The Taeguk Warriors’<\/em> improbable run to the semi finals enraptured an entire nation, with tens of millions pouring into stadiums and onto the streets of cities across the country – all clad in red – to cheer on their new heroes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was meant to be the catalyst for a new era in Korean football, with an increasing number of players heading for the bright lights of Europe – headlined by Park Ji-sung – while the K League, founded in 1983, making it Asia’s oldest professional league, was expected to boom as the popularity of football reached fever pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “CU@K-League”<\/em> read a banner as Korea reached the final four in 2002. And for a period of time, they did. In relatively large numbers. But the novelty and shine gradually wore off, and increasingly crowds started dropping, reaching its nadir in 2018 when average attendance plummeted to an all-time low of just 5381. Playing in over-sized, atmosphere-destroying stadiums didn’t help<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By way of comparison, East Asia’s two other big leagues – the J.League and Chinese Super League – averaged 19,064 and 24,053 respectively in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korean football, domestically, was gravely ill. How did it come to this for Asia’s most successful country, with more World Cup appearances than any other and more AFC Champions League winners than any other?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all that continental success, however, the K League has always been in the shadow of the J.League, and even in recent years the Chinese Super League, never managing to step out from that shadow to stake a legitimate claim as Asia’s premier domestic competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The J.League has bigger crowds – far bigger crowds, in fact – which only adds to the aesthetics and spectacle of each match. Last season’s lowest average attendance in the J.League was Shonan Bellmare with 12,848 – a figure that would have been enough to put them third in the K League, behind only FC Seoul (17,061) and Jeonbuk Hyundai (13,937).<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.League fans are renowned the continent over for their colour and noise. The K League, on the other hand, is often played against a backdrop of empty, cavernous stadiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n