Daejeon Korail FC is a South Korean

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 ...

club 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 ...

. The team currently plays in the

K3 League The K3 League is the third tier of South Korean football league system, which was created from the rebranding of the Korea National League (2003–2019) and the former K3 League (2007–2019) into K3 League and K4 League in 2020. 16 teams are ...

, the third tier of

South Korean football league system The South Korean football league system contains two professional leagues, two semi-professional leagues, and various amateur leagues for Korean football clubs. The highest level of football in South Korea is the K League 1, which was founded in 1 ...

. It is owned and operated by

Korea Railroad Corporation The Korea Railroad Corporation (Korean: 한국철도공사, Hanja: ), branded as KORAIL (코레일, officially changed to in November 2019), is the national railway operator in South Korea. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, manage ...

, South Korea's national railroad operator. Their home venue is

Daejeon Hanbat Sports Complex Daejeon Hanbat Sports Complex ( ko, 대전한밭종합운동장) is a sports complex, comprising a multi-purpose stadium (including athletic facilities and a soccer pitch), a ballpark, Basketball courts, tennis courts and various other sports fac ...

History

After being founded in 1943 by the

Chosen Government Railway Chosen or The Chosen may refer to: The chosen ones *Chosen people, people who believe they have been chosen by a higher power to do a certain thing including ** Jews as the chosen people Books * ''The Chosen'' (Potok novel), a 1967 novel by Chaim ...

as ''Chosen Government Railway FC'' (Korean: 조선총독부 철도국 축구단), the team competed in various semi-professional football competitions throughout decades until they joined the

Korea National League The Korea National League was a South Korean semi-professional football league held annually from 2003 to 2019. It was considered the second-highest division of the South Korean football league system before the K League 2 was launched in 2013, ...

in 2003. In 1948, the club changed its name to Ministry of Transportation FC after Joseon Railways was absorbed into

Ministry of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

by the

South Korean government The Government of South Korea is the union government of the South Korea, Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of sta ...

. The club was inactive during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and was re-established in 1961 or 1962. It was renamed ''National Railroad FC'' (Korean: 철도청 축구단) in 1963 and ''Korea Railroad FC'' (Korean: 한국철도 축구단) in 1995. In 2004, to comply with Korea National League's club naming policy, the club added the team's location to its name, changing the name to ''Incheon Korea Railroad FC'' (Korean: 인천 한국철도 축구단). After Korea National Railroad was renamed to

Korail The Korea Railroad Corporation (Korean: 한국철도공사, Hanja: ), branded as KORAIL (코레일, officially changed to in November 2019), is the national railway operator in South Korea. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed ...

, the club's name was also changed again to ''Incheon Korail FC'' (Korean: 인천 코레일 축구단) during the 2007 season. At the end of the 2013 season, the club has been renamed to Daejeon Korail FC after the team's relocation from

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

. The team has played in the Korea National League between 2003 and 2019, when the league merged with the

. They won the 2005 season with a 4–2 aggregate victory over Suwon City in the final. In the

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 ...

, the team reached the quarter-finals in 2001 and the semi-finals in 2005. In the 2019 edition, the team reached the final, where they lost 4–0 on aggregate to the top division side

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 ...

Honours

League

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

::Winners (2):

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

::Runners-up (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 ...

Cups

::Runners-up (1):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* National League Championship ::Winners (3):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

::Runners-up (1):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

* National Sports Festival ::Gold Medal (3): 2000, 2001, 2011 * National Football Championship ::Runners-up (1): 2000 *

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

::Runners-up (1): 2004

Season-by-season records

Current squad

''As of 1 July 2022.''

References

External links

at korail.com {{K3 League Railway association football clubs in South Korea, Korea (South) Korea National League clubs Sport in Daejeon Association football clubs established in 1943 1943 establishments in Korea Korail K3 League clubs