Seongnam Football Club(Korean:성남 FC) is a South Korean professionalfootballclub based inSeongnamthat competes in theK League 2,the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1989 asIlhwa Chunma Football Club,the club has won sevennational league titles,threeFA Cups,threeLeague Cups,and twoAFC Champions Leaguetitles. Seongnam also placed fifth in theIFFHSAsian 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)
ManagerChoi Chul-woo(caretaker)
LeagueK League 2
2024K League 2, 13th of 13
Websitehttps:// seongnamfc /
Seongnam FC
Hangul
성남시민프로축구단
Hanja
Revised RomanizationSeongnam Simin Peuro Chukgudan
McCune–ReischauerSŏngnam Simin P'ŭro Ch'ukkudan

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

History

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Ilhwa Chunma era 1989–2013

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Foundation

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In 1975,Sun Myung Moon,the owner ofTongil Group,wanted to found a professional football club in South Korea. Since theKorean Super Leaguewas founded in 1983, he tried to find a club to participate in the league butChoi Soon-young,the head ofKorea 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 inSeoul.Tongil Group firstly considered to find the club inHonamprovinces but there was objection from the local community.[5]

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

Officially, the club was founded on 18 March 1989 asIlhwa Chunma Football Club[1](Chunmais known in Korean culture as the winged horse that theJade Emperorriding 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 1989K Leaguedraft. The club has chosen six players, includingKo Jeong-woonand signedPark Jong-hwanas the head coach. The contract with Park was a lucrative deal back then; a signing bonus of 100 millionKRWwas paid along with 48 million KRW as annual salary.[5]

Early successes

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The club was successful from its beginning, winning its firstLeague Cupthree years after its foundation in1992and 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 Chunmastill won the title.[7]Seongnam also won the1995 Asian Club Championship,defeatingAl-Nassr1–0 afterextra timein the final.[8]

Cheonan Bound

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The club was forced to move out from Seoul in 1996, as a part of thedecentralization policy of the league,Ilhwa Chunmamoved to the city ofCheonandue to the city council proposition of refurbishing theCheonan Oryong Stadiuminto thefootball-specific stadiumand building anothersports complexin Baekseok-dong. The club also changed its name toCheonan Ilhwa Chunmaas a part of the policy.[9]

By the end of 1997, Ilhwa was still a successful team. The club reached the final of the1996–97 Asian Club Championshipand the1997 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]includingValeri 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, in1998and1999.[10]In mid-1999,Cha Kyung-bokconsidered 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 againstJeonnam Dragonsduring thepenalty 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 thegolden goalor 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 the1999 Korean FA Cupby winning the final 3–0 againstJeonbuk Hyundai DinosatJeju Stadium.[17]

Resettled in Seongnam

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In 2000, the club moved to the Seoul satellite city ofSeongnamand renamed themselves toSeongnam 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 in2002and anA3 Champions Cupin2004.

The inaugural crest of Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2000. The name of Seongnam followedMcCune–Reischauerromanization.

A disappointing2004campaign saw them meekly relinquish their title. However, they reached the final of the2004 AFC Champions League,where despite winning the away leg 3–1, they lost the home leg 5–0 to Saudi Arabian clubAl-Ittihadand lost the tie 6–3 on aggregate. The defeat led to the resignation of their manager,Cha Kyung-bok.

WithKim 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, defeatingSuwon Samsung Bluewings3–1 on aggregate in thechampionship 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 the2007 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 the2007 K League Championshipbut were beaten 4–1 on aggregate by thePohang Steelers,despite finishing in first place during the regular season.

Seongnam's former playerShin Tae-yongreturned as caretaker manager in the2009season, then as manager from the following season and continued the club's success. On 13 November 2010, Seongnam beat Iranian clubZob Ahan FC3–1 in thefinalof the2010 AFC Champions League.This was their second AFC Champions League title and qualified them directly into the quarter-finals stage of the2010 FIFA Club World Cup.Seongnam finished the tournament in fourth place. Seongnam added anotherFA Cuptrophy 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 toAnsancity government after the death of Sun Myung Moon, the founder of theUnification 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 nameSeongnam FC.[18]

Seongnam FC era (2014–present)

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In December 2013,Seongnam Cityofficially 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 15 March 2014 againstFC Seoul,resulting in a 0–0 draw. Their first victory came on 26 March, when they beat their bitter rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2–0. The following month, 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 successful, as Seongnam not only escaped relegation but also won their third FA Cup trophy, beating FC Seoul in apenalty shoot-out.

In the2016season, afterIncheon'swin overSuwon FCon the final day of the season, Seongnam finished 11th and were relegated to the second division for the first time in their history after being defeated byGangwon FConaway goals rulein the promotion-relegation playoffs.[20]

Nam Ki-ilwas announced as the club's new manager on 6 December 2017, replacingPark 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 16 December 2019[23]

Kim Nam-ilwas appointed as the club's new manager on 23 December 2019 to lead the club in the2020 K League 1season.[24]

Current squad

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As of 13 May 2024[25]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK KOR Yu Sang-hun
2 DF KOR Park Kwang-il
3 DF KOR Kang Ui-bin
4 MF KOR Han Seok-jong
6 MF KOR Jung Won-jin
7 MF KOR Oh Jae-hyeok
8 MF UZB Ikromjon Alibaev
9 FW COL Leonardo Acevedo
10 FW BRA Gabriel Honório
11 FW KOR Kim Jeong-hwan
13 FW KOR Jeon Seong-soo
14 DF KOR Kim Hun-min
15 DF KOR Yang Si-hoo
16 MF KOR Ryu Jun-seon
17 FW KOR Shin Jae-won
18 FW KOR Lee Jeong-hyeop
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF KOR Yang Tae-yang
20 DF KOR Jo Seong-wook
21 GK KOR Choi Pil-soo
22 DF KOR Jung Seung-yong
23 DF KOR Jang Yeong-gi
26 FW KOR Park Hyun-bin
27 FW KOR Lee Jun-sang
28 DF KOR Yun Young-sun
29 DF KOR Jang Hyo-joon
31 GK KOR Heo Ja-woong
47 FW KOR Park Ji-won
66 DF KOR Kim Joo-won
77 FW KOR Jung Jae-won
88 MF KOR Kook Kwan-woo
99 FW COD Christy Manzinga

Managers

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List of Seongnam FC managers
No. Name From To Season(s) Notes
1
Park Jong-hwan 1988/09/16 1996/04/02 1989–1995
Won Heung-jae 1990/04/27 1990/06/27 1990 Unofficial caretaker
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
Kim Hak-bum 2004/12/07 2004/12/29 2004 In charge in theFA Cup
5
2004/12/30 2008/11/27 2005–2008
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
Lee Sang-yoon 2014/04/22 2014/08/26 2014
Lee Young-jin 2014/08/26 2014/09/05 2014
9
Kim Hak-bum 2014/09/05 2016/09/12 2014–2016
Gu Sang-bum 2016/09/12 2016/11/20 2016
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
Chung Kyung-ho 2022/08/24 2022/10/15 2022
13
Lee Ki-hyung 2022/12/09 2024/03/20 2023–2024
Choi Chul-woo 2024/03/22 2024–

Honours

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Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma won theAFC Champions Leaguein2010

Domestic

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League

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Cups

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  1. ^Reserve team

International

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Asian

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Worldwide

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Season-by-season records

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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[26]
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
2024 2 13 13 Quarter-final
Key
  • Tms. = Number of teams
  • Pos. = Position in league

AFC Champions League record

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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
(3–5p)
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. ^abcdPlayed at a neutral venue.

References

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  1. ^ab"Official Club Profile at K League Website".kleague.Archivedfrom the original on 4 June 2016.Retrieved31 March2018.
  2. ^"Asia's Clubs of the Century".IFFHS.Archived fromthe originalon 18 March 2013.
  3. ^"성남시민축구단, 성남FC로 이름 지은 이유는?".Maeil Business Newspaper(in Korean).Retrieved23 February2017.
  4. ^[데스크가 만난 사람] "기억해 주세요" 성남시민구단 전환 앞둔 일화 박규남 성남일화 사장의 눈물.스포츠서울(in Korean). 25 November 2013.Retrieved23 February2017.
  5. ^abcK League 30th Anniversary.Seoul: K League. 2013. p. 103.ISBN978-89-963178-4-5.
  6. ^FIFA (24 June 2009)."Winged horses flying high".FIFA.Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2016.Retrieved19 February2017.
  7. ^K League 30th Anniversary.Seoul: K League. 2013. p. 475.ISBN978-89-963178-4-5.
  8. ^"Asian Club Competitions 1995/96".RSSSF.Archivedfrom the original on 5 April 2023.Retrieved23 February2017.
  9. ^K League 30th Anniversary.Seoul: K League. 2013. p. 178.ISBN978-89-963178-4-5.
  10. ^abK League 30th Anniversary.Seoul: K League. 2013. p. 520.ISBN978-89-963178-4-5.
  11. ^"박남열, K리그 최다우승자이자 시대를 앞서간 미드필더"(in Korean).Archivedfrom the original on 25 February 2017.Retrieved24 February2017.
  12. ^"신의 손으로 K리그를 평정한 사나이, 신의손"(in Korean).Archivedfrom the original on 25 February 2017.Retrieved24 February2017.
  13. ^Ryu, Hyoung-yeol (20 November 1999). "천안-전북 올'왕중왕' 가린다" [Cheonan-Jeonbuk to fight for 'King of Kings' this season].Kyunghyang Shinmun.p. 26.
  14. ^Ryu, Hyoung-yeol (24 August 1998).'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 (13 March 1998).프로축구 무승부 없앤다[K League abandons draw].The Hankyoreh(in Korean). p. 18.
  16. ^[ 스펙트럼 ] 프로축구 기록의 날, 22일의 “빛과 그늘”.동아닷컴(in Korean). 23 August 1998.Archivedfrom the original on 25 February 2017.Retrieved24 February2017.
  17. ^Bae, Geuk-in (22 November 1999).천안' danh gia (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. Archived fromthe originalon 22 February 2022.Retrieved12 December2013.
  19. ^"Seongnam FC's Park steps down over assault".the Korean Times. 22 April 2014.Retrieved24 December2015.
  20. ^"Gangwon FC earn promotion to 1st division football league".english.yonhapnews.co.kr. 20 November 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 2 March 2017.Retrieved1 March2017.
  21. ^"성남시민프로축구단: 성남FC, 새로운 도전 위해 남기일 감독 선임!".seongnamfc.Retrieved31 March2018.
  22. ^"'K리그2 준우승' 남기일 감독, "성남에 기여해 기쁘다"".
  23. ^"성남FC 남기일 감독 자진 사퇴".Seongnam FC.Seongnam FC.Retrieved26 December2019.
  24. ^"성남FC, 김남일 신임감독 선임".Seongnam FC.Seongnam FC.Retrieved26 December2019.
  25. ^"선수단"[Squad].Seongnam FC(in Korean).Retrieved13 May2024.
  26. ^"South Korea 2009".
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