FC Seoul (Korean: FC 서울) is a South Korean professional football club based in Seoul 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. Since 2004, FC Seoul have played its home games at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul's Mapo District.

FC Seoul
Full nameFootball Club Seoul
Founded1983; 41 years ago (1983)
(as Lucky-Goldstar FC)[1]
GroundSeoul World Cup Stadium
Capacity66,704[2]
OwnerGS Group
ChairmanHuh Tae-soo
ManagerKim Gi-dong
LeagueK League 1
2024K League 1, 4th of 12
Websitewww.fcseoul.com

The club was founded as Lucky-Goldstar Football Club in 1983, by the Lucky-Goldstar Group, and was later renamed as LG Cheetahs in 1990. Due to the K League decentralization policy in 1996, the club was relocated to the Seoul's satellite city of Anyang for eight years, before returning to Seoul in 2004. FC Seoul have won six K League titles, two FA Cups, two League Cups and one Super Cup. Internationally, the club reached the AFC Champions League final on two occasions, in 2001–02 and 2013.

FC Seoul is one of the most successful and popular clubs in the K League 1, with financial backing from the GS Group.[1][3] In 2012, the club was evaluated as the most valuable football brand in the K League.[4][5] Their main rivals are Suwon Samsung Bluewings, with whom they contest the Super Match.

History

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Founding and early years (1983–1989)

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Piyapong Pue-on's signed kit on display at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History

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[6] and demanded that the original franchise should be Seoul.[7] 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)

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From the beginning of 1988, Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso pushed forward a relocation to Seoul[8] 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)

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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 US$15 million).[9] 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.

Şenol Güneş years (2007–2009)

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FC Seoul vs Gamba Osaka in the 2009 AFC Champions League

Şenol Güneş managed FC Seoul for a three-year period starting on December 8, 2006.[10] 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.[11] 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,[12] but were beaten 4–3 on aggregate by Qatari club Umm Salal.[13] 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.[14]

K League and League Cup "double" (2010)

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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.[15][16] 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.[17][18][19]

On August 25, 2010, FC Seoul beat Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3–0 to become the 2010 League Cup winners.[20] 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.[21][22][23]

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.[24]

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

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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.[25] 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.[26]

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.[27][28]

A period of oscillation (2017–present)

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Hwang Sun-hong resigned on April 30, 2018.[29] 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.[30] In the playoffs, they defeated Busan IPark 4–2 on aggregate, thus staying in the top flight.[31]

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.[32]

During the 2020 season, FC Seoul lost five consecutive games for the first time in 22 years.[33] Following a new departure by Choi Yong-soo, three different caretakers took turns managing the team, 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 ninth place,[34] before being substituted by Lee Won-jun; under his management, the team made a promising start in the group stage of the 2020 AFC Champions League, even obtaining a 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.[35] A difficult season was made even more devastating by the death of defender Kim Nam-chun on October 30, 2020, just a day before their last K League 1 fixture against Incheon United.[36]

Club culture

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FC Seoul Supporters at North Stand of Seoul World Cup Stadium

Supporters

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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 of groups

V-Girls and V-Man

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V-Girls & V-Man are FC Seoul's cheerleaders.[37] The V stands for victory. They cheerlead at the East Stand.

Stadiums

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Seoul World Cup Stadium in 2017

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

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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).[citation needed]

There has also been different club mascots representing different periods. Former mascots were a bull and a cheetah.[citation needed] 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".[39]

A special crest for the club's 20th anniversary was used in 2003.[40] The current crest has been used since 2004.[41]

Kits

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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.[42]

First kit summary

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1984–1985
Worn red shirts
as first kit
[a]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1984–1985
Worn yellow shirts
as first kit
[a]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1986
Worn red shirts
as first kit

0
 
 
 
 
 
 
1987
Worn white shirts
as first kit
[b]
 
 
 
 
 
 
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. ^ a b In the 1984 and 1985 seasons, FC Seoul alternated between wearing red and yellow shirts in their home matches; at that time, the club did not yet have the concept of a first 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

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Period Kit supplier Shirt sponsor Shirt front printing Notes
1984–1985
Bando Fashion / Pro-Specs 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.
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
  • Mobile phone brand
1999
디지털 LG / DIGITAL LG
2000
LG Telecom
  • Mobile network operator brand
2001–2002 LG Electronics
  • Mobile phone brand
2003
엑스캔버스 / XCANVAS
  • Television brand
2004
  • Mobile phone brand
2005–2011 GS E&C
  • Apartment brand
Seoul Metropolitan Government
Hi Seoul
Soul of Asia
2012–2013 Le Coq Sportif GS E&C
  • Apartment brand
2014–2016 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)
GS Caltex GS Caltex (second kit)
2022–2024 Pro-Specs GS E&C 자이 / Xi (first kit)
GS Caltex GS Caltex (second kit)

Kit deals

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Kit supplier Period Contract
announcement
Contract duration Value
Adidas 1998–2011
1998-02-10
1998–? $200,000 per year[43]
2005-01-26
2005–2007 (3 years) Total $3 million[44][45]
($1 million per year)
2008-02-25
2008–2011 (4 years) Undisclosed[46]
Le Coq Sportif 2012–2021
2011-12-15
2012–2015 (4 years) Total $8 million[47]
($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

Players

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Current squad

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As of September 27, 2024[48]

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 Baek Jong-bum
3 DF   KOR Kwon Wan-kyu
4 DF   KOR Lee Sang-min
5 DF   JOR Yazan Al-Arab
6 MF   KOR Ki Sung-yueng (captain)
7 FW   KOR Lim Sang-hyub
8 MF   KOR Lee Seung-mo
10 FW   ENG Jesse Lingard
11 FW   KOR Kang Seong-jin
15 DF   KOR Kang Sang-woo
16 DF   KOR Choi Jun
17 DF   KOR Kim Jin-ya
18 GK   KOR Hwang Sung-min
19 FW   BRA Lucas Silva
20 DF   KOR Kim Hyun-deok
21 GK   KOR Choi Chul-won
23 MF   KOR Heo Dong-min
25 MF   KOR Paik Sang-hoon
No. Pos. Nation Player
27 MF   KOR Min Ji-hoon
28 FW   KOR Son Seung-beom
29 MF   KOR Ryu Jae-moon
30 DF   KOR Kim Ju-sung
31 GK   KOR Kang Hyeon-mu
32 FW   KOR Cho Young-wook (vice-captain)
33 DF   KOR Bae Hyun-seo
39 MF   KOR Kang Ju-hyeok
40 DF   KOR Park Seong-hoon
41 MF   KOR Hwang Do-yoon
42 MF   KOR Park Jang Han-gyeol
44 DF   KOR Ham Sun-woo
70 FW   POR Ronaldo Tavares (on loan from Estrela da Amadora)
90 FW   GER Stanislav Iljutcenko
94 FW   BRA Willyan
98 DF   KOR Yoon Jong-gyu
99 GK   KOR Seo Ju-hwan

Out on loan and military service

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   KOR Ahn Jae-min (at Gimpo FC)
DF   KOR Cho Young-kwang (at FC Osaka)
DF   KOR Choi Jun-yeong (at Seongnam FC)
DF   KOR Lee Si-young (at Suwon Samsung Bluewings)
DF   KOR Park Dong-jin (at Gyeongnam FC)
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   KOR Park Soo-il (at Gimcheon Sangmu)
MF   KOR Ahn Ji-man (at Yeoju FC)
MF   SRB Aleksandar Paločević (at OFK Beograd)
FW   KOR Jung Han-min (at Gangwon FC)
FW   KOR Kim Sin-jin (at Seoul E-Land FC)

Former players

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Player records

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Retired number(s)

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12 – Supporters (the 12th Man)

Captains

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Season(s) Captain Vice-captain(s) 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
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
2022   Ki Sung-yueng   Na Sang-ho
  Yang Han-been
until 12 August 2022
  Na Sang-ho   Yoon Jong-gyu
  Cho Young-wook
  Kim Jin-ya
  Lee Sang-min
since 12 August 2022
2023   Stanislav Iljutcenko   Han Chan-hee Iljutcenko: until 9 May 2023
Han Chan-hee: until 21 June 2023
  Osmar   Lim Sang-hyub
  Kim Jin-ya
  Kim Ju-sung
Osmar: since 9 May 2023
2024
  Ki Sung-yueng   Cho Young-wook

Honours

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FC Seoul players celebrating after winning the 2016 K League Classic.

Domestic

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Continental

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Records and statistics

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Season-by-season records

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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)[a] 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)[a]   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 (Ad.) Did not enter   Ko Jae-wook
1993 Div 1 6 Runners-up 30 18
(10)
0
(11)
12
(9)
28 29 –1 59 4th (Ad.) Did not qualify   Ko Jae-wook
1994 Div 1 7 5th 30 12 7 11 53 50 +3 43 Runners-up (Ad.)   Cho Young-jeung
1995 Div 1 8 8th 28 5 10 13 29 43 –14 25 6th (Ad.)   Cho Young-jeung
1996 Div 1 9 9th 32 8 8 16 44 56 –12 32 8th (Ad.) Round of 16   Cho Young-jeung
  Park Hang-seo (C)
1997 Div 1 10 9th 18 1 8 9 15 27 –12 11 10th (Ad.)
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 (Ad.)
3rd (PM)
Winners   Park Byung-joo
1999 Div 1 10 9th 27 10
(8)
0
(4)
17
(15)
38 52 –14 24 Runners-up (Ad.)
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 (Ad.)
5th in Group A (D)
Quarter-finals Did not qualify Quarter-finals[b]   Cho Kwang-rae
2001 Div 1 10 Runners-up 27 11 10 6 30 23 +7 43 4th in Group A (Ad.) Quarter-finals Winners Did not qualify   Cho Kwang-rae
2002 Div 1 10 4th 27 11 7 9 37 30 +7 40 Semi-finals (Ad.) Round of 32 Did not qualify Runners-up[c]   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 (Sam.) Round of 16 Did not qualify   Cho Kwang-rae
2005 Div 1 13 7th 24 8 8 8 37 32 +5 32 5th (Sam.) Round of 16   Lee Jang-soo
2006 Div 1 14 4th 26 9 12 5 31 22 +9 39 Winners (Sam.) Quarter-finals   Lee Jang-soo
2007 Div 1 14 7th 26 8 13 5 23 16 +7 37 Runners-up (Sam.) Quarter-finals Competition
ceased
  Şenol Güneş
2008 Div 1 14 Runners-up 26 15 9 2 44 25 +19 54 3rd in Group A (Sam.) Round of 32   Şenol Güneş
2009 Div 1 15 5th 28 16 5 7 47 27 +20 53 Semi-finals (PC) Round of 16 Quarter-finals   Şenol Güneş
2010 Div 1 15 Champions 28 20 2 6 58 26 +32 62 Winners (PO) 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 Third round Did not qualify   Park Jin-sub
  An Ik-soo
2022 Div 1 12 9th 38 11 13 14 43 47 –4 46 Runners-up   An Ik-soo
2023 Div 1 12 7th 38 14 13 11 63 49 +14 55 Third round   An Ik-soo
  Kim Jin-kyu (C)
2024 Div 1 12 4th 38 16 10 12 55 42 +13 58 Quarter-final   Kim Gi-dong
  1. ^ a b In 1988 and 1989, the competition was known as the National Football Championship
  2. ^ In 2000, the competition was known as the 1999–2000 Asian Cup Winners' Cup
  3. ^ In 2002, the competition was known as the 2001–02 Asian Club Championship

K League Championship records

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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 +3 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

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

Managerial history

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Gallery of all-time club managers at FC Seoul Fan Park
No. Name Appointed From To Season(s) 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 (six seasons).
6   Lee Jang-soo 2004-12-30 2005-01-10 2006-12-02 2005–2006
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
9   Hwangbo Kwan 2010-12-28 2011-01-05 2011-04-26 2011
  • First manager who resigned in the middle of the league season.
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 to win K League both as a player and as 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
14   An Ik-soo 2021-09-06 2021-09-06 2023-08-22 2021–2023
C   Kim Jin-kyu 2023-08-22 2023-08-22 2023-12-02 2023
15   Kim Gi-dong 2023-12-14 2023-12-14 2024–

Management

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Board of directors

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Position Name
Chairman   Huh Tae-soo
Chief executive officer   Yeo Eun-joo
Director   Yoo Seong-han

Chairman history

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No. Name From To Seasons
1
  Koo Cha-kyung
1983-08-12
1990-12-27
1984–1990
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

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Years Owner
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
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FC Seoul and FC Seoul supporters have been portrayed in a number of Korean dramas and movies:[49]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Official Club Profile at K League Website". kleague.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "Stadium Profile at Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation" Archived 2019-08-03 at the Wayback Machine SMFMC. Retrieved March 14, 2016
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