985–86 Asian Club Championship, when April 25 SC took part as the previous season's North Korean champions, though they did not advance from the qualifying round. North Korean teams also took part in the 1986, 1987, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91 and 1991 editions of the Asian Club Championships, with some success; in 1988–89, April 25 finished first in their group in the qualifying round, but did not advance from their group in the semi-final round. The best result of a North Korean club was in the 1990–91 Asian Club Championship, when April 25 reached the semi-finals, losing to Liaoning FC of China; however, April 25 then went on to defeat Pelita Jaya of Indonesia in the third-place match. April 25 represented North Korea in six of the seven seasons in which North Korean teams took part in the Asian Club Championship. The only time a different club took part was in the 1989–90 edition, in which North Korea was represented by Ch'andongja SC; Ch'andongja finished last in their qualifying round group, and did not advance.

After the 1991 Asian Club Championship, in which April 25 advanced as far as the group stage, North Korean teams did not compete in any Asian club competitions for over twenty years, when Rimyŏngsu SC were invited to take part in the 2014 edition of the AFC President's Cup.[17] Rimyŏngsu performed well, finishing second in their group in the first round. They went undefeated in the second round to top their group and advance to the final, in which they lost 1–2 to HTTU Ashgabat of Turkmenistan - who had finished first in Rimyŏngsu's group in the first round. However, the 2014 edition proved to be the last time the President's Cup was held.

The 2016 North Korean champions and runners up, April 25 and Kigwancha respectively, were invited to take part in the 2017 AFC Cup. Both started in the group stage, in the same group; April 25 advanced to the knockout stage, with a +1 goal differential over Kigwancha. April 25 faced Bengaluru FC of India, losing 0:3 on aggregate. The 2017 DPRK League champions and runners up are presently taking part in the 2018 AFC Cup; as the champions, April 25 will begin play in Group I of the group stage.[18] The runners-up, Hwaebul SC, had to first play in the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs.[19] There, they faced Erchim FC of Mongolia, winning 7–0 on aggregate to advance to the group stage, where they will play matches against April 25, Hang Yuen F.C. of Taiwan, and Benfica de Macau. Both teams will travel abroad for away matches, and foreign teams will travel to North Korea; April 25 will use the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium as its home field, whilst Hwaebul will use Kim Il Sung Stadium as its home venue. As a result of the new league structure, the champions and runners up of the 2017–18 Premier League season will take part in the 2019 AFC Cup.

Clubs (2019–20 season)

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Club Location Stadium Capacity Affiliation
Amrokkang P'yŏngyang Yanggakdo Stadium 30,000 Ministry of Social Security
April 25 P'yŏngyang Yanggakdo Stadium 30,000 Korean People's Army
Hwaebul Pochŏn Hwaebul Stadium 5,000 Socialist Patriotic Youth League
Jebi P'yŏngyang P'yŏngyang City Stadium 10,000 Korean People's Army Air Force
Kigwancha Sinŭiju Sinuiju Stadium 17,500 Korean State Railway
Kyŏnggong'ŏpsong P'yŏngyang P'yŏngyang City Stadium 10,000 Ministry of Light Industry
P'yŏngyang P'yŏngyang Kim Il Sung Stadium 50,000 Workers' Party of Korea
Rimyŏngsu Sariwŏn Sariwŏn Youth Stadium 35,000 Ministry of People's Security
Ryŏmyŏng P'yŏngyang Kim Il Sung Stadium 50,000 Korean People's Army
Sobaeksu P'yŏngyang Yanggakdo Stadium 30,000 Korean People's Army
Sŏnbong Rasŏn Rajin Stadium 20,000 Worker-Peasant Red Guards
Wŏlmido Kimch'aek Kimch'aek Municipal Stadium 30,000 Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts

Champions

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Technical Innovation Contests

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  • System was unknown
Season Champion Runner-up Third place
1960–1984 Unknown
1985 April 25
1986 April 25
1987 April 25
1988 April 25
1989 Ch'andongja
1990 April 25
1991 P'yŏngyang
1992 April 25
1993 April 25
1994 April 25
1995 April 25 Rimyŏngsu Kigwanch'a
1996 Kigwanch'a Rimyŏngsu April 25
1997 Kigwanch'a
1998 Kigwanch'a
1999 Kigwanch'a
2000 Kigwanch'a
2001 Amnokgang
2002 April 25 Rimyŏngsu Amnokgang
2003 April 25
2004 P'yŏngyang
2005 P'yŏngyang
2006 Amnokgang Kigwanch'a
2007 P'yŏngyang Amnokgang Kyŏnggong'ŏpsong
2008 Amnokgang
2009 P'yŏngyang

Highest Class Football League

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Season Champion Runner-up Third place
2010 April 25 Sobaeksu Amnokgang
2011 April 25 Kigwancha Sobaeksu
2012 April 25 Sŏnbong Rimyŏngsu
2013 April 25 Man'gyŏngbong Hwaebul
2014 Hwaebul April 25 Amnokgang
2015 April 25 Hwaebul
2016 Kigwancha April 25 Amnokgang
2017 April 25 Hwaebul

DPR Korea Premier Football League

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Season Champion Runner-up Third place
2017–18[20] April 25 Ryomyong Kigwancha
2018–19[20][21] April 25 Ryomyong[22] Sŏbaeksu
2019–20 Unknown unknown unknown
2020–21[23] Ryomyong April 25 unknown
2021–22[24] April 25 Ryomyong Kigwancha
2022–23[25] April 25 Ryomyong Amnokgang

Performance by club

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Club Winners Runners-up Third place Winning seasons Runners-up seasons Third place seasons
April 25 21 2 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23 2014, 2016
Kigwanch'a 6 1 5 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2016 2011 1995, 2006, 2012, 2017–18, 2021–22
P'yŏngyang 5 1991, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009
Amnokgang 3 1 5 2001, 2006, 2008 2007 2002, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2022–23
Ryomyong 1 4 2020–21 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23
Hwaebul 1 2 1 2014 2015, 2017 2013
Ch'andongja 1 1989
Rimyŏngsu 3 1 1995, 1996, 2002 2012
Sobaeksu 2 2 2010, 2022–23 2011, 2018–19
Man'gyŏngbong 1 2013
Kyŏnggong'ŏpsong — — 1 — — 2007

Top goalscorers

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Season Player Team Goals
2017–18 North Korea An Il-bom April 25 19
2018–19 North Korea Rim Chol-min April 25 21
2021–22 North Korea Choi Ju-song Amnokgang
2022–23 North Korea Pak Kwang-chon Ryomyong 22

Notes

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  1. ^ Each sports club - including their football sections - is classified as 1st class(1부류), 2nd class(2부류), and 3rd class(3부류).[11] 1st class clubs are the fully professional teams that play in the highest levels of the given sport;[3] in football's case, the DPRK Premier League and the second level. 2nd class clubs are smaller and rated to be of lower grade, though their top football teams take part in the upper levels and occasionally do achieve promotion into the highest division; provincial representative clubs are also included in the 2nd class. 3rd class clubs do not take part in the highest levels of competition, as they are strictly amateur, being the free-time sports clubs belonging to various factories and other state enterprises.[12] There are several national-level amateur tournaments as well, such as the Inter-Provincial Games[13] and the Songun Torch Prize[14] for provincial representative teams, as well as annual football tournaments for the amateur factory and civil servant teams.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  2. ^ It is not an official English name, it is a direct translations from the Korean official name '기술혁신경기대회'
  3. ^ a b "- 북한백과". office.kbs.co.kr. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Rodong Sinmun". rodong.rep.kp. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Rodong Sinmun". rodong.rep.kp. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Naenara Democratic People's Republic of Korea". Naenara. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  7. ^ "The Pyongyang Times - Sports". Archived from the original on 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
  8. ^ "North Korea 2013". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  9. ^ Theses are not official English names, Theses are direct translations from the Korean official name '최상급축구련맹전'
  10. ^ 관심속에 벌어지는 최상급축구련맹전 1차경기 Archived 2011-06-09 at the Wayback Machine. KOREA NEWS SERVICE(KNS). Retrieved on 2010-10-29.
  11. ^ 북한의직업. Dprksearch.net. Retrieved on 2010-10-21.
  12. ^ "북한의직업". www.dprksearch.net. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  13. ^ "PyongyangTimes | home".
  14. ^ "Rodong Sinmun". rodong.rep.kp. Archived from the original on 2018-11-15. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  15. ^ "PyongyangTimes | home".
  16. ^ a b "2018-2019 DPRK Premier Football League Begins". Korean Central News Agency. 17 August 2019. Archived from the original on November 24, 2019.
  17. ^ "ACL: East vs West final proposed". AFC. 25 November 2013.
  18. ^ "AFC Cup - AFC". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  19. ^ "AFC Cup 2018 draw confirmed". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  20. ^ a b Results of 2017-2018 DPRK Premier Football League
  21. ^ "2018년-2019년 조선민주주의인민공화국 1부류축구련맹전 결속". 조선의 오늘. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  22. ^ Ryomyong placed second according to results published by KCNA. According to other North Korean sources, Kigwancha finished second.
  23. ^ DPR Korea Football (28 October 2022). "PYONGYANG SINMUN, JUNE 3RD: ONLY ENDLESS SEARCH AND GREAT EFFORT CAN ENSURE A PLACE AMONG THE TOP TEAMS (ON MEN'S MANGYONGDAE PRIZE FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT)". Facebook.
  24. ^ "2021-2022 DPRK Premier Football League Finishes". DPRK Today. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  25. ^ "DPRK Premier League Finished". Korean Central News Agency. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
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