FC Seoul

FC Seoul

Full name	Football Club Seoul
Founded	22 December 1983; 38 years ago (22 December 1983), (as Lucky-Goldstar FC)[1]
Ground	Seoul World Cup Stadium
Capacity	66,704[2]
Owner	GS Group
Chairman	Huh Tae-soo
Manager	An Ik-soo
League	K League 1
2021	K League 1, 7th of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

FC Seoul (Korean: FC 서울) is a South Korean professional football club based in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS Group.

The club was officially founded as Lucky-Goldstar Football Club in 1983, by the Lucky-Goldstar Group. FC Seoul have won six League titles, two FA Cups, two League Cups and one Super Cup. FC Seoul is one of the most successful and popular clubs in the K League 1, with financial backing from the GS Group.^[3][4] In 2012, FC Seoul was evaluated as the most valuable football brand in the K League.^[5][6]

History[]

Founding and early years (1983–1989)[]

FC Seoul was officially announced on 18 August as the new club and founded on 22 December 1983, and started out in 1984 as Lucky-Goldstar Football Club, owned and financially supported by the Lucky-Goldstar Group (later renamed the LG Group), with the Chungcheong Province its franchise and Hwangso (meaning bull) as its mascot.

In order to launch the professional football club, Lucky-Goldstar Group had a preparation period from 1982^[7] and demanded that the original franchise should be Seoul.^[8] In the 1984 season, the club finished seventh out of the eight clubs. The club fared better in the 1985 season when they won the championship with the help of Thailand national football team player Piyapong Pue-on, who was the top scorer, as well as the top assistor.

Moving to Seoul and then to Anyang (1990–2003)[]

From the beginning of 1988, Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso pushed forward a relocation to Seoul^[9] At the end of the 1989 season, the Korea Professional Football League (renamed as the K League in 1998), worried about the financial stability of the clubs, invited a number of clubs to play in Seoul. Thus, the Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso, which had always wanted to be based in the capital, moved to Seoul Stadium (Currently Dongdaemun Stadium) in Seoul at the end of 1989. The club finished first season in Seoul as champions. The club changed its name to LG Cheetahs in 1991 to mirror the LG Twins, a professional baseball team also owned by LG Group. After several seasons in Seoul, the club was forced to move in 1996, as part of the K League's decentralization policy. This policy was carried out to stimulate the growth of football in the provinces. In addition, in 1995, Korea was bidding to host the 2002 FIFA World Cup. This warranted the construction of a soccer-specific stadium in Seoul. The three clubs based in Seoul – LG Cheetahs, Ilhwa Chunma, and Yukong Elephants did not want to recognize the decentralization policy. Ultimately, it proved necessary for the Korean government to issue an eviction order to the disaffected clubs. However, the government did guarantee if the clubs built a soccer-specific stadium in Seoul, the clubs could have a Seoul franchise and return to Seoul.

As a result, 3 clubs were evicted from Seoul to other cities. This entailed the move of the LG Cheetahs to the Anyang Sports Complex in the city of Anyang, a satellite city of Seoul, 21 km away. The club was now known as the Anyang LG Cheetahs. In the upcoming years, a solid base of supporters was formed, and it established a strong league rivalry with the Suwon Samsung Bluewings. This rivalry was partly fueled by the fact that LG Group and Samsung Group, which owned the Suwon club, were also considered rivals in the business world, especially in electronics. The club continued to grow and in 2000, they won their third Championship, behind the firepower of striker Choi Yong-Soo.

Return to Seoul and renaming to FC Seoul (2004–2006)[]

For the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, ten brand new stadiums of World Cup standards were built in South Korea. After the World Cup, the Korean World Cup Organizing Committee and the KFA actively supported the move of regional K League clubs into the new stadia. This was designed to avoid or at least minimize any financial losses through having to maintain a stadium in playing condition without regular income. However, due to the previous decision by the K League to exclude any member club from being based in Seoul, Seoul World Cup Stadium remained vacant, except as a host of some international friendlies. Thus, the city government of Seoul and the KFA both actively sought for a K League club to play at the stadium to take on the cost of maintaining the stadium. Initially, it was intended to create a new club, but when it later transpired that any club playing in Seoul World Cup Stadium would have to pay partially for the construction fees of the stadium, this would have placed an unreasonable burden on a fledgling club. Thus, the KFA tried to lure one of the current clubs to Seoul. The Anyang LG Cheetahs, with the financial backing of the LG Group, who not only viewed the move back to Seoul as a way to increase its advertising presence, but had the right to come back to Seoul because it had its franchise moved by force in 1996, as part of the K League's decentralization policy. Anyang LG announced in February 2004 that it would pay the share of the construction fees (which turned out to be 15 billion won, or at that time 15 million USD).^[10] This proposed move provoked a significant amount of controversy from the Korean football fans as KFA and K League failed to launch a new football club based in Seoul due to a high Seoul franchise fee. Regardless, KFA and K League ultimately permitted relocation of Anyang LG Cheetahs.lies

Şenol Güneş years (2007–2009)[]

Şenol Güneş managed FC Seoul for a three-year period starting on December 8, 2006.^[11] The club started the 2007 season with three consecutive wins and a draw, including a 4–1 win over arch rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the Super Match. However, FC Seoul failed to qualify for the play-off phase of the season, but the club succeeded in getting into the final of the 2007 Korean League Cup. Before the next season, Park Chu-Young, the ace of FC Seoul at that time, was transferred to Ligue 1 club Monaco. FC Seoul finished in a second-place in the K League regular season, and progressed to the play-offs. FC Seoul defeated Ulsan Hyundai in the play-off semi-final but was defeated by Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the final. Despite the loss, the club still qualified for the 2009 AFC Champions League.^[12] During the season, Dejan Damjanović scored 15 goals.

FC Seoul's 2009 AFC Champions League campaign began with a 2–1 win over Indonesian side Sriwijaya FC. In the next three games, FC Seoul obtained only one point in the matches against Gamba Osaka and Shandong Luneng. However, Seoul then defeated the title holders Gamba Osaka and qualified to the round of 16 after Sriwijaya's unexpected victory over Shandong Luneng. On June 24, 2009, FC Seoul beat Kashima Antlers 5–4 after penalties after a 0–0 draw in the round of 16 clash and advanced to the quarter-finals,^[13] but were beaten 4–3 on aggregate by Qatari club Umm Salal.^[14] FC Seoul's appearance in the AFC Champions League was its first since the Asian Club Championship era.

The Şenol Güneş era ended on November 25, 2009, with the manager returning to Trabzonspor.^[15]

K League and League Cup "double" (2010)[]

FC Seoul appointed Nelo Vingada as manager on December 14, 2009. Vingada won the K League and League Cup with FC Seoul. FC Seoul had 20 wins, 2 draws, and 6 defeats in the domestic league under Vingada's management.

FC Seoul recorded an attendance of 60,747 against Seongnam Ilhwa on May 5, 2010 at Seoul World Cup Stadium, which is the highest single-game attendance record in South Korean professional sports history.^[16][17] FC Seoul also recorded the single season (League, K League Championship, and League Cup) highest total attendance record – 546,397, and the single regular & post season (League and K League Championship) highest average attendance record of 32,576.^[18][19][20]

On August 25, 2010, FC Seoul beat Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3–0 to become the 2010 League Cup winners.^[21] FC Seoul were also crowned K League champions by defeating Jeju United 4–3 on aggregate in the K League Championship final, thus achieving their first "double" in the club's history. The crowd of 56,769 in the second leg also set the record of the highest attendance in K League Championship history.^[22][23][24]

On December 13, 2010, FC Seoul wanted to extend Vingada's one-year contract but FC Seoul and Vingada could not come to an agreement over the salary conditions, resulting in Vingada returning to Portugal.^[25]

AFC Champions League final and the sixth K League title (2011–2016)[]

FC Seoul's former player Choi Yong-soo was hired to manage the club in 2012, after previously serving as the assistant manager and caretaker for the club in 2011. In 2013, FC Seoul lost the AFC Champions League Final on away goals rule against Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande.^[26] The AFC Champions League campaign has earned Choi Yong-soo the 2013 AFC Coach of the Year award, becoming the second South Korean in succession to win the individual accolade following the previous year's winner Kim Ho-kon. Choi left the club in June 2016.^[27]

On June 21, 2016, FC Seoul appointed Hwang Sun-hong as their eleventh manager in the club's history. On November 6, 2016, FC Seoul won their sixth K League title after defeating Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1–0 in the final round of the season.^[28][29]

A period of oscillation (2017– )[]

Hwang Sun-hong resigned on April 30, 2018.^[30] In the 2018 season, FC Seoul finished in eleventh place and had to play the K League promotion-relegation playoffs for the first time in their history.^[31] In the playoffs, they defeated Busan IPark 4–2 on aggregate, thus staying in the top flight.^[32]

On October 11, 2018, Choi Yong-soo was appointed as the twelfth manager in the club's history, having previously managed the club between 2011 and 2016.^[33]

However, Seoul, which had been under fire since the beginning of the 2020 season, was mired in five consecutive losses for the first time in 22 years, disappointing fans.^[34] This just represented the start of a pretty complicated year for the team, as they went through a long-lasting crisis both on and off the pitch: they suffered several debacles throughout the season, such as a 0-6 away defeat against Daegu in the sixth round of K League 1 and a 1-5 home defeat against Pohang in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup; some of the squad's key players, such as returning Brazilian striker Adriano (a record-breaking and prolific goalscorer in his previous spell at the club between 2015 and 2016) and Spanish defensive midfielder Osmar Barba, didn't manage to show their full potential, due to inconstant performances or injuries; following a new departure by Choi Yong-soo, three different caretakers took turns managing Seoul, with Park Hyuk-soon replacing Kim Ho-young after just a month and guiding the team to the end of the K League season (which they finished in 8th position, after participating in the relegation group), before being substituted by Lee Won-jun; under the management of this last coach, the team made a promising start in the group stage of AFC Champions League, even obtaining a thrashing 5-0 victory against Thai outfit Chiangrai United, but then proceeded to lose all of their last three matches, thus being eliminated from the tournament.

A very difficult season was made even more devastating by the tragic and unexpected passing of defender Kim Nam-chun on October 30, 2020, just a day before their last fixture of K League 1 against Incheon, which eventually featured a brief ceremony in order to pay a tribute to the late player.^[35][36][37] In that occasion, Seoul suffered a 1-0 defeat, with Costa Rican midfielder Elías Aguilar netting the only goal of the match.

Despite of all the difficulties, several players, such as club's icon Park Chu-young (top-scorer of the club with 7 goals overall), midfielder Han Seung-gyu and the aforementioned Osmar (once he had come back from injury), still managed to shine.

Club culture[]

Supporters[]

FC Seoul has a diverse fanbase, including former Lucky-Goldstar fans, LG Cheetahs fans, Anyang LG Cheetahs fans. FC Seoul's number-12 shirt is reserved for supporters of the club. The main supporter group of FC Seoul is Suhoshin (meaning "guardian deity"), formed in April 2004. There are also some minor supporter groups.

V-Girls and V-Man[]

V-Girls & V-Man are FC Seoul's cheerleaders.^[38] The V stands for victory. They cheerlead at the East Stand.

Stadiums[]

Since 2004, FC Seoul's home is the Seoul World Cup Stadium, which is the largest football-specific stadium in Asia. FC Seoul's players train at the GS Champions Park training centre, a purpose-built facility opened in 1989, located east of Seoul in the city of Guri.

In the past, FC Seoul played at Daejeon Stadium, Cheongju Civic Stadium, Cheonan Oryong Stadium (1987–1989), Dongdaemun Stadium (1990–1995), and Anyang Stadium (1996–2003).

Crests and mascots[]

FC Seoul has had different names, and consequently different crests for different periods of the club: Lucky-Goldstar FC (1983–1990), LG Cheetahs (1991–1995), Anyang LG Cheetahs (1996–2003).^[39]

There has also been different club mascots representing different periods. Former mascots were a bull and a cheetah.^[40] The club's current mascot, introduced in 2004, is named "SSID".^[38] The "SSID" stands for Seoul & Sun In Dream. In the 2018 season, FC Seoul added another mascot, "Seoul-i".^[41]

A special crest for the club's 20th anniversary was used in 2003.^[42] The current crest has been used since 2004.^[43]

Kits[]

FC Seoul's home kits have red-and-black stripes, as in their crest.

FC Seoul wore both red kits and yellow kits in home matches from 1984 to 1985.

From 1988 to 1994, the club's home shirt's main colour was yellow, same as the Lucky-Goldstar Group's company colour at the time.

In 1995, Lucky-Goldstar Group pushed ahead with corporate identity unification and the company colour was changed to red. As a result, FC Seoul's jersey colour was changed from yellow to red as part of the unification project.

From 1999 to 2001, FC Seoul wore red and blue stripes but returned to all red in the 2002 season and In 2005, FC Seoul changed to red and black stripes and this colour has been in use since.

In June 2016, FC Seoul released the 1984–1985 retro jersey to commemorate foundation of the club and the first K League title.^[44]

First kit summary[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FC Seoul kits.

1984–1985 Worn red shirts as first kit 0(1)

1984–1985 Worn yellow shirts as first kit 0(1)

1986 Worn red shirts as first kit 0

1987 Worn white shirts as first kit(2) 0

1988–1994 Worn yellow shirts as first kit 0

1995–July 1999 2002–2004 Worn red shirts as first kit

July 1999–2001 Worn red and blue stripe shirts as first kit

2005–present Wearing red and black stripe shirts as first kit

Notes

(1) During 1984 season and 1985 season, FC Seoul worn red shirts and yellows shirts by turns as first kit,
At that time FC Seoul did't have the concept of first kit and second kit.
(2) In the 1987 season, all K League clubs wore white shirts in home matches and coloured jerseys in away matches, like in Major League Baseball.

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors[]

Period	Kit supplier	Shirt sponsor	Shirt front printing	Notes
1984–1985	Bando Fashion / Pro-Specs	Lucky-Goldstar	럭키금성 / Lucky-Goldstar	Occasionally, Lucky-Goldstar wore a jersey which was manufactured by Prospecs in the 1984 season and 1985 season.
1986	Bando Fashion
1987–1994		GoldStar	금성VTR / GoldStar VTR, etc.	Socks were sponsored by Pro-Specs during the 1993–96 seasons. Bando Fashion was renamed LG Fashion in September 1995. For international matches, GoldStar Printing was written in English.
1995	Bando Fashion / LG Fashion	LG Electronics LG Chem	LG하이비디오 / LG HIGH VIDEO, etc. 죽염치약 / Jugyeom Toothpaste, etc.
1996	LG Fashion
1997	Reebok	LG Information & Communications	프리웨이 / FREEWAY, etc.	Mobile phone brand
1998	Adidas	LG Electronics	LG 싸이언 / LG Cyon, etc.	Mobile phone brand
1999			디지털 LG / DIGITAL LG	LG Electronics slogan
2000		LG Telecom	카이 / X	Mobile network operator brand
2001–2002		LG Electronics	싸이언 / Cyon	Mobile phone brand
2003			엑스캔버스 / XCANVAS	Television brand
2004			싸이언 / Cyon	Mobile phone brand
2005–2011		GS E&C	자이 / Xi	Apartment brand
		Seoul Metropolitan Government	Hi Seoul Soul oF Asia	For the 2009 AFC Champions League
2012–2013	Le Coq Sportif	GS E&C	자이 / Xi	Apartment brand
2014–2016		GS SHOP	GS SHOP	Online store brand
2017–2019		GS SHOP	GS SHOP (first kit)	Online store brand
		GS Caltex	KIXX (second kit)	Filling station brand
2020		GS E&C	자이 / Xi (first kit)	Apartment brand
		GS Caltex	KIXX (second kit)	Filling station brand
2021		GS E&C	자이 / Xi (first kit)	Apartment brand
		GS Caltex	GS Caltex (second kit)
2022–2024	Pro-Specs

Kit deals[]

Kit supplier	Period	Contract announcement	Contract duration	Value	Notes
Adidas	1998–2011	1998-02-10	1998–???? (? years)	Total ? ($200,000 per year)[45]
		2005–01-26	2005–2007 (3 years)	Total $3 million[46][47] ($1 million per year)
		2008–02-25	2008–2011 (4 years)	Undisclosed[48]
Le Coq Sportif	2012–2021	2011–12-15	2012–2015 (4 years)	Total $8 million[49] ($2 million per year)
		2016–02-17	2016–2019 (4 years)	Undisclosed
		2020–01-28	2020–2021 (2 years)	Undisclosed
Pro-Specs	2022–2024	2021–12-27	2022–2024 (3 years)	Undisclosed

Honours[]

Domestic competitions[]

League[]

• K League 1

Winners (6): 1985, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2012, 2016

Runners-up (5): 1986, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2008

Cups[]

• FA Cup

Winners (2): 1998, 2015

Runners-up (2): 2014, 2016

• League Cup

Winners (2): 2006, 2010

Runners-up (4): 1992, 1994, 1999, 2007

• Super Cup

Winners (1): 2001

Runners-up (1): 1999

• National Football Championship

Winners (1): 1988

International competitions[]

Asian[]

• AFC Champions League

Runners-up (2): 2001–02, 2013

Records and statistics[]

As of the 2019 season.^[50][51]

Season-by-season records[]

※ K League: Only regular season results are counted. Postseason (League Championship and Promotion-relegation PO) results are not included.
※ 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000 seasons had penalty shoot-outs instead of draws.
※ A: Adidas Cup, P: Prospecs Cup, PM: Philip Morris Cup, D: Daehan Fire Insurance Cup

Season	K League											League Cup	FA Cup	Super Cup	ACL	Manager
	Division	Teams	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1984	Div 1	8	7th	28	8	6	14	38	45	–7	33					Park Se-hak
1985	Div 1	8	Champions	21	10	7	4	35	19	+16	27					Park Se-hak
1986	Div 1	6	Runners-up	20	10	7	3	28	17	+11	27	5th (Pro)			Did not qualify	Park Se-hak
1987	Div 1	5	5th	32	7	7	18	26	55	–29	21	No competition			Withdrew	Park Se-hak
1988	Div 1	5	4th	24	6	11	7	22	29	–7	23		Winners (Nat'l)		Did not qualify	Ko Jae-wook (C)
1989	Div 1	6	Runners-up	40	15	17	8	53	40	+13	47		Semi-finals (Nat'l)[2]			Ko Jae-wook
1990	Div 1	6	Champions	30	14	11	5	40	25	+15	39					Ko Jae-wook
1991	Div 1	6	6th	40	9	15	16	44	53	–9	33					Ko Jae-wook
1992	Div 1	6	4th	30	8	13	9	30	35	–5	29	Runners-up (A)			Did not enter	Ko Jae-wook
1993	Div 1	6	Runners-up	30	18 10	0 11	12 9	28	29	–1	59	4th (A)			Did not qualify	Ko Jae-wook
1994	Div 1	7	5th	30	12	7	11	53	50	+3	43	Runners-up (A)				Cho Young-jeung
1995	Div 1	8	8th	28	5	10	13	29	43	–14	25	6th (A)				Cho Young-jeung
1996	Div 1	9	9th	32	8	8	16	44	56	–12	32	8th (A)	Round of 16			Cho Young-jeung Park Hang-seo (C)
1997	Div 1	10	9th	18	1	8	9	15	27	–12	11	10th (A) 3rd in Group A (P)	Semi-finals			Park Byung-joo
1998	Div 1	10	8th	18	9 8	0 2	9 8	28	28	0	23	Semi-finals (A) 3rd (PM)	Winners			Park Byung-joo
1999	Div 1	10	9th	27	10 8	0 4	17 15	38	52	–14	24	Runners-up (A) 4th in Group B (D)	Semi-finals	Runners-up		Cho Kwang-rae
2000	Div 1	10	Champions	27	19 17	0 5	8 5	46	25	+21	53	Semi-finals (A) 5th in Group A (D)	Quarter-finals	Did not qualify	Quarter-finals[3]	Cho Kwang-rae
2001	Div 1	10	Runners-up	27	11	10	6	30	23	+7	43	4th in Group A (A)	Quarter-finals	Winners	Did not qualify	Cho Kwang-rae
2002	Div 1	10	4th	27	11	7	9	37	30	+7	40	Semi-finals (A)	Round of 32	Did not qualify	Runners-up[4]	Cho Kwang-rae
2003	Div 1	12	8th	44	14	14	16	69	68	+1	56	No competition	Round of 32	No competition	Did not qualify	Cho Kwang-rae
2004	Div 1	13	5th	24	7	12	5	20	17	+3	33	12th (S)	Round of 16	Did not qualify		Cho Kwang-rae
2005	Div 1	13	7th	24	8	8	8	37	32	+5	32	5th (S)	Round of 16			Lee Jang-soo
2006	Div 1	14	4th	26	9	12	5	31	22	+9	39	Winners (S)	Quarter-finals			Lee Jang-soo
2007	Div 1	14	7th	26	8	13	5	23	16	+7	37	Runners-up (S)	Quarter-finals	Competition ceased		Şenol Güneş
2008	Div 1	14	Runners-up	26	15	9	2	44	25	+19	54	3rd in Group A (S)	Round of 32			Şenol Güneş
2009	Div 1	15	5th	28	16	5	7	47	27	+20	53	Semi-finals (PK)	Round of 16		Quarter-finals	Şenol Güneş
2010	Div 1	15	Champions	28	20	2	6	58	26	+32	62	Winners (PC)	Round of 16		Did not qualify	Nelo Vingada
2011	Div 1	16	5th	30	16	7	7	56	38	+18	55	Quarter-finals (RC)	Quarter-finals		Quarter-finals	Hwangbo Kwan Choi Yong-soo (C)
2012	Div 1	16	Champions	44	29	9	6	76	42	+34	96	Competition ceased	Round of 16		Did not qualify	Choi Yong-soo
2013	Div 1	14	4th	38	17	11	10	59	46	+13	62		Quarter-finals		Runners-up	Choi Yong-soo
2014	Div 1	12	3rd	38	15	13	10	42	28	+14	58		Runners-up		Semi-finals	Choi Yong-soo
2015	Div 1	12	4th	38	17	11	10	52	44	+8	62		Winners		Round of 16	Choi Yong-soo
2016	Div 1	12	Champions	38	21	7	10	67	46	+21	70		Runners-up		Semi-finals	Choi Yong-soo Hwang Sun-hong
2017	Div 1	12	5th	38	16	13	9	56	42	+14	61		Round of 16		Group stage	Hwang Sun-hong
2018	Div 1	12	11th	38	9	13	16	40	48	–8	40		Round of 16		Did not qualify	Hwang Sun-hong Lee Eul-yong (C) Choi Yong-soo
2019	Div 1	12	3rd	38	15	11	12	53	49	+4	56		Round of 32			Choi Yong-soo
2020	Div 1	12	9th	27	8	5	14	23	44	-21	29		Quarter-finals		Group stage	Choi Yong-soo Kim Ho-young (C) Park Hyuk-soon (C) Lee Won-jun (C)
2021	Div 1	12	7th	38	12	11	15	46	46	0	47		Round of 32		Did not qualify	Park Jin-sub An Ik-soo

^[1] In 1986, competition was known as Professional Football Championship
^[2] In 1988 and 1989, competition was known as National Football Championship
^[3] In 2000, competition was known as 1999–2000 Asian Cup Winners' Cup
^[4] In 2002, competition was known as 2001–02 Asian Club Championship

K League Championship records[]

Season	Teams	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PSO	Manager
1986	2	Runners-up	2	0	1	1	1	2	–1	N/A	Park Se-hak
2000	4	Winners	2	1	1	0	5	2	+1	4–2 W	Cho Kwang-rae
2006	4	4th (Semi-finals)	1	0	0	1	0	1	–1	N/A	Lee Jang-soo
2008	6	Runners-up	3	1	1	1	6	5	+1	N/A	Şenol Güneş
2009	6	5th (Round of 6)	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	2–3 L	Şenol Güneş
2010	6	Champions	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	N/A	Nelo Vingada
2011	6	5th (Round of 6)	1	0	0	1	1	3	–2	N/A	Choi Yong-soo (C)

K League promotion-relegation playoffs[]

Season	Teams	Outcome	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PSO	Manager
2018	2	Stayed	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	N/A	Choi Yong-soo

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 6 February 2022^[52]

No.	Pos.	Nationality	Player
2	DF	South Korea	Hwang Hyun-soo
3	DF	South Korea
5	MF	Spain	Osmar
6	MF	South Korea	Kim Jin-sung
7	FW	South Korea	Na Sang-ho
8	MF	South Korea	Ki Sung-yueng (captain)
9	FW	South Korea	Ji Dong-won
11	FW	South Korea	Cho Young-wook
13	MF	South Korea	Go Yo-han
14	FW	South Korea
15	MF	South Korea	Yeo Reum
17	DF	South Korea	Kim Jin-ya
18	FW	South Korea
19	FW	South Korea	Jung Han-min
20	FW	South Korea	Lee In-gyu
21	GK	South Korea	Yang Han-been
22	FW	South Korea	Park Jung-bin
23	DF	South Korea	Yoon Jong-gyu
24	MF	South Korea	Jung Won-jin
26	MF	Serbia	Aleksandar Paločević
27	MF	South Korea	Ko Kwang-min
28	DF	South Korea	Kang Sang-hee
29	GK	South Korea
33	MF	South Korea
35	MF	South Korea	Paik Sang-hoon
38	FW	South Korea
45	DF	South Korea	Lee Han-beom
50	FW	South Korea	Park Dong-jin
66	MF	South Korea	Cha Oh-yeon
72	FW	South Korea	Kang Seong-jin
88	DF	South Korea	Lee Tae-seok
	MF	South Korea
	DF	South Korea
	FW	South Korea
	MF	South Korea
	GK	South Korea
	FW	South Korea
	MF	South Korea
	DF	South Korea
	DF	South Korea
	MF	South Korea	Lim Min-hyeok
	FW	Australia	Ben Halloran
	GK	South Korea	Hwang Sung-min
	MF	South Korea
	DF	South Korea	Lee Sang-min
	MF	South Korea	Cho Ji-hun
	DF	Brazil	Ricardo

Note: Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth.

Out on loan and military service[]

No.	Pos.	Nationality	Player	Moving To	Loan Period
—	FW	South Korea	Kim Woo-hong	FC Namdong	July 2020–September 2022
—	DF	South Korea	Kim Ju-sung	Gimcheon Sangmu	March 2021–September 2022
—	MF	South Korea	Jung Hyun-cheol	Gimcheon Sangmu	March 2021–September 2022
—	MF	South Korea	Han Chan-hee	Gimcheon Sangmu	June 2021–December 2022

Former players[]

Player records[]

Retired number(s)[]

12 – Supporters (the 12th Man)

Captains[]

Seasons	Captain	Vice-captain	Notes
1984	Han Moon-bae
1985	Kim Kwang-hoon
1986	Park Hang-seo		until September 1986
1986–1988	Jung Hae-seong		since September 1986
1989–1990	Choi Jin-han
1991–1992	Lee Young-jin
1993	Gu Sang-bum
1994	Choi Young-jun
1995	Yoon Sang-chul		until 4 August 1995
1995–1996	Lee Young-ik		since 5 August 1995
1997	Cho Byung-young
1998	Kim Bong-soo
1999	Kang Chun-ho		until July 1999
1999–2000	Choi Yong-soo		July 1999–9 May 2000
2000	Kim Gwi-hwa	Lee Young-pyo	since 10 May 2000
2001	Lee Sang-hun		until May 2001
2001	Son Hyun-jun		since May 2001
2002	Choi Yoon-yeol
2003–2004	Kim Seong-jae
2005–2006	Lee Min-sung
2007–2008	Lee Eul-yong	Kim Chi-gon
2009	Kim Chi-gon	Kim Jin-kyu
2010	Park Yong-ho	Kim Jin-kyu
2011	Park Yong-ho	Hyun Young-min
2012–2013	Ha Dae-sung	Kim Jin-kyu
2014	Kim Jin-kyu	Koh Myong-jin
2015	Koh Myong-jin	Osmar	until 30 April 2015
	Cha Du-ri		since 1 May 2015
2016	Osmar	Yoo Hyun	First foreign captain of FC Seoul
2017	Kwak Tae-hwi	Park Chu-young
2018	Shin Kwang-hoon	Go Yo-han	until 3 July 2018
	Go Yo-han	Lee Woong-hee	since 4 July 2018
2019	Go Yo-han	Park Chu-young
2020	Go Yo-han	Ju Se-jong
2021	Ki Sung-yueng	Hwang Hyun-soo

Staff[]

• For details on all-time managers, see List of FC Seoul managers.

Coaching staff[]

Position	Name
Manager	An Ik-soo
Assistant Manager	Park Hyuk-soon
Coach	Kim Jin-kyu
Goalkeeping Coach	Jeon Sang-wook
Fitness Coach
U-18 Team Manager
U-18 Team Coach	Choi Hyun-tae
U-18 Team Goalkeeping Coach
U-18 Team Fitness Coach
Scout	Lee Won-jun
	Jung Jae-yoon

Medical staff[]

Position	Name
Team Physician	Cho Yun-sang
	Han Duck-hyun
Athletic Trainer	Park Sung-ryul
	Kang Dae-sung
Physiotherapist	Seo Seong-tae

Support staff[]

Position	Name
Performance Analyst	Shin Jun-yong
	Jeon Gon-jae
Equipment Manager	Lee Cheon-gil
Translator	Lee Seok-jin
Driver	Kim Yong-gi
	Kim Young-rak

Managerial history[]

• For details on all-time manager statistics, see List of FC Seoul managers.

No.	Name	Appointed	From	To	Season	Notes
1	Park Se-hak	1983-08-12	1983-12-22	1987-11-19	1984–1987	First manager of FC Seoul.
C	Ko Jae-wook	1987-12-01	1987-12-01	1988-12-26	1988	Caretaker manager in 1988, before being promoted to regular manager in 1989.
2		1988-12-27	1988-12-27	1993-12-31	1989–1993
3	Cho Young-jeung	1993-11-23	1994-01-01	1996-11-05	1994–1996	First manager who was a former FC Seoul player. First manager who resigned in the middle of season.
C	Park Hang-seo	1996-11-05	1996-11-05	1996-12-01	1996	Caretaker manager in FA Cup, one match in charge.
4	Park Byung-joo	1996-12-10	1996-12-20	1998-11-25	1997–1998	Won the first FA Cup for FC Seoul.
5	Cho Kwang-rae	1998-10-22	1998-12-01	2004-12-15	1999–2004	The club's longest serving manager (6 seasons)
6	Lee Jang-soo	2004-12-30	2005-01-10	2006-12-02	2005–2006	Won the first League Cup for FC Seoul.
7	Şenol Güneş	2006-12-08	2007-01-08	2009-11-25	2007–2009	First foreign manager of FC Seoul.
8	Nelo Vingada	2009-12-14	2010-01-03	2010-12-13	2010	First (and only) manager to win the double.
9	Hwangbo Kwan	2010-12-28	2011-01-05	2011-04-26	2011	First manager who resigned in the middle of League.
C	Choi Yong-soo	2011-04-26	2011-04-26	2011-12-08	2011	Caretaker manager in 2011, before being promoted to regular manager in 2012.
10		2011-12-09	2011-12-09	2016-06-22	2012–2016	First manager who won K League as a FC Seoul player and a manager.
C	Kim Seong-jae	2016-06-23	2016-06-23	2016-06-26	2016	Caretaker manager in 2016, Left after one match in charge.
11	Hwang Sun-hong	2016-06-21	2016-06-27	2018-04-30	2016–2018
C	Lee Eul-yong	2018-04-30	2018-04-30	2018-10-11	2018
12	Choi Yong-soo	2018-10-11	2018-10-11	2020-07-30	2018–2020	First manager who was appointed twice.
C	Kim Ho-young	2020-08-04	2020-08-04	2020-09-24	2020
C	Park Hyuk-soon	2020-09-25	2020-09-25	2020-11-12	2020
C	Lee Won-jun	2020-11-13	2020-11-13	2020-12-03	2020
13	Park Jin-sub	2020-12-08	2020-12-08	2021-09-06	2021
13	An Ik-soo	2021-09-06	2021-09-06		2021–

Management[]

Board of Directors[]

Position	Name	Notes
Chairman	Huh Tae-soo
Chief Executive Officer	Yeo Eun-joo
Director	Vacant

Chairman history[]

No.	Name	From	To	Season	Notes
1	Koo Cha-kyung	1983-08-12	1990-12-27	1984–1990	The First Chairman
2	Koo Bon-moo	1990-12-28	1998-02-28	1991–1997
3	Huh Chang-soo	1998-03-01	2020-03-26	1998–2019
4	Huh Tae-soo	2020-03-26	present	2020–present

Ownership[]

Years	Owner	Notes
November 1983–February 1991	Lucky-Goldstar Sports of Lucky-Goldstar Group
February 1991–May 2004	LG Sports of LG Group
June 2004–December 2004	GS Sports of LG Group
January 2005–present	GS Sports of GS Group

Popular culture[]

FC Seoul and FC Seoul supporters have been portrayed in a number of Korean dramas and movies:^[53]

• Dramas: Which Star Are You From, Heading to the Ground,^[a] A Thousand Kisses
• Movies: Secret Romance, Dancing Queen, Running Man, Big Match, Salut d'Amour

See also[]

• Football in Seoul
• Super Match

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FC Seoul.

• Official club created
  • Official website (in Korean and English)
• Unofficial fan created
  • FC Seoul Main Supporters Group 'Suhoshin' Official website (in Korean)
  • FC Seoul Online Museum (in Korean)