Seongnam FC

Summary

Seongnam FC (Korean성남 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Seongnam that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1989 as Ilhwa Chunma Football Club, the club has won seven national league titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, and two AFC Champions League titles. Seongnam also placed fifth in the IFFHS Asian Clubs of the 20th century.[2]

Seongnam FC
Full nameSeongnam Football Club
성남시민프로축구단
Nickname(s)The Magpies
Short nameSFC
Founded18 March 1989; 35 years ago (18 March 1989)
(as Ilhwa Chunma)[1]
GroundTancheon Stadium
Capacity16,146
OwnerSeongnam City Council
ChairmanShin Sang-jin (Mayor of Seongnam)
ManagerLee Ki-hyung
LeagueK League 2
2023K League 2, 9th of 13
WebsiteClub website
Seongnam FC
Hangul
성남시민프로축구단
Hanja
城南市民프로蹴球團
Revised RomanizationSeongnam Simin Peuro Chukgudan
McCune–ReischauerSŏngnam Simin P'ŭro Ch'ukkudan

In 2014, the club was bought by the Seongnam City Government and was renamed as Seongnam FC.[3]

History edit

Ilhwa Chunma era 1989–2013 edit

Foundation edit

In 1975, Sun Myung Moon, the owner of Tongil Group, wanted to found a professional football club in South Korea. Since the Korean Super League was founded in 1983, he tried to find a club to participate in the league but Choi Soon-young, the head of Korea Football Association, ignored Moon's interest due to a religious reasons.[4]

Nevertheless, Tongil Group prepared the foundation of a new football club since 1986 and finally obtained a license from Korea Football Association as a club based in Seoul. Tongil Group firstly considered to find the club in Honam provinces but there was objection from the local community.[5]

 
Ilhwa Chunma FC's crest, used between 1989–2000

Officially, the club was founded on 18 March 1989 as Ilhwa Chunma Football Club[1] (Chunma is known in Korean culture as the winged horse that the Jade Emperor riding in heaven) and the club based in Seoul became the sixth member of the Korean Super League.[6] The foundation ceremony was held in Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul.[5] Korea Football Association helped the club to form a team quickly by giving the permission to have six priority picks out of players from Honam regions in the 1989 K League draft. The club has chosen six players, including Ko Jeong-woon and signed Park Jong-hwan as the head coach. The contract with Park was a lucrative deal back then; a signing bonus of 100 million KRW was paid along with 48 million KRW as annual salary.[5]

Early successes edit

The club was successful from its beginning, winning its first League Cup three years after its foundation in 1992 and winning three consecutive league titles from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, K League clubs wanted to stop the club's third consecutive title and agreed to change the league format back to two stages and the championship playoffs system; however, Ilhwa Chunma still won the title.[7] Seongnam also won the 1995 Asian Club Championship, defeating Al-Nasr 1–0 after extra time in the final.[8]

Cheonan Bound edit

The club was forced to move out from Seoul in 1996, as a part of the decentralization policy of the league, Ilhwa Chunma moved to the city of Cheonan due to the city council proposition of refurbishing the Cheonan Oryong Stadium into the football-specific stadium and building another sports complex in Baekseok-dong. The club also changed its name to Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma as a part of the policy.[9]

By the end of 1997, Ilhwa was still a successful team. The club reached the final of the 1996–97 Asian Club Championship and the 1997 Korean FA Cup.[10] However, from 1998, Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma went into a slump due to the core players moved out for various reasons,[11] including Valeri Sarychev, Chunma's goalkeeper, due to K League's year-by-year gradual restriction on foreign goalkeepers' appearances.[12]

As a result, they had recorded the bottom of the league for two consecutive seasons, in 1998 and 1999.[10] In mid-1999, Cha Kyung-bok considered to resign voluntarily due to the poor results.[13]

Not only the results on the field, but also the facilities of Cheonan Oryong Stadium were below the standard. On 22 August 1998, Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma had to finish the game against Jeonnam Dragons during the penalty shoot-out, after 1–1 draw in extra time.[14] According to K League regulations back then, teams were required to decide the winner with the golden goal or the penalty shoot-out after the extra time, if the match score is level at the end of normal time.[15] Since the field was not equipped with a floodlight system, they had to finish their games before sunset. Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma won the game by a draw.[16]

On 21 November 1999, Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma was crowned as the winners of the 1999 Korean FA Cup by winning the final 3–0 against Jeonbuk Hyundai Dinos at Jeju Stadium.[17]

Resettled in Seongnam edit

In 2000, the club moved to the Seoul satellite city of Seongnam and renamed themselves to Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. The move worked out very well, as the rejuvenated club went on to win three consecutive K League titles from 2001 to 2003, as well as a league cup title in 2002 and an A3 Champions Cup in 2004.

 
The inaugural crest of Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2000. The name of Seongnam followed McCune–Reischauer romanization.

A disappointing 2004 campaign saw them meekly relinquish their title. However, they reached the final of the 2004 AFC Champions League, where despite winning the away leg 3–1, they lost the home leg 5–0 to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad and lost the tie 6–3 on aggregate. The defeat led to the resignation of their manager, Cha Kyung-bok.

With Kim Hak-bum's management, the club bounced back to the forefront of South Korean football in style as they claimed their seventh league title in 2006, defeating Suwon Samsung Bluewings 3–1 on aggregate in the championship playoff final. This was their seventh K League title which is a record out of all the K League clubs.

Before they were defeated by Suwon Bluewings 2–1 on 15 July 2007 in the 2007 season, they went undefeated for 22 consecutive league matches – the third longest streak in the history of the K League.

Seongnam reached the final of the 2007 K League Championship but were beaten 4–1 on aggregate by the Pohang Steelers, despite finishing in first place during the regular season.

Seongnam's former player Shin Tae-yong returned as caretaker manager in the 2009 season, then as manager from the following season and continued the club's success. On 13 November 2010, Seongnam beat Iranian club Zob Ahan FC 3–1 in the final of the 2010 AFC Champions League. This was their second AFC Champions League title and qualified them directly into the quarter-finals stage of the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup. Seongnam finished the tournament in fourth place. Seongnam added another FA Cup trophy in 2011, beating Suwon Bluewings 1–0 in the final on 15 October 2011.

During the 2013 season, there were rumors that the club was going to be sold to Ansan city government after the death of Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Church. Moon was extremely devoted to football so the Unification Church had been running the club, but after his death, the Unification Church's board of directors saw no reason to continue running the club and stated their thoughts on selling the club to another organization. After the rumor was reported by the press, Ansan's mayor officially mentioned that the city is in a process of purchasing the club from Ilhwa. Estimated number of 800 supporters protested in front of the Seongnam city hall stating the city could not lose one of the most successful clubs in the Asian football's history. Seongnam city started negotiation to purchase the club from Ilhwa. In October 2013, Lee Jae-myung, the mayor of Seongnam, had a conference and announced that Seongnam City Council agreed to take over the club from Ilhwa Sports and will be participating under the name Seongnam FC.[18]

Seongnam FC era (2014–present) edit

In December 2013, Seongnam City officially took over the club from Ilhwa Co., Ltd. They changed their symbol to magpie, the symbol of the Seongnam city, from chunma, which was the symbol of the Unification Church. The yellow color of their uniform was also replaced with black. Their first manager Park Jong-hwan, who had managed the club from 1988 to 1996 returned to the club as manager once again.

The club played the first home game as Seongnam FC on March 15, 2014 against FC Seoul resulting in a draw of 0:0. Seongnam FC's first victory was on March 26, 2014, beating their bitter rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2–0. On April 22, 2014, manager Park Jong-hwan resigned after it was revealed that he had been assaulting players.[19]

After months of confusion, the club appointed Kim Hak-bum, who previously led their golden age, as their manager. The return turned out to be extremely successful, as Seongnam not only escaped relegation but also won their third FA Cup trophy, beating FC Seoul in a penalty shoot-out on 23 November 2014.

In the 2016 season, after Incheon's win over Suwon FC on the final day of the season, Seongnam were placed at 11th and were relegated to the second division for the first time in their history after being defeated by northernmost side Gangwon FC on away goals in the promotion-relegation playoffs.[20]

Nam Ki-il was announced as the club's new manager on 06/12/2017, replacing Park Kyung-hoon.[21] He contributed a lot to the promotion of Seongnam Fc to the first division just one season after it was demoted to the second division. [22] Nam resigned his position as the manager of the club on December 16, 2019[23]

Kim Nam-il was appointed as the club's new manager on December 23, 2019 to lead the club in the upcoming 2020 K League 1 season.[24]

Current squad edit

As of 24 July 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   KOR Choi Pil-soo
3 DF   KOR Kang Ui-bin
4 MF   KOR Lee Sang-min
5 DF   AUS Patrick Flottmann
6 MF   KOR Kim Hyun-tae
7 MF   KOR Kwon Soon-hyung
8 MF   KOR Park Sang-hyeok (on loan from Suwon Samsung Bluewings)
9 FW   BRA Denilson
10 FW   KOR Lee Jong-ho
11 MF   KOR Shim Dong-woon (captain)
13 FW   KOR You Ju-an
15 FW   KOR Shin Jae-won
16 DF   KOR Kim Jin-rae
17 DF   KOR Lee Ji-hun
18 FW   KOR Kim Won-joon
19 FW   KOR Jung Han-min (on loan from FC Seoul)
20 DF   KOR Jo Seong-wook
21 MF   KOR Moon Chang-jin
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF   KOR An Jin-Beom
23 DF   KOR Jung Seung-yong (on loan from Gangwon FC)
24 MF   KOR Jang Young-gi
26 MF   KOR Park Hyun-bin
27 FW   KOR Lee Jun-sang
28 MF   KOR Yang Tae-yang
29 DF   KOR Jang Hyo-joon
30 GK   KOR Jeong Myeong-je
33 FW   KOR Jeon Seong-soo
37 DF   KOR Kim Hun-min
41 GK   KOR Kim Young-kwang
44 DF   KOR Yang Si-hoo
47 FW   KOR Park Ji-won
55 MF   KOR Park Tae-jun
77 DF   KOR Yu Sun
93 FW   KOR Jin Seong-uk (on loan from Jeju United)
96 MF   BRA Gabriel
99 FW   FRA Christy Manzinga

Out on loan edit

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   KOR Heo Ja-woong (to Busan Transportation Corporation)
DF   KOR Gwon Wan-gyu (to FC Seoul)
MF   KOR Goo Bon-cheol (to Gimcheon Sangmu for military service)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW   KOR Hong Hyun-seung (to FC Chungju)
FW   KOR Lee Jae-won (to Gangwon FC)
FW   KOR Lee Joong-min (to Gimcheon Sangmu for military service)

Current staff edit

Coaching staff edit

Managers edit

List of Seongnam FC managers
No. Name From To Season(s) Notes
1
  Park Jong-hwan 1988/09/16 1996/04/02 1989–1995
C
  Won Heung-jae 1990/04/27 1990/06/27 1990 Unofficial caretaker
C
  Lee Jang-soo 1996/04/03 1996/08/17 1996
2
1996/08/18 1996/12/05 1996
3
  René Desaeyere 1996/12/18 1998/09/08 1997–1998
4
  Cha Kyung-bok 1998/09/09 2004/12/01 1998–2004
C
  Kim Hak-bum 2004/12/07 2004/12/29 2004 In charge in the FA Cup
5
2004/12/30 2008/11/27 2005–2008
C
  Shin Tae-yong 2008/12/06 2010/02/17 2009
6
2010/02/18 2012/12/08 2010–2012
7
  An Ik-soo 2012/12/14 2013/12/22 2013
8
  Park Jong-hwan 2013/12/23 2014/04/22 2014
C
  Lee Sang-yoon 2014/04/22 2014/08/26 2014
C
  Lee Young-jin 2014/08/26 2014/09/05 2014
9
  Kim Hak-bum 2014/09/05 2016/09/12 2014–2016
C
  Gu Sang-bum 2016/09/12 2016/11/20 2016
C
  Byun Sung-hwan 2016/11/06 2016/11/20 2016 Unofficial caretaker
10
  Park Kyung-hoon 2016/12/01 2017/11/27 2017
11
  Nam Ki-il 2017/12/06 2019/12/16 2018–2019
12
  Kim Nam-il 2019/12/26 2022/08/24 2020–2022
C
  Chung Kyung-ho 2022/08/24 2022/10/15 2022
13
  Lee Ki-hyung 2022/12/09 2023–

Honours edit

 
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma won the AFC Champions League in 2010

Domestic edit

League edit

Cups edit

  1. ^ Reserve team

International edit

Asian edit

Worldwide edit

Season-by-season records edit

Season Division Tms. Pos. FA Cup AFC CL
1989 1 6 5
1990 1 6 6
1991 1 6 5
1992 1 6 2
1993 1 6 1
1994 1 7 1
1995 1 8 1 Semi-final
1996 1 9 8 Quarter-final Winners
1997 1 10 8 Runners-up Runners-up
1998 1 10 10 Quarter-final
1999 1 10 10 Winners
2000 1 10 3 Runners-up
2001 1 10 1 Quarter-final
2002 1 10 1 Semi-final
2003 1 12 1 Round of 16 Group stage
2004 1 13 9 Round of 32 Runners-up
2005 1 13 3 Round of 16
2006 1 14 1 Round of 32
2007 1 14 2 Round of 16 Semi-final
2008 1 14 5 Quarter-final
2009 1 15 2 Runners-up[25]
2010 1 15 4 Quarter-final Winners
2011 1 16 10 Winners
2012 1 16 12 Round of 16 Round of 16
2013 1 14 8 Round of 16
2014 1 12 9 Winners
2015 1 12 5 Quarter-final Round of 16
2016 1 12 11 Quarter-final
2017 2 10 4 Quarter-final
2018 2 10 2 Round of 32
2019 1 12 9 Round of 32
2020 1 12 10 Semi-final
2021 1 12 10 Round of 16
2022 1 12 12 Round of 16
2023 2 13 9 Round of 16
Key
  • Tms. = Number of teams
  • Pos. = Position in league

AFC Champions League record edit

Season Round Opposition Home Away Agg.
2003 Group B   Osotsapa 6–0[a] 2nd
  Shimizu S-Pulse 2–1[a]
  Dalian Shide 1–3[a]
2004 Group G   Persik Kediri 15–0 2–1 1st
  Bình Định 2–0 3–1
  Yokohama F. Marinos 0–1 2–1
Quarter-final   Sharjah 6–0 5–2 11–2
Semi-final   Pakhtakor 0–0 2–0 2–0
Final   Al-Ittihad 0–5 3–1 3–6
2007 Group G   Dong Tam Long An 4–1 2–1 1st
  Shandong Luneng Taishan 3–0 1–2
  Adelaide United 1–0 2–2
Quarter-final   Al-Karamah 2–1 2–0 4–1
Semi-final   Urawa Red Diamonds 2–2 2–2 (a.e.t.) 4–4
(3–5 p)
2010 Group E   Kawasaki Frontale 2–0 0–3 1st
  Melbourne Victory 3–2 2–0
  Beijing Guoan 3–1 1–0
Round of 16   Gamba Osaka 3–0
Quarter-final   Suwon Samsung Bluewings 4–1 0–2 4–3
Semi-final   Al-Shabab 1–0 3–4 4–4 (a)
Final   Zob Ahan 3–1[a]
2012 Group G   Nagoya Grampus 1–1 2–2 1st
  Tianjin TEDA 1–1 3–0
  Central Coast Mariners 5–0 1–1
Round of 16   Bunyodkor 0–1
2015 Group F   Buriram United 2–1 1–2 2nd
  Gamba Osaka 2–0 1–2
  Guangzhou R&F 0–0 1–0
Round of 16   Guangzhou Evergrande 2–1 0–2 2–3
  1. ^ a b c d Played at a neutral venue.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Official Club Profile at K League Website". kleague.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Asia's Clubs of the Century". IFFHS. Archived from the original on 2013-03-18.
  3. ^ "성남시민축구단, 성남FC로 이름 지은 이유는?". Maeil Business Newspaper (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  4. ^ [데스크가 만난 사람]"기억해 주세요" 성남시민구단 전환 앞둔 일화 박규남 성남일화 사장의 눈물. 스포츠서울 (in Korean). 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  5. ^ a b c K League 30th Anniversary. Seoul: K League. 2013. p. 103. ISBN 978-89-963178-4-5.
  6. ^ FIFA.com (2009-06-24). "Winged horses flying high". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  7. ^ K League 30th Anniversary. Seoul: K League. 2013. p. 475. ISBN 978-89-963178-4-5.
  8. ^ "Asian Club Competitions 1995/96". RSSSF. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  9. ^ K League 30th Anniversary. Seoul: K League. 2013. p. 178. ISBN 978-89-963178-4-5.
  10. ^ a b K League 30th Anniversary. Seoul: K League. 2013. p. 520. ISBN 978-89-963178-4-5.
  11. ^ "박남열, K리그 최다우승자이자 시대를 앞서간 미드필더" (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  12. ^ "신의 손으로 K리그를 평정한 사나이, 신의손" (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  13. ^ Ryu, Hyoung-yeol (1999-11-20). "천안-전북 올'왕중왕' 가린다" [Cheonan-Jeonbuk to fight for 'King of Kings' this season]. Kyunghyang Shinmun. p. 26.
  14. ^ Ryu, Hyoung-yeol (1998-08-24). '일몰추첨'희대의 해프닝 제비뽑기로 승자가렸다 [A 'Sunset Lots' Strange Game - Winners Decided by Drawing Lots]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). p. 27.
  15. ^ Kwon, Oh-sang (1998-03-13). 프로축구 무승부 없앤다 [K League abandons draw]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). p. 18.
  16. ^ [스펙트럼]프로축구 기록의 날, 22일의 「빛과 그늘」. 동아닷컴 (in Korean). 1998-08-23. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  17. ^ Bae, Geuk-in (1999-11-22). 천안'名家(명가) 부활'선언 [Cheonan Claimed The Revival of The Dynasty]. The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). p. 46.
  18. ^ "City of Seongnam takes over football team". Arirang News. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  19. ^ "Seongnam FC's Park steps down over assault". the Korean Times. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  20. ^ "Gangwon FC earn promotion to 1st division football league". english.yonhapnews.co.kr. 20 November 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  21. ^ "성남시민프로축구단 : 성남FC, 새로운 도전 위해 남기일 감독 선임!". seongnamfc.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  22. ^ "'K리그2 준우승' 남기일 감독, "성남에 기여해 기쁘다"".
  23. ^ "성남FC 남기일 감독 자진 사퇴". Seongnam FC. Seongnam FC. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  24. ^ "성남FC, 김남일 신임감독 선임". Seongnam FC. Seongnam FC. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  25. ^ "South Korea 2009".

External links edit

  • Official website (in Korean)