Gimcheon Sangmu FC (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...

: 김천 상무 프로축구단;

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 金泉尚武 프로蹴球團) is a South Korean professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Gimcheon Gimcheon (; , trans., 'gold spring city') is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is situated on the major land transportation routes between Seoul and Busan, namely the Gyeongbu Expressway and Gyeongbu Line railway. In ancient ...

that competes in the

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 ...

, the second tier of South Korean football. Sangmu is the sports division of the

Republic of Korea Armed Forces The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength o ...

. Sangmu's playing staff is made up of young South Korean professional footballers serving their compulsory two-year military duty. Fifteen players join up at the start of every season and spend two years with the side before returning to their previous professional club. Sangmu are not allowed to sign any foreign players because of their military status. This article also includes the predecessor military-based teams – Sangmu FC, Gwangju Sangmu FC and Sangju Sangmu FC – which are still separate legal entities.

History

Various military clubs (1950s–1983)

Before the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps and its football club Sangmu FC were founded in 1984, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces had three football clubs: ROK Army FC, ROK Marine Corps FC, and ROK Air Force FC. The ROK Army originally established football clubs of each corps, including CIC FC (Counter Intelligence Corps; also known as Seoul FC or Seoul Club), HID FC (Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment), Quartermaster Corps FC (consisted of only

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...

s), OPMG FC (Office of the Provost Marshal General; former Military Police Command FC), Engineer Corps FC, and Infantry School FC. Most of them (excluding Quartermaster Corps FC) were merged into the Engineer Corps FC in 1965. Lastly, these two clubs were united, and Army FC was established in 1969. Afterwards, the Marine Corps FC renamed as ROK Navy FC due to the dissolution of the Headquarters Marine Corps in 1973.

Founding and semi-professional Sangmu FC era (1984–2002)

Sangmu FC was founded on 11 January 1984, as the football side of Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps. Although Sangmu squad was composed of professional players from K League clubs, Sangmu FC competed in the semi-professional league (now

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 ...

). Sangmu joined the K League for the 1985 season, but spent only one year in the league before dropping out. The reserve side, Sangmu B, competed in the K2 League from 2003 to 2005 before joining the K League reserve league. Sangmu B was based in

Icheon Icheon () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Together with Yeoju, Icheon is known as a center of South Korean ceramic manufacturing and is a UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art. Other famous local products include peaches and rice. Loc ...

and finished as the runners-up in the 2003 K2 League season.

Gwangju Sangmu era (2002–2010)

After establishing a home base in Gwangju in April 2002, the team participated in the Reserve League. The club has rejoined the K League at the start of the 2003 season as Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo FC. Between 2004 and 2010, the club has been known as Gwangju Sangmu FC.

Sangju Sangmu era (2011–2020)

Once

Gwangju FC Gwangju FC (Korean: 광주 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Gwangju that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. They joined the K League in the 2011 season. History Gwangju FC was founded ...

was established, Gwangju Sangmu FC was relocated to

Sangju Sangju () is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, central South Korea. Although Sangju is rather rural, it is very old and was once a key city. Along with Gyeongju, it gives rise to half of the name of the Gyeongsang provinces. Sangju is nickn ...

Gyeongsangbuk-do North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

, as Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps moved to

Mungyeong Mungyeong ( ko, 문경 ' ()) is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The local government, economy, and transportation networks are all centered in Jeomchon, the principal town. Mungyeong has a lengthy history, and is known today fo ...

, near Sangju. The club name was officially changed to Sangju Sangmu Phoenix FC in January 2011. Before the 2013 season, the club officially removed the word "Phoenix" in its name. In the same season, Sangju Sangmu became the first champions of the newly established K League Challenge (second division) and promoted to the

K League Classic 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 ...

. Sangju started the 2020 season already knowing they would be relegated to

. The military club decided to move out of Sangju to a new, as yet undisclosed location. Sangju has decided not to establish a football team which would be citizen-owned outfit and also played in K League 2.

Gimcheon Sangmu (2021–present)

On 30 June 2020, the K League administration announced that the city of

had officially submitted an application to host the team for at least the 2021 season, offering their local stadium as the football club's new home. After a preliminary review and several meetings and assemblies involving local governors, the K League eventually approved the proposal and began the process of moving the club to Gimcheon.

Club name history

*1996–2002: Sangmu FC *2002–2003: Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo FC *2004–2010: Gwangju Sangmu FC *2011–2012: Sangju Sangmu Phoenix FC *2013–2020: Sangju Sangmu FC *2021–present: Gimcheon Sangmu FC

Players

Current squad

Coaching staff

Managers

Honours

League

**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 fa ...

, 2015,

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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

* National Semi-Professional Football League **Winners (9): 1984, 1991 Fall, 1992 Spring, 1994 Spring, 1996 Fall, 1997 Fall, 1998 Fall, 1999 Fall, 2002 Spring **Runners-up (5): 1987 Fall, 1993 Spring, 1999 Spring, 2000 Spring, 2003

Cups

* National Semi-Professional Football Championship **Winners (2): 1999, 2001 * National Football Championship **Winners (1): 1996 ;Notes

Season-by-season records

K League

K League 1 and K League 2

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gimcheon Sangmu FC Gimcheon Sangmu FC Association football clubs established in 1984 Football clubs in North Gyeongsang Province Sport in Gimcheon K League 1 clubs K League 2 clubs Football Men

sangmu Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps (), commonly known as the Sangmu (), is the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. Its headquarters are located in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do. It was founded in 1984 by the integration of the athl ...

1984 establishments in South Korea