With the fierce competition of 12 K League 1 teams in the 2024 season running towards the end, public attention is focused on winning the individual award. In particular, there is still no way to know the winner of this year’s Coach of the Year award, as it was a year when the tactics and strategies of top coaches were particularly outstanding.
The head coach of the winning team will receive this year’s Coach of the Year award, which will be selected by voting of K-League players, leaders and reporters. Incheon United coach O Chi-ryong in 2005 and Jeju United coach Park Kyung-hoon in 2010 were the top runners-up, and all others were taken from the winning team. The exception was FC Seoul coach Kim Ki-dong, who led the Pohang Steelers to the third place in 2020.
As it is important to produce results on the professional stage, the head coach who led the team to win has received a lot of votes so far. However, coaches who led the team to leap to the top ranks by showing good soccer and attractive colors seem to be gaining support these days. Team coaches whose performance has changed significantly compared to last year can also win votes. This is the background in which the winner of this year’s Coach of the Year award can be awarded outside the championship team.
Moreover, Ulsan HD coach Kim Pan-gon, who is leading the way with five games left in the final round, took the helm in July. Although he made a remarkable contribution to Ulsan’s leading run, it is pointed out that his tenure is short to win the Coach of the Year award.
The main contenders include Jeong Jeong-yong, the manager of Gimcheon Sangmu (second) and Yoon Jeong-hwan, the manager of Gangwon FC (third), who are competing with Ulsan after being promoted to the K League 1 this season. Despite the ups and downs towards the end of the season, Park Tae-ha, the coach of Pohang Steelers (fourth), who caused the “Taeha Drama” syndrome, is also mentioned as a candidate. All three coaches have the same thing in common that they are doing well, defying public expectations.
All the leading candidates for this year’s Coach of the Year Award, which I met at the K League 1 Final Round Media Day on the 16th, were waved away. The common reason was that there was no greed for the award and that they still had to focus on the remaining five games. However, all three coaches pointed to the candidates for Coach of the Year in their opinion.
“Coach Yoon Jeong-hwan and coach Park Tae-ha didn’t even think about (going to the Final A). I thought he would play with my team down there, but I think it’s amazing,” Chung said. “Coach Kim Eun-jung (Suwon FC) said with a smile, “I hope many of my students attend the year-end award ceremonies instead of me.” 스포츠토토
“I think Chung Jung-yong will be a strong candidate. Park Tae-ha also performed well, and Kim Ki-dong also ranked Seoul in the Final A in five years,” Yoon said.
“Was Yoon Jeong-hwan’s performance not good compared to last year? I have no comparison,” Park said. “A good performance can be assessed as a good soccer player. I think he is the coach who strives the most. Chung also brings good players, but he can give good scores to players who leave the team (during the season).”
Yoon Jeong-hwan, who received two K-League 1 and 2, received the most awards this year. Chung Jung-yong, Park Tae-ha, and Kim Ki-dong each won the Coach of the Month award once in this season.
With the last five games left for each team, the coach, who is achieving a successful finish, is expected to get his hands on this year’s Coach of the Year award through fierce competition.