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Gangwon FC
Logo
Full name Gangwon Football Club
강원도민프로축구단
Founded 2008; 17 years ago (2008)
Ground Chuncheon Songam Sports Town
Gangneung Stadium
Owner Gangwon Province Government
Chairman Kim Jin-tae (Governor of Gangwon)
Manager Chung Kyung-ho
League K League 1
2024 K League 1, 2nd of 12

Gangwon FC (Korean: 강원 FC) is a professional football team from Gangwon Province, South Korea. They joined the top South Korean football league, the K League, in 2009. Gangwon FC was the 15th club to join this league. The team gets support from High1 Resort.

History

How Gangwon FC Started

The governor of Gangwon Province, Kim Jin-sun, announced plans for a new football club on April 28, 2008. A special group was formed in June 2008 to help create the team. By November 2008, 14 players had already joined Gangwon FC. Soon after, on November 20, 2008, the team had a full squad of 23 players. This included nine players chosen from the 2009 K League draft. Gangwon FC was officially started on December 18, 2008. This allowed them to play in the 2009 K League season.

Early Games and Challenges

Gangwon FC played their very first K League match on March 8, 2009. They played against Jeju United at Gangneung Stadium. Gangwon FC won 1–0, with Yoon Jun-ha scoring the winning goal. The team had a great start, winning their first five games. This made them a big surprise in the first half of the 2009 K League season.

However, Gangwon FC could not keep up their winning streak. By the middle of the season, they had dropped to the lower half of the league. At the end of their first season, they finished 13th out of 15 clubs.

In the 2009 Korean FA Cup, Gangwon FC won their first game against Incheon Korail FC. They won in a penalty shoot-out after a 2–2 tie. But they lost their next game to the Chunnam Dragons. In the 2009 Korean League Cup, Gangwon finished last in their group. They only won one game in that competition.

Tough Seasons and Staying in the League

The 2010 season was hard for Gangwon FC. Even though their main striker, Kim Young-hoo, scored 13 goals, the team finished 12th. The 2011 season was even tougher. Gangwon finished last in the league. The whole team only scored 14 goals in 30 matches that year.

In 2012, the K League changed its rules. The bottom two teams would be moved down to a lower division. In the last few games, Gangwon FC managed to stay in the top league. Baek Jong-hwan scored a key goal that helped them win against Seongnam Ilhwa. They avoided being moved down by just one point.

In 2013, the K League introduced automatic relegation. The bottom two teams would go down, and the third-to-last team would play a special playoff. Gangwon finished third from last. They lost their playoff games to Sangju Sangmu Phoenix. This meant they were moved down to the K League Challenge, which is the second division.

Recent Success and "Byung-soo Ball"

In the middle of the 2018 season, Kim Byung-soo became the new head coach. He helped the club finish eighth in the K League 1. The next season, in 2019, Kim Ji-hyeon won the K League Young Player of the Year award. Gangwon finished sixth in the league.

Coach Kim Byung-soo was praised for his exciting style of play, called "Byung-soo ball." In 2019, Gangwon FC led the K League in how much they kept the ball. They also had the most pass attempts and best pass completion rates. They finished third in goals scored.

Before the 2020 season, the team worked on making their defense stronger. They brought in players like Lim Chai-min, Shin Se-gye, and Kim Young-bin. On October 4, 2020, Gangwon won a home game against Seongnam. This win helped them stay in the K League 1.

For the 2021 season, Gangwon signed new players. These included Masatoshi Ishida, Sin Chang-moo, and national team players Yun Suk-young and Rim Chang-woo. They also signed Uzbek player Rustam Ashurmatov. On March 21, 2021, they won their first home game of the season against Incheon United. However, after a big loss to Pohang Steelers on November 3, 2021, coach Kim Byung-soo was replaced. Under the new coach, Choi Yong-soo, Gangwon won their relegation play-off games. This allowed them to stay in the top division.

In the 2024 K League 1 season, Gangwon FC had their best performance ever. They finished second in the league, right behind the champions Ulsan HD. A big reason for their success was K League Young Player of the Year Award winner Yang Min-hyeok. He was later signed by Tottenham Hotspur.

Players

Current squad

No. Position Player
1 South Korea GK Lee Gwang-yeon (vice-captain)
3 Brazil DF Bruno Oliveira
4 South Korea MF Seo Min-woo
6 South Korea MF Kim Dong-hyun (captain)
7 South Korea FW Kim Dae-won
8 South Korea MF Kang Yun-gu
10 Brazil FW Vitor Gabriel
11 Croatia FW Mario Ćuže
13 South Korea DF Lee Ki-hyuk (vice-captain)
14 South Korea MF Kim Dae-woo
15 South Korea FW Jin Jun-seo
16 South Korea FW Kim Gun-hee
17 South Korea FW Cho Jin-hyuk
18 South Korea MF Kim Kang-kook
20 South Korea DF Jo Hyun-tae
21 South Korea GK Park Chung-hyo
22 South Korea FW Lee Sang-heon
23 Montenegro DF Marko Tući
24 South Korea DF Park Ho-young
25 South Korea DF Choi Jeong-hoon
26 South Korea FW Kim Min-jun
27 South Korea FW Kim Do-hyun
No. Position Player
30 South Korea FW Jeong In-jeung
31 South Korea GK Hong Jin-hyeok
32 South Korea FW Yoo Byung-heon
33 South Korea DF Hong Chul
34 South Korea DF Song Jun-seok
35 South Korea MF Kim Tae-hwan
36 South Korea MF Hwang Eun-chong
37 South Korea DF Jeong Seung-bin
38 South Korea DF Park Su-hwan
39 South Korea FW Lee Ji-ho
41 South Korea GK Kim Yu-seong
42 South Korea FW Mo Jae-hyeon
47 South Korea DF Shin Min-ha
70 South Korea MF Goo Bon-cheul (on loan from Seongnam FC)
71 South Korea GK Cho Min-kyu
73 South Korea DF Yun Il-lok
77 South Korea FW Sung Gi-wan
95 South Korea FW Kim Hyeong-jin
96 South Korea FW Choi Byeong-chan
97 South Korea MF Lee You-hyeon (vice-captain)
99 South Korea DF Kang Jun-hyuk

Out on loan

No. Position Player
South Korea DF Choi Han-sol (at Jeonnam Dragons)
South Korea DF Hwang Mun-ki (at Pyeongchang United for military service)
South Korea DF Lee Dong-jin (at Sejong SA)
South Korea MF Kim Yi-seok (at Gimcheon Sangmu for military service)
No. Position Player
South Korea MF Lee Seung-won (at Gimcheon Sangmu for military service)
South Korea MF Won Hui-do (at Pocheon Citizen)
South Korea FW Park Sang-hyuk (at Gimcheon Sangmu for military service)

Captains

Season Captain
2009 South Korea Lee Eul-yong
2010–11 South Korea Chung Kyung-ho
2011 South Korea Seo Dong-hyeon
2011 South Korea Lee Eul-yong
2012 South Korea Kim Eun-jung
2013 South Korea Chun Jae-ho
2014 South Korea Kim Oh-gyu
2015 South Korea Hwang Kyo-chung
South Korea Baek Jong-hwan
2016–17 South Korea Baek Jong-hwan
2018 South Korea Jung Jo-gook
2019–20 South Korea Oh Beom-seok
2020–21 South Korea Lim Chai-min
2022 South Korea Kim Dong-hyun
2023 South Korea Rim Chang-woo
2024 South Korea Han Kook-young
South Korea Yun Suk-young
2025 South Korea Kim Dong-hyun

Youth Team and Reserve Squad

On September 13, 2010, Gangwon FC started an Under-12 (U-12) team in Gangneung. Later, in November 2011, they partnered with Gangneung Jeil High School (for an Under-18 team) and Jumunjin Middle School (for an Under-15 team).

In February 2021, Gangwon FC became the first professional team to create a reserve team. This team plays in the semi-professional K4 League. The idea is to give young players and other team members more chances to play. At least seven players in the starting lineup must be 23 years old or younger. Lee Seul-gi, who used to coach the main team, became the manager of this new U23 squad.

Coaching Staff

  • Manager: South Korea Chung Kyung-ho
  • Assistant manager: Vacant
  • First-team coach: South Korea Choi Hyo-jin, South Korea Song Chang-ho
  • Goalkeeping coach: South Korea Jeon Sang-wook

Managers Through the Years

No. Name From To Season(s)
1
South Korea Choi Soon-ho 2008/11/16 2011/04/06 2009–2011
2
South Korea Kim Sang-ho 2011/04/07 2012/07/01 2011–2012
3
South Korea Kim Hak-bum 2012/07/09 2013/08/11 2012–2013
4
South Korea Kim Yong-kab 2013/08/14 2013/12/10 2013
5
Brazil Arthur Bernardes 2013/12/23 2014/09/18 2014
C
South Korea Park Hyo-jin 2014/09/18 2014/12/24 2014
6
South Korea Choi Yun-kyum 2015/01/05 2017/08/14 2015–2017
C
South Korea Park Hyo-jin 2017/08/14 2017/11/04 2017
7
South Korea Song Kyung-sub 2017/11/02 2018/08/11 2017–2018
8
South Korea Kim Byung-soo 2018/08/12 2021/11/04 2018–2021
9
South Korea Choi Yong-soo 2021/11/16 2023/06/14 2021–2023
10
South Korea Yoon Jong-hwan 2023/06/19 2024/12/06 2023–2024
11
South Korea Chung Kyung-ho 2024/12/06 present 2025–

Honours

League

Season-by-season records

Season League FA Cup Other
Division GP W D L GF GA GD Pts Pos.
2009 1 28 7 7 14 42 57 –15 28 13 R16 League Cup: GS
2010 28 8 6 14 36 50 –14 30 12 R32 League Cup: GS
2011 30 3 6 21 14 45 –31 15 16 QF League Cup: GS
2012 44 14 7 23 57 68 –11 49 14 R16
2013 38 8 12 18 37 64 –27 36 12↓ R16
2014 2 36 16 6 14 48 50 –2 54 3 QF
2015 40 13 12 15 64 56 +8 51 7 R16
2016 40 19 9 12 50 33 +17 66 4↑ R32
2017 1 38 13 10 15 59 65 –6 49 6 R16
2018 38 12 10 16 56 60 –4 46 8 R32
2019 38 14 8 16 56 58 –2 50 6 QF
2020 27 9 7 11 36 41 –5 34 7 QF
2021 38 10 13 15 40 51 –11 43 11 SF
2022 38 14 7 17 50 52 –2 49 6 R16
2023 38 6 16 16 30 41 –11 34 10 QF
2024 38 19 7 12 62 56 +6 64 2 R16
Key
  • SF = Semi-final
  • QF = Quarter-final
  • R16 = Round of 16
  • R32 = Round of 32
  • GS = Group stage

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Gangwon Football Club para niños

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