The DPR Korea Premier Football League is a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n association football league that serves as the top-tier of the North Korean football league system. 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.

April 25 Events Pre-1600 *404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. * 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the ...

leads all clubs in titles, with 19.

Overview

Initially, all sports in North Korea were on an amateur basis, with competitions called Technical Innovation Contests (

Chosŏn'gŭl The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 기술혁신경기대회;

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 技術革新競技大會) being held several times a year since 1960s. In 1977, sport in the country was reformed, creating professional teams with paid players for each sport. Since then, an annual championship, called the National Championship, has been held September through each year, together with several other competitions each year. These include the Man'gyŏndae Prize held since at least 2002 in March through April in honour of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

's birthday, the Paektusan Prize held since at least 2010 in February in honour of Kim Jong-il's birthday, and the

Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize Football at the Pochonbo Torch Prize Sports Games is an annual association football men's competition in Multi-sport event – Pochonbo Torch Prize Sports Games in North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Ko ...

held since 2010 in May through June to mark the anniversary of the

Battle of Poch'ŏnbo The was an event which occurred in northern Korea on 4 June 1937 ( Juche 26), when Korean and Chinese guerrillas commanded by Kim Il-sung (or possibly Choe Hyon) attacked and defeated a Japanese detachment during the anti-Japanese armed strugg ...

. The Osandŏk Prize competition, held in December in honour of

Kim Jong-suk Kim Jong-suk (; 24 December 1917Suh Dae-sook. Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. – 22 September 1949) was a Korean anti-Japanese guerrilla, a Communist activist, North Korean leader Kim I ...

, was originally the primary tournament of North Korean ice hockey and other winter sports, but football was added in 2015. From 1972 a national cup competition called the DPR Korea Championships was held each year. The last one was held in 2012, to be replaced by the Hwaebul Cup first held in 2013. In 2010, football's National Championship was renamed Top Class Football League or Highest Class Football League (

: 최상급축구련맹전;

: 最上級蹴球聯盟戰),관심속에 벌어지는 최상급축구련맹전 1차경기
. KOREA NEWS SERVICE(KNS). Retrieved on 2010-10-29. 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 DPR Korea Premier Football League (

: 조선민주주의인민공화국 1부류축구련맹전;

: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國一部流蹴球聯盟戰) held in the home-and-away round-robin style used in most other countries. Each sports club - including their football sections - is classified as ''1st class'', ''2nd class'', and ''3rd class''.북한의직업
Dprksearch.net. Retrieved on 2010-10-21. ''1st class'' clubs are the fully professional teams that play in the highest levels of the given sport; 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. There are several national-level amateur tournaments as well, such as the Inter-Provincial Games and the Songun Torch Prize for provincial representative teams, as well as annual football tournaments for the amateur factory and civil servant teams.

Participation in Asian club competitions

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 Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly i ...

. The first time a North Korean club took part in an AFC club competition was the

1985–86 Asian Club Championship The 1985–86 Asian Club Championship was the fifth edition of the annual Asian club football competition hosted by the Asian Football Confederation, and was the first such tournament in 14 years. Several clubs played in the qualifying round in t ...

, 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 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, 1988–89, 1989–90,

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

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 Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

of China; however, April 25 then went on to defeat

Pelita Jaya Madura United Football Club is an Indonesian professional football club. The club is based in Pamekasan, Madura, East Java. They currently play in the Liga 1. Established on 10 January 2016, Madura United FC is one of few professional clubs ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

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 The 1991 Asian Club Championship was the 11th edition of the annual Asian club football competition hosted by Asian Football Confederation. Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia won the final and became the first Asian Championship winner from Saudi Arab ...

, 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 The AFC President's Cup was an annual international association football competition between domestic clubs sides run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held between 2005 and 2014. The competition targeted emerging football nations, and wa ...

. 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 Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

- 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 The 2017 AFC Cup was the 14th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Defending champions Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya defeated Istiklol in the final to win their second AFC Cu ...

. 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 Bengaluru Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, losing 0:3 on aggregate. The 2017 DPRK League champions and runners up are presently taking part in the

2018 AFC Cup The 2018 AFC Cup was the 15th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya won the title for the third consecutive year, defeating Altyn Asyr in the fi ...

; as the champions, April 25 will begin play in Group I of the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

. The runners-up, Hwaebul SC, had to first play in the play-off round of the

qualifying play-offs Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

. There, they faced

Erchim FC Khaan Khuns - Erchim FC ( mn, "Хаан Хүнс-Эрчим" Хөлбөмбөгийн Клуб) is a professional football club from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia who have been playing in the Mongolian Premier League, which they have won ten times,

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, 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 Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and

Benfica de Macau The House of Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Macau (), simply known as Benfica de Macau, is a Macau, Macanese professional association football, football team that currently competes in the Liga de Elite. They are the five-time champions of the leagu ...

. 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 The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium occupying an area of on Rungra Island, Pyongyang, North Korea. It opened on 1 May 1989, with its first major event being the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. It is the sec ...

as its home field, whilst Hwaebul will use

Kim Il-sung Stadium Kim Il-sung Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea. The stadium is used primarily for association football matches. History Kim Il-sung Stadium was originally named the Girimri Stadium (기� ...

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 The 2019 AFC Cup was the 16th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Al Ahed FC, Al-Ahed won the title for the first time, defeating 4.25 SC, ...

Clubs (2019–20 Season)

Champions

Technical Innovation Contests & National Championship

* System was unknown

Highest Class Football League

* Round-robin tournament system was introduced

DPR Korea Premier Football League

Performance by club

References

External links

DPR Korea Football FacebookDPRK Premier Football League

Football for the Peoples. North KoreaNorth Korean Football Club's Real English Name
{{DEFAULTSORT:DPR Korea Football League 1

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Sports leagues established in 1960 Sports leagues established in 2017 1960 establishments in North Korea 2017 establishments in North Korea