Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 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 ...

club based in

Ulsan Ulsan (), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring ...

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. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in 1984. Their home ground is

Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium The Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium, nicknamed Big Crown Stadium, is a football stadium in Ulsan in South Korea. It is home to the Ulsan Hyundai FC. The stadium was built from 18 December 1998 to 28 April 2001 and its total cost was 151.4 billion ...

. The club is owned by Hyundai Heavy Industries. Ulsan Hyundai have won the national league three times, most recently in

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, and 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 ...

once, in 2017. At International level, they have won the AFC Champions League twice, in 2012 and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

History

Early years: before Ulsan (1983–1989)

Ulsan Hyundai was established on 6 December 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, with tiger as its mascot (horangi means tiger in Korean). Their original franchise area was Incheon and

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

. They joined the professional K League from 1984 season. While they finished their debut season as 3rd place, the team's striker Baek Jong-chul became the K League Top Scorer, scoring 16 goals in 28 matches. They won their first professional trophy in 1986, winning the Professional Football Championship, which is the origin of

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 statis ...

. From the 1987 season, the club moved their franchise from Incheon and

to Gangwon Province. In the 1988 season, they finished the season as the runners-up in the league.

Move to Ulsan and rise to power (1990–1999)

Beginning in the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

season, the club moved their franchise to

, where the headquarters of several branches of owner company

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

are located at, from Gangwon Province. Former

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

's striker Cha Bum-kun took the managerial position from the 1991 season, leading the club to the runners-up position in the league in his debut season. However, he failed to win any trophy and was replaced by

Ko Jae-wook Ko Jae-wook is a former Korean footballer and football manager. He was a member of Korean national football team for five years in the 1970s. He played in the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Australia, scoring the equalizing go ...

after the 1994 season. Under Ko Jae-wook, Ulsan won their second Korean League Cup trophy in 1995, which was his debut season as Ulsan manager. Ulsan won their first ever league title in 1996, beating Suwon Samsung Bluewings 3–2 on aggregate in the

championship playoffs In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. The club then entered a long dry-spell in terms of league trophies, although they won their third Korean League Cup trophy in 1998, beating Bucheon SK 2–1 on aggregate in the finals.

Two Kims era (2000–2013)

Failure to add a major title for years did affect the team negatively. After the exodus of key players like Kim Hyun-seok and a terrible start in the 2000, manager Ko Jae-wook resigned in the middle of the season.

Kim Jung-nam era: Gangsters of Asia (2000–2008)

Ulsan appointed Kim Jung-nam, who had formerly managed

South Korean national football team The South Korea national football team (; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA) represents South Korea in men's international football and is governed by the Korea Football Association. South Korea has emerged as a major football power in Asia ...

, as their next manager. They finished as runners-up in 2002 and 2003, and started to emerge as a strong force. In 2005, with the return of two key players,

Yoo Sang-chul Yoo Sang-chul ( ko, 유상철; 18 October 1971 – 7 June 2021) was a South Korean football player and manager. Yoo was regarded as one of the greatest South Korean midfielders of all time. He was selected as a midfielder of the 2002 FIFA Wor ...

and Lee Chun-soo, they qualified for the

. In the play-off semi-final, they beat Seongnam Ilhwa 2–1, and in the final, they beat

Incheon United Incheon United FC is a South Korean professional football club based in Incheon that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. Founded in 2003, the club is a so-called "community club", with the government of the city ...

6–3 on aggregate, with a hat-trick from Lee Chun-Soo in the first leg. They became the league champions for the second time in their history. The club also went on to win the

A3 Champions Cup A3 Champions Cup (also known as East Asian Champions Cup) was an annual football (soccer) tournament jointly organized by the China PR, Japan and Korea Republic football Association. It began in 2003, involving the league champions of China, Japan ...

in 2006, in which they participated as K League champions. Although they lost their first match in the competition against

JEF United Ichihara Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba a ...

3–2, they beat

Dalian Shide Dalian Shide was a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China who played in China's football league system between 1955 and 2012. Their home stadiums were the 55,843 capacity Dalian People's Stadium and then late ...

4–0 and

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to s ...

6–0 to clinch the trophy. Lee Chun-soo became the competition's top scorer, scoring six goals in three matches. They repeated the merciless attacks in the AFC Champions League that season, beating Al-Shabab 6–0 in the first leg of the quarter-finals. These overwhelming attacks they showed in the season gave Ulsan the nickname "Gangsters of Asia". Ulsan won the 2007 Korean League Cup, beating FC Seoul 2–1 in the final on 27 June 2007. In 2008, the team changed their official name from Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i to Ulsan Hyundai FC.

Kim Ho-kon era: Iron Mace Football (2009–2013)

Manager Kim Jung-nam stepped down after the 2008 season.

Kim Ho-kon Kim Ho-kon (; born 26 March 1951) is a South Korean football manager and former football player who played as a sweeper or right back. He was the captain of the South Korea national football team in the 1978 Asian Games where they won the go ...

, who had managed the

South Korea national under-23 football team The South Korea national under-23 football team (; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA, and Republic of Korea by IOC) represents South Korea at football in the Olympic Games and Asian Games. It was founded when the Olympic football was chan ...

that reached the quarter-finals in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

was appointed as Ulsan's next manager. Kim Ho-kon did not enjoy Ulsan fans' full support for his first few seasons at the club, mainly because of his defensive tactical style and unsatisfying outcomes. The 2011 season was a dramatic changeover; Ulsan won their fifth Korean League Cup, beating

Busan IPark Busan IPark ( ko, 부산 아이파크) is a South Korean professional football club based in Busan that competes in K League 2, the second tier of the South Korean football pyramid. Its current home ground is Busan Gudeok Stadium. The club was o ...

3–2 in the final. Ulsan also finished the season as runners-up in the K League that season. Their unique style of having many players pushing forward in counterattacks earned them the nickname "Iron mace football". In 2012, the club won the AFC Champions League, defeating Al-Ahli 3–0 in the final on 10 November. In the run up to the final, Ulsan went on an unbeaten run throughout the twelve games of the competition, winning nine consecutive games and scoring 27 goals in the process.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Managers

Kits

Kit suppliers

* 1988–1993:

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

* 1994–1996:

Prospecs Pro-Specs is a South Korean athletic shoe and sportswear manufacturer, which currently produces footwear and clothing for running. Its headquarters are located in Seoul. It is one of brands in ' LS Networks'. History Founded by Al Spector fro ...

* 1997:

Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...

* 1998: Adidas * 1999–2000: ASICS * 2001–2003: Hummel * 2004–2005:

Kika KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF'' ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...

* 2006–2009: Adidas * 2010–2011:

Le Coq Sportif Le Coq Sportif (, "the athletic rooster") is a French manufacturing company of sports equipment. Founded in 1882 by Émile Camuset and located in Entzheim, the company first issued items branded with its now-famous rooster trademark in 1948. The c ...

* 2012–2013:

Diadora Diadora is an Italian sportswear and footwear manufacturing company based in Caerano di San Marco (Veneto), subsidiary of Geox, founded in 1948. Diadora produces football boots and athletic shoes, as well as a range of apparel that includes ...

* 2014–2018: Adidas * 2018–2021: Hummel * 2022–present: Adidas

Honours

Domestic

League

::Champions (3): 1996, 2005,

::Runners-up (10): 1986, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2011,

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 ...

, 2019,

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 ...

Cups

::Winners (1): 2017 ::Runners-up (3): 1998, 2018,

::Winners (5): 1986, 1995, 1998, 2007, 2011 ::Runners-up (3): 1993, 2002, 2005 *

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 ...

::Winners (1): 2006 * National Football Championship ::Runners-up (2): 1989, 1999 *

Korean President's Cup The President's Cup National Football Tournament is a football competition, held by Korea Football Association, for South Korean semi-professional and amateur football clubs. This competition was originally one of major club competitions of So ...

::Runners-up (1): 1990

International

Asian

* AFC Champions League ::Winners (2): 2012,

::Winners (1): 2006

Season-by-season records

;Key *Tms. = Number of teams *Pos. = Position in league

AFC Champions League record

All results list Ulsan Hyundai's goal tally first.

References

External links

Official website
{{Hyundai Heavy Industries Group Association football clubs established in 1983 Sport in Ulsan K League 1 clubs Hyundai Heavy Industries Group 1983 establishments in South Korea Works association football clubs in South Korea AFC Champions League winning clubs