K-League 2011

[Supreme feet]

Hello all,

I'm currently living in a small city in South Korea, been here since March 2010. This year, I've started seriously following the K-League, so since this is the only football forum I frequent, and since this is the 'World' football section, I've decided to share my experience of Asian football. :yin-yang:

My adopted city, Sangju, now has a team in the top professional league in Korea, the K-League. Sangju Sangmu Phoenix are basically the Korean 'army team', much in the style of the old 'CSKA' teams of Eastern Europe. They relocated here from Gwangju over the summer, after the south-western city got their own team. The way it works is pretty unique; all Korean males have to do two years of military service at some stage of their 20s (usually between high school and college), and the Sangmu team is composed solely of conscripts. Because of this, they were generally in the lower end of the league in the Gwangju days, having no squad continuity and being quite a young side.

However, the move to Sangju has coincided with a reversal of fortune. We started the season with a 2-0 home win over Incheon. A 3-3 draw away to Busan and a chaotic 3-2 win in Seongnam followed that, the latter result being a significant scalp, as Seongnam had won the 2010 Asian Champion's League. After another three wins, four draws and an unfortunate home defeat to FC Seoul, Sangju now lie 3rd in the table, 5 points behind surprise leaders Jeonbuk. I'm going to tomorrow's local derby away to Daegu FC, which should be a good laugh - I have some Irish friends in the city, and we've been winding each other up for the last few weeks. Post-match beers are definitely on the agenda.

Like all live sporting experiences, it's addictive. Even though the standard of football isn't fantastic, the games are pretty tight and completely unpredictable, which makes for good entertainment, and there are some decent players scattered about. Sangju's talisman and top scorer, Kim Jung-Woo, has over 60 caps for Korea, trialled with Wigan, and played the holding role for the national side in the last World Cup. International colleague Kim Dong-Hyun had a spell in Europe too, with Braga and Rubin Kazan. Choi Hyo-Jin, Kim Chi-Woo, Lee Jong-Min and Kim Chi-Gon have all won senior caps for Korea, while others have won caps at various underage levels. Myself and many of the other foreign teachers in Sangju attend the games enthusiastically, even buying shirts and scarves, and getting our names in Korean on the backs. We join in on the chants and songs, and contribute a few of our own; I've had my Korean friends singing 'Come on You Boys in Red' to a familiar Irish tune! There's nothing like imbibing a few cans, singing songs and watching football on a balmy Korean evening.

There is a darker side to all this merriment. A few teams, including Sangju, have been investigated amid claims of match-fixing. Several players have been arrested, and others, including our own Kim Dong-Hyun, have been questioned about a few dodgy games last year. Two players, including Incheon United's goalkeeper, have committed suicide this season, allegedly because of their involvement in the fiasco. There has been talk about points deductions, and investigations are ongoing. Never a dull moment in the K-League.

Anyway, that's my story. I'll update this thread as I go along, with a few pictures and videos, to share the K-League experience with the good people of foot.ie! Here's a video of our 4-3 defeat to FC Seoul. I can be seen jumping around at 3:05: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao4ispcMpJw&feature=player_embedded

[osarusan]

I'll throw in my Asian football experience - lived in Japan for a few years - back here again now. Was a fan of Matsumoto Yamaga when I lived in that city for a year - they played in a 20000 all seater stadium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoto_Stadium), but the crowds were under 500. Free in (If I remember right, you can only charge into games in Japan if you're competing in one of the top 4 divisions), and probably the worst standard of senior football I've ever seen. They've apparently improved since then - a friend of mine up there, roped into going to games by me, still lives there and still goes (5 years later), and I think they're only 2 divisions off the actual J-League.

After moving back to Yokohama, I started supporting Yokohama FC - there are two teams in Yokohama, Yokohama Marinos, the big successful team, and FC, the weak rival. Maybe it was because my Irish attitude made me want to root for the plucky underachievers, but also it was down to the fact that FC were two stops closer to me on the subway, and the tickets were about 3 euros cheaper. They got promoted toJ1 in my first season supporting them, with Steven Tweed (Scottish journeyman defender) marshalling a back line that only conceded something like 8 goals in 35 games - something crazy anyway. They then set the record for the fastest ever relegation from J1 to J2 - relegated with 8/9 games to go. I saw pretty much every home game that season, except the first ever Yokohama derby in J1 - it was on a Wednesday night and I was working and missed FC win 1-0. I was at the 8-1 loss in the return game though.

Not the best standard of football, but in Japan at least, there's a real effort to play passing football, so the games at least look ok. And I got to see King Kazu - Kazuyoshi Miura, to those of you who remember him playing briefly in Serie A nearly 20 years ago - he's still going in J2 for Yokohama at 43 years of age. My location in west Tokyo now means I won't get to see many games at all, but I'm still a fan.

[Junior]

Shunsuke Nakamura was a Yokohama Marions man, I think he's back there now - Lovely player.

Great posts lads, a few place names from SK I remember there from the WC02. We got the ferry across from Japan to Busan.

Keep them coming....

[osarusan]

Yeah Nakamura is back at Marinos. He was involved in a bit of mild controversy when he left Celtic as he made a lot of comments about hot the lure of his home country was too much for him to say no to, and then all of a sudden signed for Espanyol.

His Marinos are 3rd from the top of J1, my Yokohama FC are third from the bottom of J2.

When I tell my students where I'm from, the first thing they say is either 'Robbie Keane' or 'Roy Keane' (well, actually, most of them say 'huh? where?'). As the world cup memories fade, I guess that will fade too.

[Supreme feet]

Since my last post, Sangju Sangmu Phoenix have dropped from third to fourth in the K-League table. A 0-0 draw away to Daegu FC in the sweltering heat of Daegu Civil Stadium was followed by a disappointing home defeat to lowly Ulsan.

The game in Daegu, played on the pubic holiday weekend, was rather uneventful, and played at a snail's pace, thanks to the 32 degree heat and mid-afternoon kick-off. Chances were few and far between, the best of which falling to Daegu's Brazilian striker, Thiago Quirinho, who blazed over the bar early on. There were some tasty challenges flying in too, which fitted the 'Gyeongbuk derby' billing. The highlight of my day was meeting the Sangju manager, Lee Soo-Cheol, after the game, and having my picture taken with him. Highlights of the game can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnryhtsj91Q

The following weekend, we hosted Ulsan Hyundai FC, who lay 10th in the table at kick-off. Their pessimistic status was evident from their lack of away support; three forlorn blue shirts could be seen at the opposite end to our gallant and noisy Sangju Phoenix army. We went a goal up through our captain and talisman, Kim Jung-Woo, after 11 minutes. However, disaster struck, as stand-in keeper, Kwan Sun-Tae was lobbed by Ulsan striker Go Seul-Ki. The rest of the game was quite sloppy; it looked destined to end in another stalemate until the 87th minute. Chaos ensued in the Sangju box, and Lee Jae-Sung tucked it away to give Ulsan a 2-1 lead.

Sangju slipped seven points behind current leaders Jeonbuk Motors, who, along with FC Seoul and Suwon Bluewings, are into the last eight of the AFC Asian Champions League. Jeonbuk play Cerezo Osaka, while Seoul will play Al Ittihad - arguably the strongest opposition left in the competition bar Al Saad, who play Foolad Sepahan. Suwon will play Zobahan. Meanwhile, the match-fixing scandal continues to rumble on, and since the scandal broke, attendances are down quite significantly across the K-League. However, the Ulsan game brought a healthy turnout of over 10,000 from the good citizens of Sangju - roughly 10% of the city's population!

Sangju are away to Pohang Steelers tomorrow, who are in second. It's arguably our most difficult away game to date. We have two home games after that, against top-of-the-table Jeonbuk, and our return derby with Daegu FC. I'll keep you up to date. :yin-yang: Here's a picture of our stadium at half-time last weekend;

[TheBoss]

Some news regarding match fixing:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ha3DyBmQ3QDfLJuk3UEeEnxQEpIg?docId=CNG.e6112 7fddf2df07871028bd92aee5f9a.a1

[Supreme feet]

Whoo, that's a relief. My Yank friend's girlfriend works for the club (Sangju Sangmu), and I heard that 'sh*t was going down' involving one of our players. I'm just glad that there's no points deduction. And the player in question hasn't started that many games for Sangju, despite arriving with a big reputation. He can go and fork himself now. He's still in the South Korea army as a conscript (all Sangju's players are), so that lad could be in for a harder time than he thought...

[theworm2345]

Anyone know where I can find the full match or highlights of Sangju's match against Pohang Steelers last week? I've already seen the ones on YouTube but am looking for proper highlights show highlights if not the full match.

[Supreme feet]

Anyone know where I can find the full match or highlights of Sangju's match against Pohang Steelers last week? I've already seen the ones on YouTube but am looking for proper highlights show highlights if not the full match.

I've checked the main Korean search engines, Naver and Daum, and it looks like all the footage from that game comes from the Steelers TV stream. The major networks weren't covering it. Don't think there's much out there that's not already on Youtube, but I'll post some links anyway...

http://tvpot.daum.net/clip/ClipView.do?clipid=33606809

http://blog.naver.com/soccerbest11?Redirect=Log&logNo=80132808838&jumpingVid=22008A9C4004E44F5A59DEE11D67F75BD088

[osarusan]

91st minute winner from Kaio for Yokohama FC away to Mito Hollyhock at the weekend. (Hollyhock?? Gotta love the names - Jubilo (Iwata), Albirex (Niigata), Montedio (Yamagata) S-Pulse (Shizuoka) to name just a few). Still 17th position (out of 20) though. King Kazu managed an hour before being substituted. Also, it turns out that the Yokohama keeper (recently relegated to the substitute bench) went to the same university I work at. It's a small world.

[theworm2345]

I've checked the main Korean search engines, Naver and Daum, and it looks like all the footage from that game comes from the Steelers TV stream. The major networks weren't covering it. Don't think there's much out there that's not already on Youtube, but I'll post some links anyway...

http://tvpot.daum.net/clip/ClipView.do?clipid=33606809

http://blog.naver.com/soccerbest11?Redirect=Log&logNo=80132808838&jumpingVid=22008A9C4004E44F5A59DEE11D67F75BD088
Sorry I missed this before, thanks

[Supreme feet]

Further disaster for Sangju Sangmu. Nine 9 (mostly fringe) players have been done for match-fixing, and the coach has been arrested and questioned by military police. On the pitch, we've lost to Daegu and Seoul, and given the tightness of the league, we've drifted down to 13th in the league from 4th. :( We do have four home games on the trot, starting tomorrow against Busan I'Park. I was supposed to go on a staff trip with my school, but I'm pulling out so I can go and watch the match.

The performance against Seoul was encouraging, but we lost to a last-minute header from a corner. Instantly reminded me of Skopje '99. Seoul play in the 'World Cup Stadium'. Very impressive ground, and their fans make a good bit of noise. Great trip apart from the result.

[Supreme feet]

Just have to get this off the chest - I've spent almost an entire season supporting my local South Korean 'K-League' team, Sangju Sangmu, from 3rd to 14th in a league of 16, without missing a single home game. I've helped our local supporter's club with songs, chants and banners, and encouraged my fellow ex-pats to join in. And then we had our team decimated by a match-fixing scandal, which ended up with our manager and nine players in jail. And after being undefeated for the first twelve games, we got four points from our last sixteen games. With a bunch of dispirited (mostly young conscript) players who are going through the motions of playing, and refuse to tackle, track back, and look for the ball; who don't shoot when inside the opposition box, or learn anything from defeats.

But I will still go to see Sangju Sangmu in two weeks for the final game against Gyeongnam. And I'll still sing my head off. I will always have my jersey with my name in Korean and number 9 on the back, and I will wear it proudly when I get back to Ireland in a few months. I'll always remember Kim Jung-Woo's cheeky penalties, our giantkilling escapades against Suwon and Incheon, the three goals in five minutes against Seongnam away, the time we went 1-0 up away to Gyeongnam and my mates got plastic bottles thrown at them for walking past the away end... The weekly 'Foreigner vs. Korean' 6-a-sides on the Sunday after, playing against the club staff... I will miss the K-League.