Incheon United FC

Incheon United
인천 유나이티드
Full name	Incheon United Football Club; 인천 유나이티드 프로축구단
Nickname(s)	Mariners
Short name	IUFC
Founded	2003; 19 years ago
Ground	Incheon Football Stadium; (capacity: 20,891)
Owner	Incheon Government
Chairman	Mayor of Incheon
Manager	Kim Han-yoon
League	K League 1
2010	K League 1, 8th of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours

Incheon United FC is a professional football club based in Incheon, the third biggest city in South Korea. Founded in 2003, the club plays in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The club is a so-called 'community club', with the Incheon city being the key shareholder. The club's home stadium is the Incheon Football Stadium.

History[]

Formation[]

Officially founded at the end of the 2003 season, the move to create a professional club in Incheon had come about in part by the construction of the Incheon Munhak Stadium for the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament.^[1] Incheon city mayor Ahn Sang-soo began the process of creating the club in earnest in June 2003 with the official founding of Incheon FC, and German Werner Lorant was appointed as manager of the team in September of that year, with Chang Woe-Ryong and added to the coaching staff.

A public share issue was launched and ran from October to November 2003, and in December the name Incheon United was adopted.^[2] Sponsorship contracts worth a total of $4m were signed with GM Daewoo and Daeduk Construction Company, and a deal was struck with Puma to be the inaugural kit suppliers to the new club.

Debut season[]

Lorant and his coaching staff recruited several high-profile players in a bid to make an impact on the league in the club's debut season in 2004. Goalkeeper Shim Bum-chul was recruited along with talented youngsters Choi Tae-Uk, Kim Chi-Woo and popular Japanese playmaker Masakiyo Maezono. The most high profile of the imports was Turkish international defender Alpay Özalan, recruited from English Premier League side Aston Villa.

The club's first K-League match was a home encounter with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on 3 April 2004 which ended in a goalless draw. Their first league victory came in the third game of the season, also at home, as a Jasenko Sabitovic's own goal gave them a 1–0 victory over defending champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma.

Despite that promising start to the year, Incheon recorded just one more victory in the first stage of the season and finished bottom of the table on just nine points. Manager Lorant stepped down as manager at the end of August, and he was replaced in the hotseat by his assistant Chang Woe-Ryong as caretaker manager. Caretaker manager Chang Woe-Ryong made instant impacts on the side as the club finished fourth overall in the second stage of the league season, remaining in the race to claim victory in the stage until the final day.

Title challenge: Fly Up (2005)[]

Chang was confirmed as permanent Incheon manager in January 2005 as the club prepared to embark on what was to become a memorable season. The team finished runners-up in the first stage of the league season and joint third in the second stage of the K League, qualifying for the post-season championship playoffs by virtue of having the best overall record. Incheon were to face first stage winners Busan I'Park in the semi-final, and they easily defeated the southern side by a 2–0 scoreline to set up a championship final against Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i. In the first leg of the final at the Munhak stadium, goalkeeper Kim Lee-sub endured a torrid ninety minutes as Ulsan hit the back of the net five times in a stunning display of football, with Dženan Radončić netting a late consolation goal for the home side. Sung Kyung-mo replaced Kim Lee-sub in the Incheon goal for the second leg, and though United claimed a 2–1 victory they lost out on the title 6–3 on aggregate, but finished their second season in existence as K-League runners-up. This dramatic season was reproduced in a film, as a documentary film "Fly Up (Korean: 비상)" was released on 14 December 2006^[3]

Incheon United also finished the 2005 season with the highest total and average home attendance in the league, with 316,591 spectators in total coming through the gates, an average of 24,353^[4]

Crisis[]

After a remarkable 2005 season, Incheon United failed to continue its success. Although they reached semi-final in the FA Cup for two consecutive seasons in 2006 and 2007, they failed to make the playoff. Before the 2009 season, Incheon United appointed Ilija Petković, who had managed Serbia-Montenegro in the 2006 FIFA World Cup as their manager and finished 5th in the league, proceeding to the K League Championship. However, they lost to Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the first round after a penalty shoot-out.

In the middle of the 2010 season, Petković suddenly resigned due to his wife's health problems. Three months later, Incheon United appointed Huh Jung-moo, who had just led South Korea to the Round of 16 in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as their next manager. In the 2010 season, Incheon United produced their first ever K League Top Scorer as striker Yoo Byung-soo managed to score 22 goals in 28 appearances, becoming the youngest player in the K League history to win the award.

Before the 2012 season, Incheon United unveiled their new uniform which used blue as the main color and red lines on the shoulder, instead of their traditional blue and black stripes. Although the club explained that the design was created based on the inaugural season's uniform, supporters were furious with the club's decision to abandon their traditional stripes. Incheon manager Huh Jung-moo also lost fans' support as he openly expressed disagreement with the fans' concern over the issue.^[5] Huh Jung-moo eventually resigned in the middle of the season after a poor start. Kim Bong-gil took over as a caretaker manager and on 16 July 2012, he was officially appointed as the manager of the club.

Meanwhile, Incheon United suffered from financial crisis. Rumors about Incheon city trying to sell the club to corporate were published through media. According to the reports, Incheon United had been suffering from budget deficit for years, and Incheon city could not afford to spend more on the club because of the 2014 Asian Games.^[6] It was also later revealed that the club had been failing to pay the wages for the players on time for two months.^[7] The club had to sell key players such as Jung In-Hwan, Jeong Hyuk, Lee Kyu-ro, Han Kyo-won, Kim Nam-il and Ivo. Despite the hardships, Kim Bong-gil managed to save the club from relegation. However, the club decided to fire him after the 2014 season.

Incheon United had planned to appoint Lee Lim-saeng as their next manager, but Lee Lim-saeng eventually refused to take the seat as he was concerned with the club's inappropriate fire of Kim Bong-gil^[8]

Kim Do-hoon era: the wolves[]

Incheon United appointed former legendary striker Kim Do-hoon as their manager on 13 January 2015. Kim Do-hoon successfully spent his debut season as a manager, reaching the FA Cup final for the first time in the club's history. However, Incheon lost to FC Seoul 3–1 in the final. Incheon United under Kim Do-hoon was praised by the media and was dubbed the 'wolves' for their team effort and fighting spirit.

Yon Andersen Coach[]

Former North Korean national team coach, Jørn Andersen (55), from Norway, has been appointed to the Incheon United 8th Division. Andersen is the third foreign coach of the Incheon team. Andersen will make his debut with a 15-round away match against Jeonbuk Hyundai at Jeonju World Cup Stadium on 7 July.^[9]

2020 season[]

Incheon United appointed Lim Wan-Sup as their manager to lead the upcoming 2020 K League 1 Season.^[10]

Stadiums[]

Incheon United used Incheon Munhak Stadium, which was built for the 2002 FIFA World Cup from its debut season to 2011. However, as it was built as a multi-purpose stadium, it was too large and did not provide good view to the spectators. From 2012 season, they have been using the Incheon Football Stadium with the capacity of 20,891, which was built for the 2014 Asian Games.

Honours[]

Domestic competitions[]

League[]

K League 1
- Runners-up (1): 2005

Cups[]

FA Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2015

Season-by-season records[]

Season	Division	Tms.	Pos.	FA Cup
2004	1	13	12	Round of 32
2005	1	13	2	Round of 16
2006	1	14	9	Semi-final
2007	1	14	9	Semi-final
2008	1	14	7	Round of 32
2009	1	15	6	Round of 32
2010	1	15	11	Quarter-final
2011	1	16	13	Round of 16
2012	1	16	9	Round of 16
2013	1	14	7	Quarter-final
2014	1	12	10	Round of 32
2015	1	12	8	Runners-up
2016	1	12	10	Quarter-final
2017	1	12	9	Round of 32
2018	1	12	9	Round of 16
2019	1	12	10	Round of 32
2020	1	12	11	Round of 24

Key

Tms. = Number of teams
Pos. = Position in league

Current squad[]

As of 21 July 2021

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	Jung San
2	DF	KOR	Kim Chang-soo
3	DF	KOR	Kim Gwang-seok
4	DF	KOR	Kang Min-soo
5	DF	KOR
7	MF	KOR	Kim Do-hyuk (captain)
8	FW	KOR	Kim Hyun
9	FW	MNE	Stefan Mugoša
10	MF	CRC	Elías Aguilar
13	MF	KOR	Kim Joon-beom
14	MF	KOR	Moon Chang-jin
15	DF	KOR	Kim Dae-joong
16	DF	KOR	Gang Yoon-goo
17	FW	KOR
18	MF	KOR
19	FW	KOR	Song Si-woo
20	DF	AUS	Harrison Delbridge
21	GK	KOR	Lee Tae-hee
22	DF	KOR	Kim Jun-yeop


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	DF	KOR
24	MF	KOR
25	FW	KOR
26	DF	KOR	Oh Ban-suk
27	FW	KOR	Kim Bo-seob
28	MF	KOR	Jeong Hyuk
29	FW	KOR	Lee Joon-suk
30	MF	KOR
31	GK	KOR
32	DF	KOR	Kim Chae-woon
33	MF	KOR
34	DF	KOR	Oh Jae-suk
35	FW	KOR	Lee Jong-wook
36	DF	KOR
37	GK	KOR
40	FW	KOR
70	MF	KOR	Goo Bon-cheol
77	FW	BRA	Negueba

Out on loan[]