Relegated Despite Securing At Least 11th Place… Gimcheon Sangmu's 20 Draws Open the Way to Promotion-Relegation Playoff

Gimcheon Sangmu, who drew 1-1 with Gwangju, secured at least 11th place with 35 points. Their relegation stands, but the conditions for holding the promotion-relegation playoff have been met, and the team that finishes 12th is yet to be determined.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Three-line summary

Gimcheon Sangmu drew 1-1 with Gwangju in Round 34 of K League 1 on October 31, reaching 35 points.
Even if Gwangju win all of their remaining 4 games, they would finish on 34 points, so Gimcheon's final ranking has been confirmed as at least 11th.
The conditions for holding the promotion-relegation playoff have been met, but Gimcheon's relegation stands, and the team that finishes 12th is yet to be determined.

Gimcheon Sangmu's season this year can be explained by the gap between two numbers: 5 wins and 20 draws. OSEN reports that Gimcheon has played 34 games, with 5 wins, 20 draws, 9 losses, for 35 points (as of 00:00 on November 2, 2026). Since 20 of those 35 points came from draws, that share is about 57%.

Gimcheon is a team whose relegation was set this year regardless of standings, because its hometown agreement ended. Even so, this team's single point shook the fate of the K League 1 last-place team. Gimcheon only avoided 12th place; it did not avoid relegation. If you miss this one line, you will read this news backwards.

1-1 Draw Against Gwangju, Gimcheon Sangmu at 35 Points and at Least 11th

The K League 1 Round 34 match held at Gwangju World Cup Stadium on October 31 ended 1-1, according to Sports Chosun reports. This is Gimcheon's 20th draw of the season. The math is simple: Gwangju has 22 points with 4 games left, so even if they win all of them, they would add 12 points for a total of 34. Since they cannot overtake Gimcheon's 35 points, Gimcheon's final ranking has been confirmed as at least 11th.

The confirmation condition is that the 13-point gap exceeds Gwangju's maximum remaining points of 12. Sports Chosun described the gap as having been widened to 13 points, but since both teams each earned one point, the gap remains 13 points.

Gimcheon's Relegation Stands, Only the Playoff Conditions Are Met

The Korea Professional Football League announced in an October 27 statement that if Gimcheon does not finish last, the last-place team would be given a chance to stay up through the promotion-relegation playoff. Since Gimcheon avoided 12th place, the condition for the final K League 1 12th-place team to face the K League 2 playoff loser has been met. Reading this opportunity as Gimcheon's would be wrong. Gimcheon's relegation is already set, and the team fighting to stay up is a different one.

There is also one point to separate on the record side. The 20 draws of the season are verified as official record. However, the 'third in history' label remains unverified, because we could not find the two earlier cases or an official all-time tally.

Gwangju's 12th Place Unconfirmed, 10 Points Behind Bucheon

Final B standings after Round 34 (recorded November 1, 2026)

Rank	Team	Points	W	D	L
7	Jeju SK	47	12	11	11
8	FC Anyang	46	11	13	10
9	Pohang Steelers	43	11	10	13
10	Gimcheon Sangmu	35	5	20	9
11	Bucheon FC 1995	32	7	11	16
12	Gwangju FC	22	3	13	18

The conditions for holding the playoff have been met, but Gwangju's final 12th place is not yet confirmed. OSEN wrote that because Gwangju cannot overtake Gimcheon, it cannot escape last place, but this conclusion does not hold. On November 1, Bucheon lost 1-2 to Anyang and remained on 32 points, 2 points below Gwangju's maximum of 34. Gwangju still has a mathematical chance to overtake Bucheon, so the final 12th place remains unconfirmed.

Incheon United official standings — placed side by side, they make the contrast with Bucheon clear. The gap between Bucheon and Gwangju is 10 points, and the 4 remaining games are worth 12 points. If Bucheon adds just one win, they reach 35 points, exceeding Gwangju's maximum, and at that moment 12th place is locked in for Gwangju.

Final standings will all be decided by Round 38 at the latest. However, those standings will not change the outcome. The team that opened the door to the promotion-relegation playoff will not actually be on that stage. The entire matter rests on one sentence in the league's October 27 announcement: "Gimcheon Sangmu will be relegated this year regardless of its final K League 1 standing, as the hometown agreement with Gimcheon City has ended."

Related official sites

Korea Professional Football League official Gimcheon club and records page — verify Gimcheon's season results and official records
Gimcheon club's official match schedule and results — verify remaining fixtures and match results
Incheon United official K League 1 standings table — compare Final B standings and points

Representative image · Archival photo · Not a photo from the current match in this article · Photo=Wikimedia Commons (Explicit), CC BY-SA 4.0