Daejeon Hana Citizen Football Club (
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
대전 하나 시티즌 축구단) is a South Korean professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team based in
Daejeon
Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology and ...
that competes in the
K League 1
The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs.
History
The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...
, the top tier of South Korean football. At the time of its foundation in 1997, Daejeon Citizen was the first community club in South Korea, not belonging to any company. The club first entered the
K League
K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2.
History
Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...
for the
1997 season, finishing in seventh place. In spite of a limited budget, Daejeon won the
2001 Korean FA Cup. It has not achieved sustained success in the K League, historically occupying the middle and lower reaches of the standings each season. At the end of the
2013 season, Daejeon was relegated to the
K League Challenge
The K League 2 (Hangul: K리그2) is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the K League 1.
Hi ...
, the second-tier league.
On 24 December 2019,
Hana Financial Group Football Club Foundation bought operating rights of the club, renaming the club to its current name.
History
First steps into the K League
Following the foundation of the professional football league (the Korean Super League, reorganised as the
K League
K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2.
History
Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...
in 1998) in Korea, there were few league matches held in
Daejeon
Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology and ...
, and such matches that were held were played by visiting clubs. The absence of a local team in the league made it difficult for the citizens of Daejeon to identify with any particular team. However, in 1996 a plan to establish 'Daejeon Citizen' – their own local community club – was unveiled, which meant Daejeon citizens would have their own team to support in the league. Generally in Korea, 'community-club' means that the club issues shares. In the case of Daejeon, although shares weren't issued until 2005 (and the issuing of shares continued into 2006), they were already known as a "community club". Daejeon was the first club that did not belong to a specific company such as one of the 'chaebols' (Samsung, LG or the like) or another major company. This has a very symbolic meaning as essentially the club is founded upon the support of the local community rather than a specific company.
Kim Ki-bok
Kim Ki-bok (born 1944) is a former South Korean football player and manager. He was first manager of Jeonbuk Buffalo and Daejeon Citizen FC
Daejeon Hana Citizen Football Club (Korean 대전 하나 시티즌 축구단) is a South Korean profess ...
was appointed the first manager of Daejeon Citizen. With high expectations, Daejeon took their first step to the K League in 1997 (at the time, the K League was known as the Rapido Super League), opening their season with a match against
Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 축구단) is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League ...
. However, the results achieved in their first season did not live up to their high expectations for their first season. Although the club placed seventh in the league, ahead of
Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma,
Anyang LG Cheetahs and
Bucheon SK
Jeju United Football Club (Hangul: 제주 유나이티드) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeju Province that competes in the K League 1, the top division in South Korea. In the past, the club has been known as the ''Yukon ...
, they won only three matches out of 18 games.
The IMF Crisis
In 1998, a
major economic crisis necessitated
IMF intervention in the South Korean economy – this period of time is commonly referred to as the "IMF crisis" in South Korea. As a consequence a number of companies, including some considered to be "Chaebol" went bankrupt, and there was widespread unemployment. Daejeon Citizen did not escape this crisis unscathed. The main board of Daejeon consisted of 4 groups – Kyeryong Construction Industrial, Dong-A Construction, DongYang Department Store and Chung-cheong Bank. But as a consequence of the IMF crisis, three of the four groups went bankrupt, leaving Kyeryong as the only survivor of the original board. There was a subsequent impact on the level of financial and management support provided to the club. This made for a particularly difficult season in the 1998 season of the K League. Again, only three games were won, but this time Daejeon finished ninth in the league, ahead of only Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma.
The following year,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, Daejeon improved their winning record to six victories. However, changes in the K League structure since the previous year meant that an extra 9 games were played, 27 in total, from the previous season. There were a total of 18 losses, the worst in the league.
Despite this, Daejeon improved to eighth out of ten clubs.
For the
2000 season, Daejeon maintained its eighth position in the league.
On the verge of disappearing
For the 2001 season,
Lee Tae-ho was appointed manager, and promptly took Daejeon Citizen's first piece of silverware, leading Daejeon to victory in the FA Cup. The decisive goal of the FA Cup final came from
Kim Eun-jung, which gave the team a one-nil victory over the Pohang Steelers. Due to this win, Daejeon also qualified to the 2002–03
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
for the first time. This helped compensate for their poor performance in the K League, in which they finished 10th and last, even on points with
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ( ko, 전북 현대 모터스) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Playing at the Jeonju World Cup S ...
but with an inferior goal differential.
South Korea was a co-host of the 2002 FIFA Football World Cup, with Daejeon as one of the host cities. The city constructed a brand new stadium for the World Cup, and following the conclusion of the tournament, Daejeon Citizen changed stadiums. The shift from their former stadium, Daejeon Hanbat Stadium, to
Daejeon World Cup Stadium
Daejeon World Cup Stadium is a football stadium in the South Korean city of Daejeon. It was used to host some matches at the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Korea and Japan. The stadium displayed a sophisticated structural dynamism, eliminati ...
meant the club not only benefited from the new facilities, but also the greater capacity of the stadium. Daejeon's poor league performance from the previous year was carried into the
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
season, and the club finished last again, and by some margin, having won but a single game throughout the season. Lee Tae-ho eventually resigned taking responsibility for the poor results. However, more creditable results were achieved in the
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
. Although they did not make proceed beyond the group phase, they did finish second in the group, beating both
Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...
and
Kashima Antlers
are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...
. Their only loss was to the eventual group winner and overall runner-up, Thai club
BEC Tero Sasana.
In other changes for 2002, the key financial supporter of the club – Kyeryong, which with their support ensured that Daejeon Citizen would survive the IMF crisis – declared that they would withdraw from the club's board. Daejeon City Hall decided to give financial support to the club. This ensured the club would survive to participate in the 2003 season.
Miracle 2003
The 2003 season proved to be memorable for Daejeon fans.
Choi Yun-kyum
Choi Yun-kyum is a South Korean football manager at K League 2 side joining recently from K3 League, Chungbuk Cheongju FC. He played in the K-League for Yukong Elephants from 1985 to 1992. After he retired, he moved into coaching, firstly as an ...
, previously coach at Bucheon SK, was appointed manager to replace Lee Tae-ho who had resigned in the wake of the club's 2002 season. Choi promptly inspired the team and completely changed its dynamics by implementing the 4–3–3 formation. The outcome was a near miraculous recovery from 2002, and he, together with Daejeon Citizen, coined the catchphrase "Miracle 2003". Daejeon Citizen finished the 2003 season in sixth place, its best finish ever in the league, having won 18 out of 44 games. Its sixth place was even more meritorious as the K League had expanded to twelve teams, with
Daegu FC
Daegu FC (Korean: 대구 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Daegu. The club was founded as a community club at the end of 2002, and made their K League 1 debut in 2003. Daegu has played mostly in the K League 1 but was re ...
and
Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix
Gimcheon Sangmu FC (Hangul: 김천 상무 프로축구단; Hanja: 金泉 尚武 프로蹴球團) is a South Korean professional association football club based in Gimcheon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. ...
entering the competition for the first time. Daejeon also improved its average home game attendance to about 19,000.
It proved difficult for the club to maintain its performance into 2004. A lack of strike power at the attacking end of the field left the club with the worst offensive record of all the clubs in the K League, scoring 18 goals in 24 games. Daejeon slipped to eleventh place out of thirteen teams.
However, they did make it to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, going down to eventual runners-up, Bucheon SK. Daejeon also finished as runners-up in the
Hauzen Cup
The Samsung Hauzen Cup was an annual football competition in South Korean football, and the Korean League Cup held by the K League Federation from 2004 to 2008. This competition was created to allow domestic football while the activity of the S ...
, behind only
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...
.
The lack of penetration continued to be problematic into the 2005 season, with the club maintaining its record as the worst offensive side in the league, with only 19 goals scored in 24 games.
However, superb defence saw only 20 goals conceded (best defensive record in the league) ensuring that Daejeon finished seventh in the regular season, having lost only six games.
In the 2005 cup competitions, the FA Cup and the League Cup, Daejeon failed to progress to the quarter-final stage.
2007 Play-off qualification
Daejeon achieved what originally appeared by midseason at least, to be a highly unlikely qualification for the playoff phase of the K League following a 1–0 win over
Suwon Samsung Bluewings
''(The Blue, White and Reds)''Tricolor''
, short name = SSB
, image =
, caption =
, founded =
, ground = Suwon World Cup Stadium
, capacity = 44,031
, owner = Cheil Worldwide(Samsung's subsidiary)
, chairma ...
which ensured a superior goal difference to
FC Seoul
FC Seoul ( ko, 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. They play their home games ...
, with whom Daejeon finished equal on points.
The win over Suwon was Daejeon's fifth consecutive victory and ultimately enabled them to qualify for the championship playoffs for the first time in their history. By midseason, it had seemed like another disappointing season was in store for Daejeon fans, with precious few wins recorded, and a number of losses. When
Kim Ho
Kim Ho (; born 24 November 1944) is a South Korean former football player and manager.
Early life
Kim was born in Tongyeong, a coastal city of South Korea, and started football in his hometown. He originally joined Tongyeong High School wh ...
took over from previous manager Choi Yun-kyum in the mid-season, Daejeon were sitting in eleventh place. However, under the guidance of their coach, and with good performances from
Denilson, who scored 14 goals, and one of Korea's best technical players,
Ko Jong-soo
Ko Jong-soo ( born October 30, 1978) is a South Korean football coach and former football player.
Growth Background
Born in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, he graduated from Yeosu West Elementary School, Yeosu Gubong Middle School, and Kumho High School. ...
, they eventually qualified for the play-offs. They were ultimately beaten by Ulsan Hyundai in the first phase of the play-offs.
Stadium
Since the 2002 K League season, which kicked off within a few weeks of the conclusion of the 2002 FIFA Football World Cup, Daejeon Citizen FC have played their home games at
Daejeon World Cup Stadium
Daejeon World Cup Stadium is a football stadium in the South Korean city of Daejeon. It was used to host some matches at the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Korea and Japan. The stadium displayed a sophisticated structural dynamism, eliminati ...
. The stadium was specifically constructed for the world cup, and was completed in September 2001. Daejeon World Cup Stadium hosted two group games of the world cup, as well as the South Korea/Italy quarter-final. The fans of Daejeon Citizen have nicknamed the stadium "Purple Arena". The stadium has a seating capacity of 40,535. The last four home games of the 2014 season were played at the Hanbat Stadium, Daejeon's old ground to allow time for maintenance work to be carried out at World Cup Stadium. Daejeon will return to the World Cup Stadium for the 2015 season.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Retired numbers(s)
18 –
Kim Eun-jung
21 –
Choi Eun-sung
Choi Eun-sung (born 5 April 1971) is a South Korean former professional footballer who last played for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. He spent 15 seasons as the goalkeeper with Daejeon Citizen.
He played for the South Korea national football tea ...
Coaching staff
Managers
Honours
League
*
K League 2
The K League 2 (Hangul: K리그2) is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the K League 1.
Hi ...
**Winners (1):
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
**Runners-up (2):
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
,
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
Cups
*
Korean FA Cup
The Korean FA Cup is a national football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the FA Cup was established in 1996, two predecessor competitions named All Joseon Football Tournament ...
**Winners (1):
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
*
Korean League Cup
The Korean League Cup was a professional football competition in South Korean football. It was held by the K League Federation from 1986 to 2012.
Sponsorship
Champions List of finals
Titles by club
K League's principle of official stati ...
**Runners-up (1):
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
*
Korean Super Cup
The Korean Super Cup was the annual curtain-raiser to the South Korean football season from 1999 to 2006, and was contested between the champions of K League and Korean FA Cup. It was dropped from the South Korean football calendar in 2007. Afte ...
**Runners-up (1): 2002
Records
;Key
*Tms. = Number of teams
*Pos. = Position in league (regular season)
AFC Champions League record
All results (home and away) list Daejeon's goal tally first.
References
External links
Official website
{{K League
Association football clubs established in 1997
1997 establishments in South Korea
Sport in Daejeon
K League 1 clubs
K League 2 clubs