Jeju United forward Kim Eun-jung capped a remarkable season in the orange of the Seogwipo-based side as he was voted the 2010 K-League’s Most Valuable Player at the annual K-League awards ceremony at Seoul’s Grand Hilton Hotel on Monday.
The 31 year-old had returned to Korea at the start of the year after a one-season stint at Chinese side Changsha Ginde, and his record of seventeen goals from 34 appearances in all K-League competition matches this season saw him pick up 55 of the 113 available votes for the award, edging out FC Seoul defender Adilson dos Santos who finished runner-up with 48 votes.
Kim, who earned a K-League runners-up medal this season as Jeju United lost out to FC Seoul in the championship playoff final, became only the second player in league history to pick up the MVP award whilst not playing for the title-winning side. The other previous recipient of the award was Ahn Jung-hwan who won the award whilst playing for 1999 league runners-up Busan Daewoo Royals.
Jeju manager Park Kyung-hoon picked up the Coach of the Year award for his work in turning around the fortunes of the side that finished second bottom in 2009, whilst Gyeongnam youngster Yoon Bit-garam picked up the Best New Player award after an impressive debut league season.
The full list of awards were as follows:
Manager of the Year: Park Kyung-hoon (Jeju United)
Player of the Year: Kim Eun-jung (Jeju United)
Best New Player: Yoon Bit-garam (Gyeongnam)
Best XI
GK: Kim Yong-dae (FC Seoul)
DF: Choi Hyo-jin (FC Seoul)
DF: Adilson dos Santos (FC Seoul)
DF: Sasa Ognenovski (Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma)
DF: Hong Jung-ho (Jeju United)
MF: Ku Ja-cheol (Jeju United)
MF: Mauricio Molina (Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma)
MF: Enio Oliveira Junior (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)
MF: Yoon Bit-garam (Gyeongnam)
FW: Kim Eun-jung (Jeju United)
FW: Dejan Damjanovic (FC Seoul)
‘FAN’tastic Player: Ku Ja-cheol (Jeju United)
Fair Play Team: Gangwon
Best Team: FC Seoul
Special Award: Kim Yong-dae (FC Seoul), Kim Byung-ji (Gyeongnam), Baek Min-chul (Daegu) – awarded for playing every minute of every game in 2010
Best Youth Club: Suwon Samsung Bluewings U18s (Metan High School)
